MADD

Sixteen year-old Kayla Preuss of Highland, California died from head injuries after losing control of her vehicle and crashing on I-10. Phone records suggest that moments before the fatal accident she was sending a text message that may have been a contributing factor in her death. Fox News ran the following headline:

Girl in Fatal Wreck Sent Text Message Moments Before Crash

Her mother also went on the record warning others of the dangers of DWT, driving while texting.

Preuss' mother Kelly said she hopes the accident will make other people think before texting and driving. ~ Fox

Oh, by the way, did I mention she was also DRUNK!

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Yesterday I did a piece on the latest drunk driving support memo from Sarah Longwell of the American Beverage Institute. In this article she basically tries to minimize the damage caused by intoxicated drivers by saying that alcohol-related statistics are grossly exaggerated by activist groups.

The number of deaths that activist groups attribute to drunk driving is grossly exaggerated. Last year, federal statisticians classified almost 18,000 deaths as "alcohol-related." However, alcohol-related does not mean alcohol-caused. In fact, that figure includes anyone killed in a crash in which at least one person (driver, pedestrian, cyclist, etc.) was estimated to have had any trace of alcohol. ~ Tampa Tribune

Unfortunately it is Mrs. Longwell who is misrepresenting the statistics here, the average BAC of fatally injured drunken drivers is .16, that’s twice the legal limit. Just for the record, almost 80% of all alcohol-related traffic fatalities are caused by someone who is legally drunk. It has been my (considerable and relevant) experience that alcohol related accidents are actually underreported if anything. While on the topic I figured I would share just the latest exaggerated instance of an alcohol-related traffic death.

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Hat Tip and thanks to TDA reader AnnaZ for the heads up on this one!
Sarah Longwell is the managing director of the American Beverage Institute (ABI) in Washington, D.C. The ABI is an association of restaurants that just happen to make the majority of their profits not from food, but alcohol sales. So this puts her in the unenviable position of having to defend those that drink and drive to and from these particular profit centers.

I had dubbed her with the admittedly hyperbolic tag of Hitler’s cheerleader in past posts, but after reading her last rant about how the dangers of intoxicated driving are overblown I decided to promote her to one of Satan’s cheerleaders.

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Image from Gawker

Thanks to reader Anna Z for bringing this to my attention.

Britney Spears probably muttered TGFLL (thank God for Lindsay Lohan) when she read Friday’s edition of USA Today that featured the above full page ad featuring Ms Lohan’s DUI mug shot. The ad was commissioned by The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant association that promotes on-premise alcoholic beverage consumption. It was meant to raise awareness about new laws going into affect that allow for ignition interlock use in punishment for drunk driving offences.

Hopefully no one from the ABI drove home after the planning session for this ad campaign because they obviously must have drank one too many of those adult beverages themselves to come up with such an idiotic idea. They might as well run ad add saying we support drunk driving for those not yet convicted of driving under the influence!

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Considering that the official state beverage of Wisconsin is a sober glass of milk, it’s hard to miss the irony in that the state also leads the nation in those that admit to driving under the influence. Add the fact that it also has the dubious honor of scoring the highest percentage in the nation for underage drinking, and it’s even harder not to ask the question, “What’s wrong with Wisconsin?”

Is it the cold winters combined with the world’s cheesiest headwear? Officials state that they are not surprised since drinking is so accepted and a large part of the culture.

Moberg said. "People who come from other states remark on it. Any event you go to (in Wisconsin) has alcohol. But Emerson also said the widespread acceptance of drinking here might well make Wisconsin residents more likely than people elsewhere to answer honestly when asked about driving under the influence. ~ AJC.com

Reading the quote above, I’m not quite sure if they are saying that the people of Wisconsin drink so much that they just accept this behavior or maybe they have just drank themselves honest? Either way it’s bad mojo.

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There has been a trend of growing support for legislation in states such as Vermont, Wisconsin, and South Carolina to lower the drinking age back down to eighteen despite data that suggests that current age limits save lives.

Debate over lowering the drinking age is heating up in several states, fueled in part by legislators who contend that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to buy alcohol legally. ~ USA Today

This argument seemed eminently sensible to me as I neared my eighteenth year in the mid-80’s. I was devastated as states began raising the drinking age to 21 in response to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. As a senior in high school already enlisted in the military; I was aghast at the thought of being old enough to fight yet considered not mature enough to drink. A few years later activated for the first Gulf War and pulled mid-semester from college many of my fellow soldiers found themselves facing overseas wartime deployment, yet denied the right to partake in even a farewell toast. At the time it seemed ridiculous.

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I don't think anyone is "pro" drunk driving, but I’ll be the first to admit it; there is a resentment in recovery circles when the subject of license revocation and other penalties for DUI are discussed. I’ve participated in groups where MADD is spoke of with open hostility because of legislation they have enabled which many believe to be just punitive rather than preventative. Much of this animosity is created by the requirement of courts that offenders must attend recovery programs and outpatient treatment while at the same time taking away their ability (driver’s license) to accomplish this task. This does not stop an alcoholic from driving, yet it may very well be instrumental in obstructing the potential recovery opportunity that a brush with the law offers.

While holding a similar opinion on the suspension or revocation of a driver’s license, I feel the problem lies more with the recovery community and our failure to communicate with the judicial system, law enforcement, and advocacy groups like MADD. The fight against drunk driving has traditionally focused more upon the act itself and less about the underlying causes. Raising both awareness and the drinking age while lowering the BAC standard for impairment has proven to discourage driving under the influence. New technology such as ignition interlocks are being explored to reduce repeat offenders. While measures taken over the last few decades have certainly been effective in reducing drunk driving, but what of the alcoholics, those of us that will drink, and drive, despite all preventive measures and consequences?

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