MADD to “Get MADD All Over Again”
Issues Drunk Driving Report Card to Nation, States

November 21, 2002. Washington, DC. With alcohol-related fatalities on the rise, MADD held a news conference to issue a report card to the nation and the individual states on impaired driving efforts. The nation earned a C, down from 1999’s C-plus, but the same as the grade earned in 1996.

“We are here to issue a warning to all America: drunk drivers are winning again,” said MADD President Wendy Hamilton. “Drunk driving continues to be the most frequently committed violent crime. Alcohol is still the number one youth drug problem. We are losing ground in the war on drunk driving and underage drinking,” she said.

Last year, 17,448 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes—representing 41 percent of all traffic deaths.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Peck Studios

MADD National President Wendy J. Hamilton
unveils the nation’s grade of “C” at the Washington, DC
2002 Rating the States press conference. MADD also announces
the report card grades for each of the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico
on their efforts to combat drunk driving and underage drinking.

In a statement, NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge said, “We have a serious problem in this country when we tolerate the loss of 17,000 lives in alcohol related crashes. This number of fatalities shows we have stopped making progress. We are refocusing the nation’s attention on enforcement, prosecution, adjudication and treatment, and are intensifying our work with our partners to reenergize our collective efforts to stop impaired driving.”

MADD urged the nation to adopt an eight-point plan to jump-start the war on impaired driving. The plan urges citizens and leaders to “Get MADD All Over Again” and calls for widespread use of sobriety checkpoints and other highly visible enforcement efforts, tougher laws for the more serious DUI offenders, court monitoring programs, higher beer excise taxes, enacting stronger safety belt laws, reducing underage drinking, and establishing a National Traffic Safety Fund to support education and enforcements programs.

In the report, MADD notes one of the strengths for the nation is that “The NHTSA Administrator has declared that 2003 will mark a renewed commitment to combating alcohol-impaired driving. As an emergency department physician, Administrator Runge has personally witnessed the devastation that results from drunk driving.”

The entire MADD Rating the States 2002 report can be found on MADD’s website at www.madd.org.

White House Drug Czar Launches Campaign to Stop Drugged Driving

November 19, 2002. Washington, DC. NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge joined John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, and the family of a drugged driving victim to announce a collaborative effort to reduce drugged driving on American roads.

“While the consequences of drunk driving have become well known over the past 20 years, drugged driving has received relatively limited attention,” said Director Walters. “We have solid data regarding the prevalence and seriousness of impaired driving. America already loses too many lives to drivers who are under the influence of alcohol. We cannot allow a lack of public awareness to contribute to the deaths of more innocent motorists.”

John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy,
and Dr. Runge at press conference to announce
a collaborative effort to reduce drugged driving.

NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge cited a NHTSA study on drug use by fatally injured drivers that found 18% of drivers had drugs other than alcohol in their bloodstreams at the time of the crash, and that two-thirds of these also had tested positive for illegal levels of alcohol.

“I am grateful to Director Walters and the ONDCP for helping us shine a light on the problem of drug impaired driving,” said Dr. Runge. “We need to expand our research in this area so that the nature and magnitude of the drugged driving problem can be further defined.”

Expanded research is likely to include work to determine the incidence and role of drugs in fatally and seriously injured drivers, improving the drug detection process, and an examination of the effects of certain drugs on driving behavior.

To increase awareness of the problem of drugged driving, ONDCP unveiled two new television PSAs that will begin airing in January. For more information, visit www.theantidrug.com.

Deputy Administrator Sandberg Moves to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Deputy Slot

November 25, 2002. Secretary Mineta announced that Annette M. Sandberg, who has served as deputy administrator of NHTSA since February 11, 2002, is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s deputy administrator, effective today.

“Annette Sandberg brings vast experience and savvy to a job that will continue to be challenging,” Secretary Mineta Said. “The leadership she demonstrated in NHTSA helped improve highway safety in this country and now we are asking her to help reduce truck-related fatalities.”

Sandberg was the chief of the Washington State Patrol for six years and is a nationally recognized expert on law enforcement and traffic safety. She spent more than 17 years in law enforcement, supervisory and administrative posts—some of which included responsibility for motor carrier safety.

Sandberg was instrumental in assisting Dr. Runge with fulfilling the responsibilities of the TREAD Act, preparing for the upcoming Reauthorization, and the current reorganization within the agency.

CIREN Crash Investigator Wins Educational Outreach Award

By Catherine McCullough,
Research and Development

Rob Kaufman, the crash investigator and coordinator for the CIREN (Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network) center in Seattle, Washington has won the 2002 Washington State Traffic Safety Commission’s Award for Educational Outreach. The award is given to those who have demonstrated outstanding effort in forming effective educational programs promoting traffic safety, especially safety belt use.

Rob Kaufman has been involved with crash injury research for NHTSA over the last 13 years. He has worked on many NHTSA research programs that included NASS (National Automotive Sampling System), SUDA (Speed and Unsafe Driver Actions study) and PCDS (Pedestrian Crash Data Study). In 1996 Rob became the crash investigator for the Seattle CIREN site located at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. Later Rob became the coordinator for the CIREN center and started creating outreach and training presentations utilizing the CIREN research that documents crash injury mechanisms. Many of the presentations address occupant kinematics, especially promoting the importance of safety belt use. Over just the last few years, he has conducted outreach and training at over 80 national, regional, state, and local events at medical, traffic safety and state conferences mainly throughout NHTSA Region X. The contents of these presentations have utilized the CIREN research to train and educate many target audiences, which includes: trauma care providers, law enforcement investigators, traffic safety personnel, and the public, especially young drivers. Rob created a program called “The Force is with You” for the pre-driver age that emphasizes safety belt use and has reached over a thousand students in just the last year. “If we can just get one young driver to start buckling up and know that we might be saving their life some day, is really what motivates me”, Rob explained. “With the information CIREN provides engineers, the effort we make to show teenagers and the public the importance of wearing safety belts, and the new knowledge of crash injury mechanisms being given to the trauma care providers, driving can be a safer experience,” he says. “Crashes can’t always be prevented; our goal is to help more people survive them.”

