My First Year Observations
By | July 1, 2012 | Filed in: General , National President

What a gift. I am sitting on the plane and can barely refrain from every now-and-then throwing my arms in the air and squealing, "Hooray!" Instead I quietly giggle to myself so my fellow passengers don't think they are trapped on this flight with a crazy lady. MADD’s VP of Public Policy, JT Griffin, just called me to inform me that the federal transportation bill passed with most of our requests included. I am ecstatic because this will help save thousands of lives.

This weekend marks the end of my first year as president. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. I have been asked what I think my greatest accomplishment has been during this time and I had a difficult time with that question...until today. I cannot accurately describe my feelings because I am so elated. Why? Because this bill will literally prevent so many families from suffering the agony of having someone they love killed or injured by a drunk driver. It will help prevent so many individuals from suffering a lifetime of emotional or physical pain as a result of someone's choice to drive after drinking.

MADD puts a face to the numbers. We are blessed to have the most skilled public policy team for which you could ever dream. JT Griffin, Stephanie Manning and Steve O'Toole know exactly which Congress committee members and staff with whom to work...and I mean work. Together, we have persistently worn down the marble floors on Capitol Hill and depleted our cell phone batteries behind the scene in order to get our priorities in the legislation. We also owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to many congressional staff persons who worked tirelessly with us. On the state level, Frank Harris is equally as talented in working with many of you to pass ignition interlock legislation.

My message to each of you in our MADD family is how your stories make a difference. We put a face to the numbers. This year I watched the effect Connie Russell had on the Florida House Judicial Committee as she told them how her only child, Matthew, was killed by a drunk driver. I watched the effect Ron Bersani, Melanie’s grandfather, had on Massachusetts legislature as he shared her story. And I personally experienced how members of Congress and their staff responded to our requests after listening to Alisa's story. I have personally experienced the power of the personal story.

I often wonder what Alisa would be thinking as her story and her pictures are spread around the country. Her closest friend was laughing recently as we discussed just that. She said Alisa would be mortified. I don't doubt that, because she once told me that in ballet class she didn’t like being the dancer that the instructor had everyone observe in order to perform a specific movement correctly. She would say, "I just want to be normal." Of course, that was a teenage girl talking, but she never sought attention. She just liked to dance. However, she cared so deeply about everything living I want to believe she would be okay with it.

My absolute favorite part of this past year has been spending time with our MADD family around the country. I want to shout from the treetops how amazing you all are. Everywhere I go I am inspired and humbled by your dedication to working hard to support our mission. It isn't easy. It takes hard work. Each of you is committed to the challenge. I love you for that. You are all about saving lives and giving the best support possible to people victimized by impaired driving.

We are determined to eliminate this violent crime. That is why we must stay focused on the countermeasures that are most effective in saving the most lives in the shortest time. Wasting time and energy on efforts that feel good but do not accomplish this goal costs lives! I am personally not willing to do that. That is why I am thrilled with the new transportation bill. It will save more lives sooner, so fewer families will have tragic stories to tell. Instead they will have new pictures of memorable events to put in their family albums.

I applaud each of you. It is an honor to walk beside you on our journey. It is a privilege to be part of this wonderful family.

Betty Stadler, Founder of MADD Idaho
By | June 26, 2012 | Filed in: General , National President

Elegant, courageous, regal, strong, gracious, powerful, kind and clearly a force to be reckoned with.  These words are what come to mind when I think of the founding mother of MADD Idaho, Betty Stadler.  I had the privilege to meet and spend time with Betty last week—how inspiring she is.  Betty is now 90 years young.

In 1987 her daughter, Carol, was killed by a drunk driver and Carol’s husband was critically injured.  Not many months after that, Betty began a MADD Chapter and they have been going strong ever since.  Her daughter, Sue, told me her mother immediately engaged the governor, the mayor and the prosecutor, as they moved forward to address drunk driving as a serious crime instead of a mistake or accident. 

We were accompanied at dinner by (from left to right) Sue Stadler (Betty’s daughter), Pam Gill, James Bryant, Therese Woozley, and Miren Aburusa.

 At MADD Idaho’s very first Walk Like MADD event, Betty was honored by over one hundred individuals who came out to walk—what a celebration.  The day prior to the Walk, MADD volunteers and staff spent a full day working on strategies to reach more people victimized by drunk and drugged driving.  MADD Idaho volunteers and staff are amazing; they do so much with little resources.  They follow Betty’s example beautifully.  MADD Idaho is a force to be reckoned with!  What a legacy their work is to her.

