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Inside New Berlin
MADD
By Linda Richter
Saturday, May 10 2008, 10:38 AM
MADD’s mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of violent crime, and prevent underage drinking.
A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article mentions MADD and reports: Jennifer Bukosky, her unborn child, and 10-year old daughter Courtney Bella , were killed when a sport utility vehicle slammed into the rear of their car. Authorities say the driver of that SUV was under the influence of pills. According to court records, he has a history of drug and alcohol abuse dating back to at least 1993. Two days before the fatal crash, he’d been convicted of his third driving while intoxicated (DUI) offense and his license had been revoked.
Wisconsin officials have reacted to this tragic event by urging tougher penalties for repeat offenders. Gov. Doyle (a former attorney general) says a third DUI offense should be made a felony. MADD ( Milwaukee chapter) supports that change. MADD also advocates criminalizing a first offense. Some state legislators plan to draft bills and/or are advocating revocation of driving privileges and confiscation of vehicles for people convicted of a third DUI.
According to MADD’s Web site:
MADD was founded in 1980 by Candy Lightner following the death of her 13 year old daughter Cari. When walking to a school carnival, Cari was struck from behind by a drunk driver who had 3 prior DUI convictions and was out on bail from a hit and run arrest 2 days earlier.
In 1984, MADD changed its name from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD is made up of men, women and young people.
Some sobering statistics can be found on the MADD Web site, including:
- 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol -related crash at some time in their lives.
- In 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes. Of these, an estimated 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal blood alcohol content (.08 or more)
- On average, someone is killed by a drunk driver every 30 minutes.
- Alcohol-related crashes in the US cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000----including $51.1 billion in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life losses. People other than the drinking driver paid $71.6 billion of the alcohol-related crash bill, which is 63% of the total cost of these crashes.
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