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Contact: Kathryn Henry, (202) 366-9550
Thursday, June 19, 2003
U.S.
Transportation Secretary Mineta Unveils $11 Million Campaign to Reduce Drinking
and Driving
With
alcohol-related fatalities on the rise for the third year, U.S. Transportation
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today unveiled the first ever You Drink & Drive.
You Lose. advertising campaign. The $11 million campaign will air nationwide in
support of a nationwide July 4th holiday enforcement crackdown on
alcohol-impaired driving.
The
ads, in both Spanish and English, will run June 20-July 13 on national programs
primarily viewed by 21-34 year-old males, the demographic group most likely to
drive impaired. The ads focus on
the consequences violators will face for driving while impaired by alcohol -
they will be arrested. This is the
first time the enforcement crackdown will be supported by a national advertising
effort.
"Ensuring
the safety of all Americans is my highest priority," Secretary Mineta said.
"Every year almost 18,000 people die because of drinking and
driving, so our message is simple: if you drink and drive, you lose.
Today we're putting drunk drivers on notice:
If we catch you drinking and driving, we will arrest you and prosecute
you."
Americans
support tougher enforcement and penalties for drinking and driving.
According to a 2001 Gallup Organization national survey of the nation's
driving age population:
*
97 percent of Americans view alcohol-impaired driving as a threat to their
families and themselves;
* An estimated 1 billion driving trips are made per year by drinking-drivers,
that is, those driving within two hours after drinking;
* A majority of those surveyed (62 percent) felt that sobriety checkpoints
should be used more frequently; and
* 71 percent felt that drinking-driving penalties should be more severe than
they are now.
This
year's campaign will be carried out by tens of thousands of officers from law
enforcement agencies in all 50 states. Thirteen
states have been identified to receive additional advertising and promotional
support because of their high alcohol-related fatality numbers or crash rates,.
These states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West
Virginia.
"Leveraging
resources in these states will achieve the greatest benefit for the country in
lowering the number of alcohol-related fatalities," said NHTSA
Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. "I commend them for taking a
leadership role in helping to reduce fatalities nationwide."
After
years of gradual improvement between the 1980's and 1990's, fatalities in
alcohol-related crashes began to rise in 1999. In 2002, alcohol-related crashes
killed 17,970 people, the most fatalities since 1992.
"The
increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths is a national tragedy, playing out
with another senseless death every 30 minutes, day after day," said MADD
President Wendy J. Hamilton. "It's time for Americans to 'Get MADD All Over
Again' when it comes to drunk driving.
Because
of the millions of people expected on America's highways during the start of the
summer holiday period, the number of impaired driving fatalities has
historically increased during this period.
NHTSA estimates that 560 people will die over the 4th of July holiday
weekend, with more than half (55 percent) alcohol-related.
"Law
enforcement is absolutely committed to catching and prosecuting those who choose
to drive impaired during this crackdown," said Joseph Samuels Jr.,
President, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Chief,
Richmond, CA, Police Department. "It's simply not worth the risk of facing
high fines and court costs, imprisonment, or assault and vehicular manslaughter
charges."
The
"You Drink & Drive. You Lose." national campaign is a
comprehensive impaired driving prevention effort focused on highly visible
criminal justice-related efforts to deter impaired driving and is designed for
use by States and communities to save lives.
For more information on the "You Drink & Drive. You Lose."
national crackdown and campaign, visit NHTSA's website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.