2012 Lifesavers National Conference
By | June 14, 2012 | Filed in: Drunk Driving , National President

Earlier today I gave the keynote address at the 30th Anniversary Lifesavers Conference on Highway Safety Priorities in Orlando.  The Lifesavers conference is the largest gathering of highway safety professional in the U.S., so it was a great opportunity to share my story and talk about how we need to renew the focus of proven traffic safety solutions, including MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. 

I also used this opportunity to announce that MADD plans to reach out to many of the traffic safety groups to formulate the traffic safety summit. We’ve seen some states make great progress, but others have been backsliding, so we must take a comprehensive approach and focus on the countermeasures that will help use our safety resources in the most cost-beneficial way.

Read the transcripts of my speech or the press release online now.

I’m a Mom for DADSS
By | June 8, 2012 | Filed in: Drunk Driving

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the lab where they are researching the end of drunk driving.  And once again, I became a mom for DADSS.

Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, DADSS for short, is our hope for the future to ELIMINATE drunk driving.  Two prototypes of advanced technology are being studied. One is touched-based and one is breath-based.

While more research needs to be done, both technologies are working toward the goal of accurately and precisely detecting how much alcohol is in the driver’s system. In all 50 states, a legally drunk driver—someone with a .08 BAC or higher—would not be able to operate the vehicle if this technology comes to fruition.

This is exciting, but more importantly, it is happening.  DADSS has surpassed expectations and has entered into phase two of research.  We will see this in our lifetime and I got to see it with my own eyes.

Unfortunately, current funding for this research program will end in 2013, but I have worked with our public policy team in Washington to include funding for DADSS in the new Senate transportation bill.  We now look to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to also support the funding as the bill moves forward.  If the House does not act, the future of DADSS will be unclear. To me, that means thousands of people will die at the hands of drunk drivers before Congress sees fit to protect us by funding this research again.   

Congressman Mica is Chairman of this committee.  Please click here and ask your member of congress to tell Chairman Mica to agree with the Senate and fund DADSS research in the next highway bill. 

DADSS has the potential to eliminate drunk driving in America.  We must do everything we can to ensure this project receives funding for phase three.

My Experience at the NTSB Forum
By | May 17, 2012 | Filed in: Drugged Driving , Drunk Driving , National President

I thank the National Transportation Safety Board for holding their important forum, “Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate Substance-Impaired Driving.”  This highly regarded board realizes their “Most Wanted List” is outdated.   They intend to take the information presented in the forum, study the research, and then update their recommendations.   JT Griffin, MADD VP of Public Policy, presented powerful testimony on research that is the foundation for our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving.  I was honored to represent the thousands of individuals victimized by impaired driving. 

It was reaffirming to hear esteemed researchers as well as representatives from organizations such as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Governors Highway Safety Administration, and AAA, echo MADD’s recommendations.  Specialists from around the world substantiated our course of action to eliminate drunk driving.

I drove home heartened by the comments and questions of Board members.  They are dedicated to becoming an effective part of the solution so America can reach that beautiful zero number…or….eliminate impaired driving.  Member Sumwalt summarized that “there really are a lot of dedicated people working on this and there is no one magic bullet.  Impaired driving is a crime.  We need to focus on all impaired driving, not just hard core drunk drivers.   We need a combination of our laws being certain, swift and severe, along with education, visible enforcemMy ent, and prevalent use of current technology and advanced technology that will be available down the road.  DUI checkpoints are effective and we would like to see them implemented much more.” 

Chairman Hersman asked the one question that deeply touched my heart.  “Why are deaths by impaired driving not treated the same as death by other crimes?”  Thank you, Chairman.   The fact that we hear the impaired driver didn’t “intend” to kill someone is no longer reasonable.   Drinking and then driving is still accepted as part of our society instead of being treated as the violent crime it is.  It is an intentional choice for a person to drive after they have been drinking. Part of the definition of second degree murder is that the offender knew their intended action could result in a death, even if they did not pre-plan to kill anyone.    

Today in Maryland, a common sentence for vehicular manslaughter is 18 months.  I carried intense anger toward society’s attitude because of this very issue.  The person who killed my daughter received a sentence of 28 days work-release, plus community service as part of his probation.  I eventually realized I needed to release that anger and use it to focus on making positive change.  

Member Sumwalt was inspired to conclude with: “I want this to be a springboard for the problem.  I want to really charge out of here and work together to solve this problem.”   My reply:  “Fantastic!  Welcome aboard! We have been doing it since we began our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® 6 years ago.  We are so glad you are joining us!”  Thank you Chairman Hersman and Member Rosekind for leading the charge in NTSB.  

Looking forward to a future with no more impaired driving,  
                                                                        
Jan Withers
MADD National President