MADD marks 25 years of saving lives on U.S. highways

There are few social action movements in the United States that can claim the success that MADD has had in a quarter of a century.
Yes, Mothers Against Drunk Driving is marking its 25th anniversary. The organization estimates that over those years the reduction in drunken driving in the United States has saved 300,000 lives. Those saved lives would represent millions of family members spared the kind of pain that inspired Candace Lightner to establish the first group in California after her 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunken driver.
Within two years the group had its first national success, a bill signed by President Ronald Reagan to set aside federal highway funds for anti-drunken driving efforts. And it had 100 chapters by the end of 1982, including chapters in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Credit due
MADD can take credit for much of the success in reducing drunken driving by 44 percent since its founding.
In 1980, many states defined drunken driving by blood alcohol content levels of 0.15. By last year, all 50 states had adopted levels almost half that, 0.08 percent, in compliance with a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
In addition to tighter standards, stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties for drunken driving, there has been a general increase in awareness by people that drunken driving is a serious crime and it can kill. Slogans such as "Friends don't let friends drive drunk" are a part of the national lexicon. "Designated driver," a phrase that would have had no meaning in 1980, is almost universally recognized as smart practice among groups that decide to go out to bars or clubs by car.
Unnerving vigilance
Locally, members of the Mahoning County Chapter of MADD ruffled some feathers in the early days by announcing that they were going to monitor how various courts handled drunken driving cases. Some courts, they said, had dismissal rates for driving under the influence that were out of line. Years later, federal prosecutors proved that some of MADD's suspicions were correct: bribery was involved in the dismissal of some drunken driving charges in the county.
Over the years, we have taken issue with some of MADD's campaigns. It was an active supporter of DUI roadblocks, a tactic that still strikes us as unconstitutional, even if the Supreme Court did uphold it.
But there is no denying that MADD has led the way in making millions of Americans safer, more responsible drivers. Candace Lightner and many like her channeled the pain of their loss into a movement that saved countless others from ever getting a middle-of-the-night phone call or knock at the door telling them that a son or daughter, husband or wife, brother or sister had been killed in a drunken driving accident.
Those saved lives are something to celebrate.