Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is the nation’s largest nonprofit working to protect families from drunk driving and underage drinking. MADD also supports drunk and drugged driving victims (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000).
The MADD organization is the result of the tragic death of Cari Lightner and was highly influenced by the suffering of young Laura Lamb which lead to her death as well. Throughout the years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has expanded to every state in the United States and a couple other countries as well.
MADD changed the public’s perception toward alcohol impaired driving with its many campaigns. Most of these campaigns have resulted in laws and funds that have benefited the victims of drunk drivers and help to deter people from driving drunk to begin with. MADD’s focus for the past few years has been the prevention of underage drinking. . Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded as the result of the tragic death of 13-year-old Cari Lightner. In May of 1980, Cari was walking with a friend to a church carnival. As they walked along the road, a drunk driver swerved into the bike lane and hit Cari from behind.
The force of the impact threw Cari 125 feet. The 47-year-old driver passed out, then drove away after regaining consciousness, leaving Cari lying in the road. It wasn’t until a few days later that her family found out that alcohol was involved in the accident. Candace Lightner, Cari’s mother, was shocked when she discovered that the man who took her daughter’s life had a history of drunk driving. He had just gotten out on bail for a hit and run drunk driving crash which was his fifth offense in four years. Candace’s shock turned to angry when she was told that the man would likely not be given in prison time.
The Report on Drunk Driving 11
Drunk driving is a primary cause of highway traffic accidents causing deaths and injuries with enormous monetary costs to society. The drunk driving was first recognized as a policy problem in the literature in 1904, approximately 5 years after the first highway traffic fatality in the United States (Voas and Lacey). In 1982, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started keeping ...
To have a child killed because of someone else’s negligence and to know that person wouldn’t be given the punishment deserved for the crime, was too much for Candace Lightner. Fueled by her anger for the injustice, Candace founded MADD as a way to let Cari’s story be known and support victims of similar crimes (MADD, 2012).
Another person who was instrumental to the success of MADD was young Laura Lamb. Laura was only five-and-a-half-months old when a drunk driver hit the pick-up truck she and her mother, Cindi, was in. The accident left Laura paralyzed from the neck down.
Just shy of six months old, Laura Lamb became the nation’s youngest quadriplegic (MADD, 2012).
Laura’s doctors didn’t belive she would live for more than 72 hours after the accident but she did and even regained the use of most of her right arm (MADD, 2012).
Unfortunately, Laura didn’t live without many health problems including osteoporosis, periodic lung collapses, and the inability to control her body temperature. Even with her many health problems, Laura was an inspiration to so many people because she didn’t let her disabilities determine who she would become.
Although Laura’s outlook of life was mostly optimistic, she still struggled with her health problems and physical disabilities. Cindi on the otherhand could not witness her daughter’s suffering and remain silent. She began writing letters to everyone who had the power to do something about the drunk driving problem (MADD, 2012).
It didn’t take long for Laura’s story to catch the attention of the media. A whole anti-drunk driving campaign began, leading to colaberation with Candace Lightner, the founder of MADD.
The Essay on Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Candace Lynne Lightner, also known as Candy Lightner, is well recognized as being the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) (Overbey, 2006). Having been born in the year 1946 in Pasadena, California, Candace graduated from high school and proceeded to enroll in American River College in Sacramento where she also graduated (Lerner, 2011). She later married Steve Lightner and went on to ...
Over a span of three to four years, the trio made many appearances to fight for the MADD campaign and victim’s rights. Sadly Laura’s fight came to an end after a seizure left her brain dead, she died on March 12, 1986, at the age of seven. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has over 600 state organizations, chapters, and community action teams in each of the 50 states, as well as affiliates in Guam, Puerto Rico, and Canada (Hamilton, 2012).
MADD consists of over three million members and supporters nationwide (Hamilton, 2000).
The national offices of Mothers Against Drunk Driving are located in Irving, Texas and Washington, D. C. (MADD, 2012).
MADD has 26 national board of director members, including a youth director, who manage the business of the corporation, set the direction of the organization, and establish public policy positions based on research (Hamilton, 2012).
Most of the officers of the national board of directors for Mothers Against Drunk Driving that make up the started as volunteers. Many of the people involved have personal experiences with the loss of losing a loved one because of drunk driving.
Debbie Weir is the chief executive officer of MADD. She joined the MADD national office in 2002 as leader of victim services. As the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving she leads the nationwide efforts to save lives and prevent injuries associated with drunk driving. Like so many of the advocates for MADD, Jan Withers became involved in 1992, after her daughter, Alisa Joy was killed by an underage drunk driver. She first volunteered by sharing her story and lobbying for tougher legislation. Through her hard work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Jan Withers is now the National President of MADD.
Her new focus in life was to try to make a difference by helping to stop this preventable violent crime (MADD, 2012).
In 1984, Congress created the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and the Crime Victims Fund, which provides funds to organizations, like MADD, for victim assistance and compensation programs that offer support and services to those affected by violent crimes (MADD, 2012).
MADD relies on VOCA funds to help serve drunk driving victims in many states. Last year, MADD served over 63,000 drunk and drugged driving victims at no charge (MADD, 2012).
The Essay on Drinking And Driving Alcohol Drunk Impaired
Physical Well-Being: Drinking and Driving Personal Response There are a few reasons I picked a subject within the dimension of physical well-being. I think all people should look after their bodies and try to be healthy and in shape. The physical component is one of my strongest out of the five components, therefore, it is one of the most important to me. The main reason I chose the subject of ...
Mothers Against Drunk Driving provides victim compensation to eligible victims or their family. MADD understands that an accident caused by an impaired driver isn’t the only suffering that victims must deal with. Most often a victim will have the burden of medical bills, property damage, and possibly funeral expences in addition to the pain from injuries or the loss of a loved one. The Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim compensation program can also help with the cost of counseling services, child care, crime scene cleanup, and lost wages (MADD, 2012).
For the past thirty three years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been an advocate for victims of drunk driving. The goals of MADD remain the same, but they have expanded to include a new focus of preventing underage drinking. MADD has been influential in the creation of several laws that have changed the nation’s perception of driving while intoxicated. As a result of it being form due to tragedy, there will always be a force behind all of the campaigns put into motion by MADD. The Victims of Crime Act and the Crime Victims Fund are among the greatest achievements of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
