Two weeks ago Oxford’s First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers made a life-saving decision by asking town police to drive home an intoxicated patron of a local Oxford establishment. First Selectman Drayton-Rogers made a bold effort to to stop one of the nation’s deadliest crimes – drunk driving.
Despite a more than 40 percent decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities since MADD was founded in 1980, the threat still remains. Every year, nearly 12,000 people are killed
by drunk drivers with an illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or above and countless others are injured.
This represents more than 1,000 families every month that must live with the tragic consequences of drunk driving.
Currently in Connecticut, 44 percent of all motor vehicle crashes are alcohol- related.
In 2009, 99 individuals were killed in alcohol-related fatalities. Behind every statistic there is a son or daughter, a parent or grandparent or a friend who will be sadly missed.
MADD Connecticut is committed to clearly and powerfully advocating for victims of alcohol related crashes.
We are reminded all too often of the prevalence of drunk driving.
Unfortunately, the public often gives first time offenders a pass, yet research has shown that first time offenders have driven drunk an average of 87 times before their first arrest.
We can prevent this behavior and prevent these tragedies from happening.
Currently, MADD on a local and national level is involved in the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving by calling for high visibility law enforcement, mandatory alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers and an increase in public awareness and education.
Research clearly supports court initiatives treating a first DUI offender not as a person who made a simple mistake, but as someone who in all likelihood has driven impaired before, and, without serious intervention will likely drive impaired again — endangering themselves and innocent motorists.
It is with these startling statistics in mind that Mothers Against Drunk Driving is grateful for the actions of First Selectman Drayton-Rogers who stopped yet one more drunk driver from getting on the road. The elimination of drunk driving will only be achieved with the full support of the American public!
Editor’s note: The writer is the executive director of MADD Connecticut in East Haven.
Click here, here and here for our previous stories on this incident.
