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Before the holidays, organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as well as local police forces work hard to ensure that the risk of Hialeah drunk driving accidents is as low as possible. There are educational programs to alert drivers of the dangers of drinking and driving, and police set up checkpoints to stop drunk drivers before they can cause a Hialeah car accident.

Now that the holidays are over, those messages may not make the news anymore. However, the message is still just as important. Drunk driving is an unfortunate risk at any time of the year. To make 2012 safer, make sure that you remember that drunk driving can cause Hialeah traffic accidents at any time of the year. Fortunately, there are many things you can do:

1) Support organizations that fight drinking and driving. MADD gets lots of press coverage and help during the holiday season, but after the holidays they can use some extra help. If you have money or time to donate, contact the organization of your choice to find out how you can help.

2) Have a get-home-safe plan available year-round. During the holidays, you may plan on drinking and may consider ahead of time ways that you can get home safely. While this is great, it is important to have this type of plan available all year long. Even though it is no longer holiday time, you may still end up going to an event where wine is served or may end up having a few drinks when out for dinner. Having a plan and a few options in place around the clock ensures that you can always make a responsible decision. Consider creating a small kit to keep in your car. Supply the kit with the phone numbers of taxi companies, plenty of cash for a cab, and the names and numbers of friends you can call for a drive home if you have been drinking.

3) Decide not to drink and drive and encourage others you know not to drink and drive. Making an absolute commitment to not drink and drive is one of the best ways to ensure that you will not make a poor choice. Talk to your friends and children about drinking and driving and make sure that they have the information and the facts they need to make safe choices.

4) Report drinking and driving. A drunk driver or any driver who is driving dangerously can cause a Hialeah pedestrian accident or traffic accident and is therefore an immediate threat. Have a passenger call police if you see such a driver – police can send a car to investigate the situation to prevent an accident.

Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Winnipeg’s photo enforcement program should take note: its days may be numbered.
Manitoba stories

Many parents of teen drivers worry about their children and may even sit down for discussions about Florida drunk driving accidents or distracted driving. While such talks can be great, it is also important to remember that it’s best not to wait until sixteen. By the time your child is sixteen, he or she has been in and out of cars for years. It is important to start having these discussions much earlier – when your teen is a pre-teen or a child. There are many things you can do:

1) Have a list of people your teen can call. Your child or teen may not always feel comfortable talking to you or calling you if he or she wants to avoid a drunk driver. It’s a good idea, therefore, to have a list of adult friends and family they can call for a safe ride home. A list of contacts also ensures your child is safe even if they cannot reach you directly.

2) Create a agreement with other members of your family. Consider creating a formal agreement with your teens or pre-teens and with some adult friends and family. The agreement can indicate that your teen or pre-teen can call any of these adults when they need a safe ride home and they will get one – no questions asked. Have your teen add any provisions they need to feel comfortable with making that call.

3) Sign an agreement with your teen or pre-teen about driving safely. Get it in writing and get it specific so that your teen or child knows exactly what their responsibilities are. It is best to have your child help you in drafting the agreement, to ensure that they understand it completely.

4) Teach your child about pedestrian safety. Children are more likely to be in Florida pedestrian accidents because they spend less time in cars than most adults. Reviewing pedestrian safety rules regularly is important to ensure that your child knows how to be safe around cars – as well as in them.

5) Teach your child about car safety. It’s not just Florida car accidents that are a danger – there are also strangers in cars, cars backing up, and other dangers. Show your child the basics of car safety – how to get out of a car or trunk, how to approach a car, how to recognize when a car or truck is backing up. The more your child knows, the more he or she can stay safe.

Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog

While celebrating the luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s day with parades and pub parties, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reminds the public to designate a non-drinking driver before celebrations begin. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 78 people were killed in drunk driving crashes on St. Patrick’s Day 2007.

“Don’t press your luck by not planning ahead,” said Laura Dean-Mooney, MADD national president. “Designating a sober driver should always be a part of the celebration planning process. A designated driver is your most important lucky charm.”

MADD recommends that everyone designate a sober driver before celebrations begin. To prevent drunk driving in the first place, planning ahead includes ensuring guests are safe. MADD’s online Safe Party Guide is available at www.madd.org/safeparty. Here are common misconceptions of drunk driving.

Myth: Coffee can sober up someone who has had too much to drink.Fact: Only time sobers. It takes about one hour to process each drink through the body.

