National Commission Against Drunk Driving Appoints New President And Board Members to Drive Its Mission Into the 21st Century
27 November 2000
National Commission Against Drunk Driving Appoints New President And Board Members to Drive Its Mission Into the 21st Century
Focus Now Includes the Use of High Technology
In the War Against Drunk Driving
New Devices to Be Spotlighted at the Alcohol-Traffic Safety
High Tech Forum and 16th Annual Awards Luncheon
In Washington, DC, November 29 and 30
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 The National Commission Against Drunk
Driving (NCADD) has announced the appointment of John V. Moulden as its new
President. Mr. Moulden also heads the consulting firm of Transportation
Safety Associates, and has previously served as Special Assistant to the
Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Alcohol Countermeasures
specialist for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Principal
Staff Assistant to President Reagan's Presidential Commission Against Drunk
Driving, and as Vice President for Public Policy of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD).
Moulden will serve under Board Chairman Robert C. Stempel of Energy
Conversion Devices, Inc. and former Chairman of General Motors.
NCADD has also named Harold D. Watson as Director of Programs and
Development, who served as State Executive Director for MADD South Carolina
for nine years.
Additional appointments to the Board of Directors include:
* Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota, Senior Democratic Member,
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
* Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, member of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
* Jim Fell, Director of Human Performance Technologies, Star Mountain,
Inc., and former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
alcohol-traffic safety researcher
* Fran Helmstadter, Chair, Remove Intoxicated Drivers-USA
* H. Lane Kneedler, Esq., attorney and former Virginia Deputy Attorney
General
* Susan Morris, President, Equals Three Communications, Bethesda,
Maryland
* Jerald Sachs, Co-Founder of Washington Regional Alcohol (WRAP) and
Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM); Special Assistant,
Director for Business Development and Marketing at the Smithsonian's
National Museum of Natural History
* Dr. Carl Soderstrom, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of
Physical Education, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of
Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore
* Dr. Robert Voas, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist for Pacific Institute
for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) in Calverton, Maryland, and former
alcohol-traffic safety researcher with the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.
* Col. Lonnie Westphal, Chief of Colorado State Patrol, representing the
International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The NCADD is a non-profit organization of public and private sector
leaders who are dedicated to continuing the work of the President's Commission
on Drunk Driving, appointed in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, and to focus
the nation on ways to reduce this serious threat to public health and safety.
Accordingly, the Commission relies heavily on the leadership of the board of
directors and the diverse constituencies they represent to work together with
government officials, grass roots organizations, as well as law enforcement,
research and healthcare communities to identify developing strategies and
programs that show promise in reducing the incidences of impaired driving.
Despite nearly two decades of progress, drunk driving remains a pervasive
problem, with the most recent statistics serving as sobering testimony to its
tragic human and economic impact. NCADD asserts that national awareness must
be combined with targeted education and enforcement efforts to reach the most
intractable groups of drunk drivers.
Among these drivers are young adults between the ages of 21 and 34, who
are responsible for approximately 50 percent of all impaired driving crashes.
Recent studies indicate this group is drinking to much higher levels of
intoxication than other age groups.
Chronic drunk drivers, while only accounting for one percent of all
drivers on weekend nights, represents nearly 50 percent of all fatal crashes
at that time. In response, NCADD advocates that anyone arrested on a DWI/DUI
charge should be screened for underlying alcohol problems. If there is a
problem, they recommend placement in a treatment program, along with the
required use of innovative technological devices such as ignition interlock
that will prevent operation of a vehicle while impaired.
The third group, underage drinkers, continue to be disproportionately
represented in impaired driving crashes. Consequently, NCADD has created a
national educational program to inform young people and their parents about
the consequences of combining alcohol, drugs and driving. NCADD also is a
strong proponent of "zero tolerance" drinking-driving laws, as well as "use
and lose" laws that suspend the drivers license of anyone in violation of the
21 minimum drinking age law.
Another top priority of NCADD is to encourage states to enact and enforce
various lifesaving laws. This includes the .08 percent BAC drunk driving
standard that is supported by virtually every health, safety, medical,
insurance, automotive and law enforcement organization in the country. NCADD
has also been actively promoting underage drinking laws, "higher risk driver"
laws, as well as endorsing the use of high-tech devices such as passive
alcohol sensors and ignition interlock devices to thwart drunk driving.
These advancements will be spotlighted at an upcoming NCADD-sponsored
Alcohol-Traffic Safety High-Tech Forum and 16th Annual National Awards
Luncheon at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. on November 29th and
30th.
For more information, the NCADD can be reached at 202-452-6004 or visit
the NCADD Web site at http://www.ncadd.com .
The NCADD recently established an online .08 Information Center to assist
elected officials, advocacy groups and concerned citizens in passing .08 drunk
driving legislation in every state.