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Nationwide Enforcement Blitz Aims at Drunk Drivers And Deadbeat Drivers

20 November 2000

More than 10,000 Agencies Crack Down On Adults Who Don't Buckle Up Kids and Who Drink and Drive
                 
    WASHINGTON - For the first time in history this Thanksgiving week, the 
nation will mobilize in a coordinated effort to protect children from two of 
the leading risks they face: riding with a drunk driver and riding unrestrained.  
Law enforcement officers in all 50 states will be out in force ticketing drivers 
who fail to buckle up their child passengers and arresting drivers found drunk.  
This year Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is joining forces with the Air 
Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign (AB&SBSC) to support the law enforcement crackdown, 
which has in the past focused solely on enforcement of child restraint laws.  
The Mobilization starts today and continues through the Thanksgiving weekend.

    "We are shocked by random acts of street violence that take the life of an
innocent child.  It's time we react with equal concern at the number one
killer of our children -- highway crashes," said Jim Hall, chair of the
National Transportation Safety Board.  "As a nation we should have zero
tolerance for adults who risk children's lives by driving drunk or by failing
to buckle up the children in their car."

    Most children who are killed in alcohol-related crashes die at the hands
of someone they know.  Two out of three children under age 14 who die in
crashes involving alcohol are riding as passengers in a drunk driver's car
when they are killed, according to research from the Centers for Disease
Control.  And the more alcohol consumed by a driver-the less likely child
passengers will be restrained.

    "The tragedy is that drunk drivers are often the cause of their own
children's deaths," said Chuck Hurley, spokesperson for the Air Bag & Seat
Belt Safety Campaign.

    The Mobilizations began in 1997 to decrease the staggering number of
children who were being killed in crashes each year simply because they were
unrestrained.  The U.S. Department of Transportation now credits the
Mobilizations for contributing to a significant decline in child fatalities
and for helping to increase child restraint use.

    Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death to children, killing more
than 2,000 children each year.  Nearly one-fourth of these deaths are alcohol-
related.  Six out of ten children who die in crashes are completely
unrestrained.

    "Adults who knowingly put kids at risk by failing to buckle them up are
deadbeat drivers; they should be held accountable just like drunk drivers,"
said Wendy Hamilton, National Vice President of Field Issues for Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.  "Strict enforcement of drunk driving and belt laws is
the best way to protect innocent children and prevent devastating tragedies."

    Lt. Carl McDonald, whose five-year-old daughter died in a crash while
riding with her mother who was driving drunk, attended the national news event
to launch the Mobilization.  "My daughter didn't have to die," said Lt. Carl
McDonald.  "She lost her life because her mother broke the law by driving
drunk and not putting her in her car seat."

    Tens of thousands of officers will hit the streets during one of the most
heavily traveled holiday weeks of the year to conduct saturation patrols and
checkpoints.  "Officers across the nation are sending the same message," said
Ida Gillis, National President of the National Organization of Black Law
Enforcement Executives.  "If you put innocent lives at risk by not buckling up
kids or by driving drunk, we're going to find you and law enforcement action
will be taken against you to protect our children."

    The number of agencies participating in the twice-yearly Mobilization has
grown ten-fold, from 1,000 agencies in 1997 to more than 10,000.  Since the
Mobilizations began:

    Child fatalities from traffic crashes have declined by 17 percent,
exceeding a 1997 goal set by the Clinton Gore Administration to decrease these
deaths by 15 percent by the year 2000.

    Restraint use for infants rose to 97 percent (up from 85 percent in 1996),
and for children ages one to four, it has climbed to 91 percent (up from 60
percent in 1996).

    The rate of air bag deaths has dropped by nearly 80 percent.  National adult 
belt use has risen to an all-time high of 71 percent.

    A nationwide survey conducted for the AB&SBSC found that deadbeat drivers
who refuse to buckle up children admit themselves that it takes tickets and
strong fines to get them to buckle up their child passengers.  Similarly, a
recent MADD survey of people who drink alcohol found that nine out of ten said
losing their license would discourage them from driving after drinking.

    "We are extremely proud of our progress, but our work is not done," Hurley
said.  "One out of three school age children between the ages 5 of 15 still
ride unrestrained, which means 15 million children are still at terrible risk
every day."

    Coordinated by the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign in partnership with
law enforcement, state highway safety offices, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration's Buckle Up America initiative and the National
Transportation Safety Board, the Mobilization is joined this year by Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.  The Mobilization is a part of BuckleUp America, an
ongoing national initiative to increase seat belt use and save the lives of
Americans.  The effort is supported by the International Association of Chiefs
of Police, the National Sheriffs Association, Operation CARE, the National
Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and more than 1,000
businesses and community organizations.