Recently, TIME MAGAZINE released “The Invention Issue,” In which they named the 50 best inventions of 2011. MADD is proud that the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) is listed among them. DADSS is a cooperative research project between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and leading automakers through the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety to encourage and support the development of new technology that would stop drivers from operating a vehicle if drunk.
As stated in TIME, the project is developing "touch- and breath-based sensors that could be strategically placed on steering wheels and ignition push buttons to instantly measure drivers' blood alcohol concentration. The sensors would automatically analyze a driver's breath or skin to determine whether or not he or she was fit to drive.
The devices are in testing now and will be embedded into a research vehicle by the end of 2013," TIME continues. "If all goes as planned, they could be on the road in eight to 10 years."
This Friday evening on the season premiere of ABC’s What Would You Do? there will be a segment about parents using their children as designated drivers. You can view a preview of the segment here. While we don’t know all of the details of the episode, we do know that is a real problem that should be addressed.
Our friend, Hollywood Ruch, was only five-years-old when his impaired biological father gave the keys to Hollywood’s 13-year-old half-brother to drive. This decision ended in a crash. Hollywood lost several teeth and suffered a brain injury that affected his fine motor skills. However, Hollywood overcame this disaster and now speaks at schools and events across the country, including MADD events, sharing his story and speaking out against drunk driving. View Hollywood’s speech at MADD’s National Conference in 2010:
MADD believes that driving under the influence with a child in the car, as well as having a child drive the car, is child endangerment. As noted in our Report to the Nation, more than half of all children under the age of 15 killed in drunk driving crashes in 2009 were passengers of drunk drivers.
In 2009, 11-year-old Leandra Rosado was tragically killed when an SUV she was traveling in with seven other children crashed in New York City. The adult driver, who had a BAC of .132, was the mother of one of the other passengers. After Leandra’s death, her father tirelessly advocated for Leandra’s Law, which makes driving drunk with a child passenger under the age of 16 in the car a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. From December 18, 2009, when Leandra’s Law went into effect, through July 2011, 1,409 people were arrested in New York State for driving drunk with children in the car. This equates to four people per day arrested specifically for that offense.
Clearly, child endangerment has reached a crisis level in our nation. Each year our victim support line receives between 17,000 and 20,000 phone calls related to child endangerment. States must act now to pass tougher laws and send messages that it is not ok to drive drunk, worse still with a child in the car.
If you know someone who drinks and drives, or worse, with children in the car, read our “Someone You Know Drinks and Drives” brochure where you will also find a section about what to do if your child may be at risk. We hope you will tune in this Friday to see the episode, and let us know what you would do on Facebook or Twitter.
As the year comes to a close, I reflect on all of our 2011 achievements. With your help, this year we:
served more than 60,000 victims, survivors and others impacted by drunk and drugged driving
extended all offender ignition interlock laws to 15 states
held our first annual PowerTalk21 Day®
celebrated our fifth anniversary of the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® by releasing a Report to the Nation
reached the milestone of cutting drunk driving by more than half since MADD was founded
held 51 Walk Like MADD events across the country
But our fight is far from over. Each year, more than 10,000 people are killed by drunk driving, and hundreds of thousands more are injured.
In 2012, with your support, we will continue to advocate for technology that can turn cars into the cure for drunk driving, help parents start an ongoing dialogue with their children about the dangers of underage drinking, increase sobriety checkpoints, push for designated drivers, and help more than 60,000 victims, friends, family members and loved ones dealing with this horrific crime.
But we can’t do it alone. Please consider making a donation to MADD before midnight, December 31st so we can get a great start for 2012 in the fight against drunk driving (and you can receive a 2011 tax deduction*).
Thank you, and have a safe and happy holiday season,
Jan Withers MADD National President
*Donations are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law.
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but for too many families, they are filled with tragedy. In fact, 43% of driving fatalities on Christmas Day are alcohol-related.
During this time of year when drunk driving crashes are most prevalent, MADD urges everyone to do their part in keeping our roads safe this holiday season by:
As you celebrate the holidays this year please remember to put safety before the party this holiday season by assigning a sober designated driver to get everyone home, and remind others to do the same.
The holiday season can be one of the deadliest and most dangerous times on America’s roadways due to drunk driving. So today, MADD’s National President Jan Withers, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator (NHTSA) David Strickland and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off a nationwide crackdown on drunk driving.
Last week, we announced that according to NHTSA’s new 2010 drunk driving fatality data, drunk driving fatalities dropped to 10,228 in 2010. (Read the blog post.) Today, additional data was released that shows a decline in drunk driving fatalities in 32 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Compared with 2009, California and Florida saw the largest reductions—with each declining by more than 100 fatalities last year. Click here to see your state’s 2010 data.
"The decreases in drunk driving fatalities in these states mean that we are on the right track," said Withers. "It also means that fewer families must deal with the tragedy of losing a loved one to this 100 percent preventable crime."
Last year, during the last half of December alone, 415 people were killed in drunk driving crashes. That’s why Secretary LaHood says, “this holiday season, we’re stepping up our efforts to get drunk drivers off our roads and reminding Americans to ‘drive sober, or get pulled over.’”
The message is simple, put safety before the party this holiday season by designating a sober driver to get everyone home safe.
