MADD-Hawaii is getting madder by increasing programs to deter drunken driving and asking local law enforcement officials to do the same. MADD pushes for tougher laws
By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.comMothers Against Drunk Driving-Hawaii say that's because drunken driving accounted for 41 percent of deaths on Hawaii roads in 2000.
"We need to remember that this (drunken driving) is a very serious problem, (and) is one that does not go away," said Carol McNamee, founder of MADD-Hawaii and vice president of public policy for the MADD chapter.
According to MADD, 16,000 to 17,000 people have died each year since 1994 as a result of drunken driving. In an effort to reduce that number, national MADD officials announced new goals at a news conference last month in Washington, D.C.
The new goals include:
>> Increasing drunken driving enforcement.
>> Enacting tougher sanctions on high-risk or repeat-offense drivers.
>> Reducing underage drinking.
Yvonne Nelson, president of MADD-Hawaii, said that as part of the program, MADD-Hawaii will coordinate high-publicity sobriety checks during Labor Day weekend and other high-risk holidays later this year with the Honolulu Police Department. It also will teach students about the hazards of drunken driving, and the group will back legislation to deter drunken driving, she said.
McNamee said the points are "meant to put the community on notice ... and get it on everyone's radar screen.
"It's a 100 percent preventable problem," she said.
According to the state Department of Transportation, there were 46 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Hawaii in 2001. In 2000 there were 54 alcohol-related traffic fatalities. Both were a jump from the 43 drunken driving-related deaths in 1999 and followed a national trend of increased drunken driving-related accidents and deaths since 1998, Nelson said.
In 2000, 35 states showed an increase in alcohol-related traffic incidents from the previous year, according to MADD statistics. Last year's statistics are not yet available but are expected to be similar, she said.
And that's alarming, McNamee said.
"This is an attack on our country. Nobody really notices until the end of the year (that) we do need to mobilize."
According to MADD statistics, 18 of Hawaii's 54 alcohol-related deaths in 2000 were drivers and passengers from 15 to 20 years old.
To decrease underage drinking and driving, MADD-Hawaii has coordinated an education program for schools to promote responsible drinking for people 21 and older, Nelson said. One of the programs is geared to elementary students, while another is geared to intermediate and high school students, and both will be shown to public school students statewide this fall, McNamee said.
In 2002's state Legislature, MADD-Hawaii offered a bill that would have required drivers under 18 to be accompanied by a licensed driver over 21 when driving between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. The bill went to conference committee but died. Nelson said the purpose of the bill was to discourage underage drinking and driving.