| In recent years, two organizations have
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| | drinking. It has also created Victim
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| been formed to combat the deadly menace
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| | Impact Panels, where people convicted of
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| of drunk drivers. MADD (Mothers Against
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| | driving while intoxicated hear the
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| Drunk Driving) was formed to stop drunk
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| | stories of parents, relatives and friends
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| driving, support the victims of it and
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| | of victims of drunk driving accidents.
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| prevent underage drinking. SADD (Students
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| | Twenty-six years after the founding of
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| Against Destructive Decisions) was
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| | MADD, alcohol related driving deaths in
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| created to provide students with the best
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| | the United States have been reduced to
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| prevention and tools to deal with
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| | about 17,000 annually. Today MADD has 600
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| underage drinking, drug use, impaired
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| | chapters, community action teams and
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| driving and other destructive decisions.
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| | offices in the United States.
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| The two organizations take different
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| | SADD was founded by Robert Anastas of
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| approaches to drunk driving and each is
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| | Wayland High School in Massachusetts as
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| succeeding in its own way.
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| | Students Against Driving Drunk in 1981.
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| MADD was founded in 1980 by Cindy
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| | SADD emerged as a response to more than
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| Lightner, following the death of her 13
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| | 6,000 young people being killed in
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| year old daughter who was killed by a
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| | alcohol related accidents each year.
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| drunk driver out of bail for a hit and
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| | Anastas and 15 other students wrote the
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| run accident only two days earlier.
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| | Contract for Life to facilitate
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| Lightner and other mothers who had lost
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| | communication between young people and
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| children to drunk drivers formed MADD in
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| | their parents about potentially
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| an effort to stop the more than 30,000
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| | destructive decisions related to alcohol.
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| alcohol related driving deaths each year.
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| | SADD's approach to the problem was to
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| They worked, not only to educate the
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| | develop peer-to-peer educational programs
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| public about the dangers of drunk
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| | in school chapters ranging from middle
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| driving, but to change societal attitudes
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| | schools to colleges. In 1997, SADD
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| about drinking and driving.
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| | expanded its mission to include underage
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| By 1982, MADD had established 100
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| | drinking, substance abuse, impaired
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| chapters across the nation. MADD appeared
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| | driving, violence, and suicide. SADD's
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| in newspapers and on TV. It addressed
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| | programs are keyed to the needs of
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| lawmakers, presenting not just
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| | individual school locations. These
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| statistics, but the faces of the victims
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| | include peer-led classes, forums,
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| of drunk drivers. Thanks to their
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| | workshops, conferences and rallies, and
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| efforts, President Reagan signed into law
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| | other awareness-raising activities.
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| the Uniform Drinking Age Act in 1984.
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| | Over its first decade, SADD has worked
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| MADD expanded its campaign from "Don't
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| | with many federal and state agencies,
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| Drive Drunk" to "Don't Drink and Drive."
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| | nonprofit groups and foundations to get
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| To accomplish this, it has recommended
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| | its message across. By 1990, due in part
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| higher beverage taxes, lower drunk
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| | to the work of SADD, the number of young
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| driving arrest thresholds, and roadblocks
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| | people killed in alcohol related
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| designed to frighten people out of social
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| | accidents fell to 2,000 per year.
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