“Traffic deaths from drunken driving have fallen steadily, with those involving teenagers 16 to 19 declining by 39.1 percent from 1982 to 1990, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)”. (Clark, 1992). Even though drinking and driving is a crime thousands of teens continue to get behind the wheel and kill thousands of innocent people in alcohol related crashes every year. There are drunken accidents because teens don’t take drinking and driving seriously. Teens just want to feel the pleasure and they want to feel good but don’t think about the other people or even there selves that they can kill on the road.
This act raised the drinking age to 21 for all 50 states and was huge step for lowering the damage caused by drunk driving. By the end of the year MADD had reached 330 chapters nationwide while helping pass over 129 laws against drunk driving. Not only did MADD make the most successful pushes for anti-drinking laws in last century but they remained true to why the organization was formed in the first place, to comfort victims of the crime. In Kentucky of 1988 the nation watched as a drunk driver took the lives of 41 children and 3 adults, while injuring 30 more. The driver had slammed head on with a bus returning from a church outing.
Social Policy Decisions Paper Tarsha L. Green BSHS/355 March 23, 2014 Professor: Deborah Johnson Social Policy Decisions Paper MADD stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving – it is nonprofit organization that was started May 7, 1980 founded by Candance “Candy” Lightner , and was later joined by a group of mothers that were angry over individuals that drove drunk. Candy started the organization because her daughter was killed by a drunk driver (MADD, 2014). The drunk driver who was responsible for her daughter’s death was in jail two days prior to the incident due to repeated offenses. Candy found out that the person responsible for her daughter’s death may not be punished for the crime, and her daughter will be a victim of an injustice.
Unfortunately many states have taken the easy road and have become over-reliant on the federal government for support. In return they are forced to relinquish power and freedom. This is one of the “cons” to following the federal mandate of the universal MLDA of 21. The main argument against lowering the MLDA again, is the inevitable rise in drunken driving related deaths. In the 1960’s and 1970’s when many states had lowered the MLDA, besides the rise in drunk-driving deaths, studies showed that people raised from childhood in under-21 states were involved in higher rates of alcohol and drug use as adults, and had a higher rate of homicides and suicides.
MADD was created like most organizations because there was someone or a small group of people that saw a need in the community. In the case of the organization MADD, a woman by the name of Candy Lightner after her daughter’s life was tragically taken in May of 1980 by a repeat drunk driver founded "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD)"(www.madd.org). The organization’s purpose and goal was to bring a change to the awareness and attitudes the public carriers in regard to drunk driving. Also, they sought a change in the way the judicial system dealt with those convicted.
Research shows that starting at age sixty-five, elderly drivers are more likely to be involved in deadly, multicar accidents. Although seniors understandably value the independence that comes with having a driver’s license, some people should not be behind the wheel. Should one license last forever, or should elderly drivers be required to undergo periodic reevaluation?” We want to decrease in deadly car accidents, so we should start these evaluations, because there might be many elderly who still have the capabilities to drive but there’re many who aren’t capable. About a month ago I tuned in a local news channel and they were talking about a deadly car accident, two survived but 2 others died and one of the drivers was a 63 year old man, who
Social Policy Decisions Paper Patrize P. Stuart BSHS/355 January 27, 2014 Linda Sewerbridges Introduction Since 1982, there were numerous of deaths by traffic which involved many people driving while drunk. A mother took a stand, to do something about drinking and driving. When this mother took a stand, other mother supported her, and took a stand alongside her. She was determining to influence people, to stand with her to stop death due to drinking and driving, other mothers, that had loss children to drunk drivers, channeled their grieve into the fight, that began in the 1980’s. Children under the age of 21, are not allowed to have no alcohol in their system that sit behind the wheel of an automobile.
In fact, the likelihood that the driver will get into an automobile accident is just the same as someone who has a blood alcohol level of .08 percent, which is when a person is legally intoxicated. Ten states have already banned the use of hand-held phones and 35 states have banned texting while driving. Experts have always compared distracted driving while drunk driving but they are saying a better comparison is smoking, because Americans have an addiction and feel the need to be connected at all times (Matt
The majority of the people voting for the age limit to drop to 18 are the people who are under 18 or who are 18. They feel that 18 year-olds are prepared to make responsible decisions about drinking (Amethyst Initiative). The Amethyst Initiative believes that lowering the drinking age will only make situations worse for society. But the fact is, these people are not thinking about the consequences and are only looking at the pleasure. “More than 1,700 college students in the U.S. are killed each year—about 4.65 a day—as a result of alcohol-related injuries” (The Marin Institute).
In Road Rage, Ferguson points out that in a recent survey that the Coalition for Consumer Health and Safety did, 64% of the people mentioned that they are driving less mannerly and more recklessly than they did about five years ago (553). We all know that road rage can be cause due to many reasons like stress at work and problems at home. Ferguson also points out that road rage could be solve if we had more police and tougher punishments (556), but we all know that won’t really help. I don’t even think that therapy for those road rage individuals would help. We all just have to pray every time we get into a car and just have patience.