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On the eve of the heavily-traveled and high-risk driving Labor Day holiday weekend, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Nationwide Insurance and police chiefs have launched an anti-drunk driving education and enforcement blitz featuring the widespread use of sobriety checkpoints.
With alcohol-related traffic deaths on the rise, MADD's National Sobriety Checkpoint Week (Aug. 29 - Sept. 4), sponsored by Nationwide, will encourage safe and sober driving during the historically dangerous Labor Day weekend.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) today warned that law enforcement nationwide will conduct sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and roving patrols this holiday weekend in a stepped-up attack against America's most frequent violent crime --drunk driving.
The National Safety Council predicts that 474 people are likely to die on the nation's highways over Labor Day weekend with 50 percent (237) of those deaths expected to be alcohol-related.
"We do not have to accept these death toll predictions as a matter of fact or fate, because there is something each of us can do to keep our friends and family alive and safe from injuries," said MADD National President Millie I. Webb.
1.4 Million Drunk Drivers
Preliminary U.S. highway death statistics for 2000 show that alcohol-related traffic deaths rose to 16,068 last year, slightly higher than in 1999 (15,786) and 1998 (16,020). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also reports that about 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs in 1998 for an average of one DUI arrest per 132 drivers.A new report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) concludes that sobriety checkpoints may be the most effective law enforcement tool to combat drunk driving. The study found, however, that few states routinely conduct checkpoints.
"When conducted frequently, highly publicized checkpoints can cut alcohol-related fatal crashes by 20 percent," said Susan Ferguson, IIHS senior vice president for research. She added that only one-third of the 37 states that can legally conduct checkpoints do so. "Some police prefer to conduct regular patrols rather than checkpoints because patrols may yield more arrests," Ferguson said. "But what makes sobriety checkpoints so effective is that they are more likely to prevent the offense in the first place, whether or not they lead to many arrests."
IIHS also found that the use of Passive Alcohol Sensors (PAS) helps increase the efficiency of detecting alcohol-impaired drivers at sobriety checkpoints. Nationwide Insurance, NHTSA and MADD are donating state-of-the-art Passive Alcohol Sensors this week to law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In addition, Nationwide Insurance is donating Alcosensor portable breath testing devices to North Carolina law enforcement agencies.
Weekend Safety Alert
Galen Barnes, president of Nationwide Insurance, said "preventing drunk driving means preventing needless deaths and disabling injuries. We are donating high-tech alcohol sensors to give law enforcement the tools they need to quickly detect and arrest impaired drivers."MADD and Nationwide Insurance issued a safety alert for Labor Day holiday travelers, urging motorists to designate non-drinking drivers, buckle up, obey posted speed limits, drive courteously, and rest before driving long distances this weekend. "If you choose to drink and drive this Labor Day weekend," said MADD President Webb, "the chance of getting caught will be greater than ever."
MADD and Nationwide have each created safe party guides to provide tips on how to be a responsible holiday party host, such as offering non-alcoholic drinks, serving plenty of food to absorb alcohol, providing low-salt and high-protein foods, and cutting off alcoholic beverages a couple of hours before the party's over. For information about the MADD Safe Party Guide, the Designate a Driver program, and National Sobriety Checkpoint Week campaign, visit the MADD Web site at madd.org. For information about the Nationwide Smart Party guide, visit nationwide.com.
Jan Blaser-Upchurch, MADD national vice president for victim issues, spoke of her late husband, Arizona State Police Sgt. John Blaser, who was killed by a drunk driver while on duty during the Labor Day weekend in 1990. "Eleven years ago my world fell apart, and seven years later to the day, the world felt the devastating impact of drunk driving when Princess Diana was killed in a crash heard around the globe," Blaser-Upchurch said. "Last year, the drunk driving death toll was the same as it was in 1997 -- the year Princess Diana was killed. Since that time, 64,000 Americans have been killed and nearly 2,520,000 others injured in DUI crashes in our country."
Checkpoints Constitutional
Law enforcement organizations, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), support the use of sobriety checkpoints to combat drunk driving. "Sobriety checkpoints are effective because they send a strong signal to the community that impaired driving will not be tolerated," said North Miami Beach Police Chief Bill Berger, who is IACP's first vice president and in-coming president. "Our goal is to keep impaired drivers off our roads for the sake of the millions of motorists and families who will travel by car this Labor Day holiday. We want every one to arrive alive this weekend, and to return to work and school come next Tuesday."The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints in 1990. Currently, 37 states and the District of Columbia conduct checkpoints. Numerous opinion polls have consistently shown strong public support for sobriety checkpoints. The time it typically takes someone to go through a checkpoint is about the same as a stop at a traffic light or an airport security checkpoint.
MADD is working with NOBLE to reach diverse communities with the sober driving message. "The fact is, drunk driving is a threat in rural, suburban and urban communities. Drunk drivers do not discriminate, and everyone is at risk," said Ohio State Patrol Major James H. Walker, who is a member of NOBLE's traffic safety committee. NOBLE was founded 25 years ago in part to address crime and violence in the African-American community. "Let's face it, impaired driving -- whether caused by alcohol or other drugs -- is a crime and the outcome is all too often a violent one."
MADD, NHTSA, the insurance and automotive industries, the law enforcement community, and many health and safety groups have formed a "Partners in Progress" coalition that has set a goal of reducing alcohol-related traffic deaths to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005.
Voice of the Victims
The "Partners in Progress" coalition is advocating states to make sobriety checkpoints an integral part of their enforcement program and to enact several effective measures, including .08 BAC laws, enhanced penalties for repeat offenders and high blood-alcohol offenders, stiffening the penalties for refusing alcohol-breath tests, open container laws, administrative license revocation, child endangerment laws, and felony drunk driving and vehicular homicide laws. Also, MADD is calling on each state to boost seat belt use by enacting standard enforcement safety belt laws.Nationwide employee Melissa Beck spoke of her father, James Henthorne, who was killed by a drunk driver while walking home just before Labor Day weekend in 1994. "Once a victim has been placed in a wheelchair or a grave, it's too late. 'I'm sorry' doesn't make it go away. Don't learn the hard way that drinking and driving kills.
If my words are not enough to convince you, then consider the legal and financial consequences of ruining lives, losing your license, and losing your freedom."
Also participating in the kick-off event were NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge, M.D., Ohio State Representative Rex Damschroder (R-89) who chairs the Ohio House Committee on Transportation and Public Safety and sponsors the .08 BAC drunk driving and standard enforcement safety belt bills, and Bill Sandlin of Cincinnati whose brother, Bob Sandlin, and grandniece, Missy Bowling, were killed by a repeat offender drunk driver during the 1999 Labor Day weekend.
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