Drugged Driving: A Growing Threat on Our Roadways
By Jan Withers | October 13, 2011 | Filed in: Drugged Driving , General , National President , Victim Services

For more than 30 years, MADD has worked hard to put a face to the statistics.  Study after study shows what happens when alcohol and driving are mixed — tragedy.  But while drunk driving remains one of the primary threats on America’s roadways, alcohol isn’t the only drug that causes heartbreak on our roadways.  We are also seeing a growing trend of poly-abuse (both alcohol and other drugs) and drugged driving crashes.  Although the substances are different, the consequences are the same — needless deaths and injuries. 

Just ask Hollywood Ruch and Stephanie Call.  Both are speaking at today’s event after personally being impacted by drivers under the influence of drugs. 

Here’s what we’re up against according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• Roughly one in eight weekend, nighttime drivers tested positive for illicit drugs.
• In 2009, of the drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes (and were subsequently tested and had results reported), one in three tested positive for drugs.
• One in ten high school seniors self-reported that in the last two weeks they had driven a car after using marijuana.

The ripple effects after a crash are as deep as they are wide.  At MADD, we like to say: first there is the crash … then there is the impact.  That is why since our founding, MADD has provided support to victims and survivors of drunk driving crashes.  After my daughter Alisa died, I turned to MADD for help.  And what I found was that not only did I get help, I got hope too. 

For the past 17 years, I’ve personally served as a victim advocate and have worked with hundreds of families, some of which lost their loved ones to a drugged driver.   Each case is as heartbreaking as the next. 

While MADD has been providing support for those victims and survivors of drugged driving crashes who have been referred to or have reached out to MADD, until now, MADD has not made specific national efforts to reach these underserved victims. Today, in recognition of the growing problem of poly-abuse and drugged driving, we are announcing alongside the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy the launch of a national coordinated effort to reach out to the underserved and growing number of drugged driving victims in the country.

Corporal David Andracsik

In addition to victim services, MADD will also begin honoring those law enforcement officers who are pioneers in discovering effective strategies for recognizing drugged driving. At MADD, we believe that recognizing officers who make significant contributions to ending drugged driving is key to raising awareness about this growing threat to American families.

Starting this year, an award, known as the ‘MADD Hero Award for Drugged Driving Enforcement,’ will be awarded biannually to a law enforcement agency, individual or group that has made significant contributions toward getting drugged drivers off of the nation’s roadways.  I am proud today to share that the first winner of the MADD Hero Award for Drugged Driving Enforcement is Corporal David Andracsik of the Pennsylvania State Police Department Bureau of Patrol.  We thank Corporal Andracsik for all he has done to help protect people and prevent injuries.

You can help support this exciting new aspect to our organization’s ongoing efforts to save lives and serve people.  Make a donation or find out how you can become a trained victim advocate.  MADD needs people like you to push our lifesaving mission forward.

MADD Hawaii’s Roaring Rendition of Fashionable Flapper Fun(d)raiser
By Jan Withers | October 10, 2011 | Filed in: General , National President

Magical weather, Magical flowers, Magical friends, Magical MADD Cab Affair

Aloha.  Travelling to Hawaii to share in a creative, festive, and fruitful affair was worth every hour on the plane. 

To be met at the airport by MADD Hawaii’s ED, Jennifer Dotson, to be greeted at the MADD Cab Affair the next evening by delightful volunteers all decked out in 1920’s flapper outfits, to enjoy an evening of dining, entertainment and bidding competition on silent auction items, and to have cabs escort all the guests to and from the event in style was an evening that I will always cherish.  The evening was a roaring success.  

Then the following evening to gather with MADD Hawaii Council members at the home of Sara and Peter Dudgeon, overlooking the waves off Diamond Head, was as relaxing as the company was enjoyable.   What a weekend!

The volunteers in MADD Hawaii are amazing.   Many have been with MADD since they formed the chapter in 1983.   Their dedication and skills are inspirational.  Others have joined more recently, bringing new talent and expertise to MADD’s mission of saving lives and supporting victims.  I left wanting more.   That says everything.