Myth: Hard liquor is more intoxicating than beer or wine.Fact: A 12-ounce can of beer, a five-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce wine cooler contain the same amount of alcohol and the same intoxication potential as 1 1/2 oz. of liquor.

Myth: Someone who has had too much to drink will look intoxicated.Fact: Someone’s physical appearance can be misleading.

MADD Oregon News

 
What’s wrong with this picture…besides the macho "top gun" stuff?

Local Officers Honored as "Top Guns" for DUI Arrests



York, PA.  Oct. 20 – Local law enforcement officers will be honored for taking more than 380 impaired drivers off York roads last year.

The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association will honor 48 officers statewide with 2010 DUI Top Gun Awards…

"We are taking this opportunity to honor those officers in Pennsylvania who were leaders during 2009 in either making DUI arrests or conducting drug influence evaluations on impaired drivers," C. Stephen Erni, executive director of the Pennsylvania DUI Association, said…

So….why are cops being given awards for making arrests — rather than for arrests resulting in convictions?  (For a discussion of the problem, see my earlier post Officers Rewarded for Arrests – Not Convictions.)

 

DUI BLOG

Oregon Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. Effort
in Full Force This Labor Day, Cracking Down on Drunk Driving

Eugene, OR (August 28, 2008)– Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Eugene Affiliate Office and Oregon law enforcement agencies announced today they will kick off a major drunk driving crackdown on Friday, August 29, as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s national crackdown: Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.

In Oregon 455 people have died in traffic crashes in 2007. Of those fatalities, 150 people have been killed in alcohol impaired crashes in which the driver or motorcyclist had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. Motorcyclists account for 16 of the 150 alcohol impaired crash fatalities. Debra Weaver, who lost her nephew Shawn Cummings the eve of Memorial Day weekend, May 27, 2006 when a drunk driver hit and killed him and his girlfriend Tamera Lewallen and their four year old daughter Jillian on Highway I-105, as they traveled to get ice cream, hopes that her story will serve as a reminder of what a terrible and life-altering decision drunk driving is. “We miss them so much; our hearts are aching and our lives are spinning. No one should ever have to go through this.”

Officer Evan Sether, Springfield Police Department’s designated DUII officer, was one of the first officers on scene for the fatal crash involving Debra Weaver’s family, “It had such a profound impact on me that it became my primary motivation towards stopping impaired drivers.” Officer Sether will continue his aggressive DUII enforcement working every night over the Labor Day weekend.

Oregon State Police plans to team up with the Lane County Sheriffs office in their saturation patrol efforts over the Labor Day weekend and are planning on using the department airplane over the parts of Saturday during the commute to and from the U of O game. “High visibility enforcement is a proven way to deter drunk drivers” said Lt. Mike Bloom from the Oregon State Police. “We will be out in force this Labor Day weekend using all of the tools and resources available to remind drivers: If you drive drunk, you will be arrested and subjected to the consequences. No exceptions. No excuses.”

For those stopped for drunk driving, the consequences faced do not end with the arrest. A convicted drunk driver can face fines, court and lawyer fees, a suspended license, an impounded car and, in a number of states, a period of time of alcohol ignition interlock use.

Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. combines the mobilization of thousands of law enforcement agencies in all 50 states with an million national advertising campaign. The increased attention produces results – highly publicized, highly visible, and frequent sobriety checkpoints reduce alcohol-related crashes and fatalities by up to 24 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If we can prevent even one family from suffering as Debra’s has, we will have made a difference. Aggressive enforcement of drunk driving laws and interlocks for convicted drunk drivers reduce the number of injuries and deaths caused by drunk driving,” said Lois Harvick, MADD Eugene Affiliate Executive Director. “Together we can eliminate drunk driving in Oregon.”

MADD supports the Labor Day enforcement crackdown as one of its key initiatives under the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, which calls for increased high visibility enforcement, like the crackdowns; alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers; exploration and development of advanced technologies to one day make it impossible for a vehicle to be driven by someone that is drunk; and grassroots support for all of these efforts. The public is encouraged to report any suspected impaired driver by calling 911 or 1-800-24DRUNK.

Studies show that alcohol ignition interlocks reduce repeat drunk driving by an average of 65 percent. If all states required alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, we could save up to 4,000 lives a year.

NHTSA’s national crackdown is conducted in partnership with MADD, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

MADD’s mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. MADD is a 501 (c) (3) charity with 2 million members and supporters nationwide. Founded in 1980, MADD has helped save more than 358,000 lives. For more information, visit www.madd.org. or www.maddeugene.org and www.maddpdx.org

MADD Oregon News