Walk Like MADD...Cloudy Morning, Sunshine Hearts
By Jan Withers | September 23, 2011 | Filed in: Drunk Driving , National President , Victim Services

The morning began cloudy with a brisk chilly breeze. That didn't stop walkers from turning out for Georgia's Walk Like MADD event in Atlanta. When asked why they came, why they walk, they said:

 

I walk to raise money for MADD - so we can continue the work of saving lives.

I come to support others who have been victimized by drunk driving.

I walk in memory of my loved one who was killed by a drunk driver.

I walk to bring awareness to this crime. It is unacceptable. It must stop.

I come to volunteer with my friends. We want a life without having to worry about drunk drivers.

I'm here because my grandparents brought me. It's fun! I love the moon bounce and the crafts. The hotdogs are good, too.

The morning was one of Friendship

of Family

of Winners

of Love

and of All the Reasons Why We Walk.

Thank you State Farm for your generous support.

Letter to Alisa
By Jan Withers | September 16, 2011 | Filed in: Drunk Driving , National President , Power of Parents , Underage Drinking

Mom Congress asked everyone to participate in their Back-to-School Blog-a-thon this week by writing a letter to their children as they start a new school year to tell them how they are going to make their school year the best it can be.  Here is my letter to my daughter, Alisa.     

Dear Alisa,

I am writing to you, wishing I could be looking at you and holding your hands as I talk.  I would tell you that everything I do centers around my love for you.  I would tell you that you are the most important person in my life so your happiness and well-being is the most important thing in my life.   I would tell you that because I love you I want you to be safe and healthy and alive.  I would share with you information on why to avoid alcohol as a teen, such as how it can make you sick, lead to sexual assault, lead to early death, lead to alcoholism, not to mention it is illegal.   I would want to hear your opinions about it.  I would like to share with you some ways to help you make good choices.   I would share with you clear guidelines and consequences, not because I want to be mean but because I want you to be healthy and safe.  And I would tell you to never ride with someone who has been drinking – ever.  

But, I can’t tell you any of those things.  I am sure you thought it would never happen to you – that terrible things only happen to someone else.  But you became that someone else when you rode with a friend who chose to drink and then drive.   You became that someone who was killed.  So, I sometimes joke that when I get to heaven to be with you…you are grounded for getting into that car!  But, I won’t. Instead, I will just cry tears of joy to see you again and hug you and kiss you and hold you and tell you I have missed you and I love you so much.

I love you to ‘finity, 

Mom

SAYING THEIR NAMES
By Jan Withers | September 12, 2011 | Filed in: General , National President , Victim Services

Children reciting names
Exclaiming love to eternity
Engraving names in granite
Fingers tenderly stroking a name
Hands gently laid on a name
Wishing they were caressing
Hearts longing
 
Rose buds adorning stone
Tears falling on stone
Water falling over stone
Never forgetting
Forever loving
 
I saw a widow of a person killed on 9/11 being interviewed last week, in anticipation of the ten-year anniversary of that dark day.   As tears ran down her face while describing her husband and how much she misses him, the reporter asked with a bit of surprise, “It still hurts after all this time?”  
 
Hurting just below the surface, after “all” this time, for a lifetime 
Darkness eventually lifting 
Sunshine and smiles happening again
Holding them in our hearts perpetually
Missing them without end
Loving them ceaselessly
 
My daughter, Alisa, was killed by a drunk driver.  When she was a toddler, we used to say goodnight with these exchanges, “I love you sooo much.”  “Well, I love you to the sky.”  “Well, I love you to the clouds.”  “I love you to the moon.”  “I love you to heaven.”  “Well, I love you past heaven.” 
One night, little Alisa exclaimed, “Well, I love you to ‘finity!”  I decided not to even try to top that!  I was amazed she even knew the word infinity, let alone what it meant.   So, that is now our family saying when we say goodbye to one another:  “I love you to ‘finity.”  
 
As we say their names, let us shout, I LOVE YOU TO ‘FINITY!