NHTSA and the Ad Council Launch New Impaired Driving Public Service Announcements
Ads Mark the Tenth Anniversary of the “Innocent Victims” Campaign

November 2002. With alcohol-related traffic crashes continuing to kill more than 17,000 people a year, a disturbing trend that shows no signs of abating, The Advertising Council and NHTSA announced the launch of new public service announcements (PSAs) to communicate that it is everyone’s responsibility to take action to prevent drunk driving.

Created pro bono by ad agency DDB Worldwide, the new television, radio and print PSAs, with the highly recognizable tagline, “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk,” feature real photographs and home video footage of victims who have lost their lives as a result of drunk driving.

“For nearly 20 years, the Drunk Driving Prevention campaign has revealed the impact and the power of public service advertising to influence attitudes and change behaviors,” said Peggy Conlon, Ad Council President and CEO. “I am confident that these new PSAs will continue the success of the “Innocent Victims” campaign by putting a real, human face on these preventable tragedies and will motivate people to take action the next time a friend attempts to drive drunk.”

One television spot, “Jesselyn Rose,” shows a vibrant young girl marching and cheering for her high school football team. The screen fades to black and words explain that a drunk driver hit her. Then, viewers see Jesselyn in a hospital bed in a vegetative state, and words explain that she lived for eleven years in this condition following the incident.

“Last year, 17,448 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, and we’ve had no real progress in 10 years,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge. “The problem is real, and everyone is at risk everyday. The problem cannot be solved unless Americans want to solve it.”

Two new radio PSAs, entitled “Supermarket,” and “Telemarketer,” are compelling vignettes of the personal tragedy of impaired driving and the effect on the loved ones left behind. The TV and radio campaign also is supplemented by print ads.

This year also marks the fifth year in partnership with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving (RADD). Television and radio PSAs were produced featuring baseball great Barry Bonds, Aerosmith and Marc Anthony encouraging listeners to stop a friend from driving drunk.

The Drunk Driving Prevention campaign remains one of the most successful PSA campaigns in history, receiving more than $88 million in donated media time and space in 2001, the most support received by an Ad Council campaign last year.

Click It or Ticket/Operation ABC Law Enforcement Mobilization Joins Forces with the U.S. Military

November 25, 2002. Marine Barracks, Washington, DC. NHTSA Administrator Jeff Runge kicked off the national “Click It Or Ticket”/Operation ABC (America Always Buckles Up Children) Seat Belt Law Enforcement Mobilization, which took place Nov. 25 through Dec. 1. The campaign to enforce seat belt laws this year was joined by the U.S. armed forces as they stress the importance of buckling up on and off base. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of U.S. troops.

Dr. Runge speaks at the kick off of the “Click It Or Ticket”/
Operation ABC Seat Belt Law Enforcement Mobilization

“NHTSA is proud to join with the armed forces and more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies around the country in a nationwide, coordinated crackdown against safety belt violators, especially during the holiday season,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge.

According to the most recent NHTSA survey, safety belt use reached 75 percent this year, its highest level since national surveys began in 1994. States with primary safety belt laws passed another milestone—80 percent belt use—while states with secondary laws averaged 69 percent.

Safety belts and child restraints are the best defense against traffic fatalities and injuries, but they must be used on every trip, every time. NHTSA is committed to reaching a national goal of 78 percent safety belt use by 2003.

2002 Minority Business Enterprise Award

Pictured below are the staff members of Rainbow Technology Inc., working for Advanced Research and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Rainbow Technology was a recipient of the Minority Business Enterprise for the year 2002 awarded by NHTSA and DOT. Standing from left to right: Dr. Santokh Singh, Babak Khorrami, Dr. Ramal Moonesinghe, Robert Miller, Gowri Srinivasan, Rajesh Subramanian, A. R. Char, President, Keith Poindexter, and Paul Lobo. Seated are Dahlia Panton and Gina Thompson. Not Shown, Cherian Varghese.

USDOT, Landstar Team Up
to Encourage Drivers to Buckle Up

November 21, 2002. Jacksonville, Fla. NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeff Runge announced a lifesaving partnership between NHTSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Landstar System, Inc., to promote a nationwide safety belt program.

Landstar, a large motor carrier, will help increase seat belt use by posting “Click It Or Ticket” campaign advertisements on tractor-trailers.

Landstar will equip 2,000 newly manufactured 53-foot trailers with the “Click It Or Ticket” message that will be seen in the 50 States, Canada, and Mexico. According to an American Trucking Associations study, 91 percent of people polled said they noticed advertisements mounted on the side or rear of large trucks, and 35 percent study them closely. Landstar will also conduct in-house training programs on the importance of safety belt use.

The month of November marked the beginning of the national “Click It Or Ticket”/Operation ABC (America Always Buckles Up Children) Seat Belt Law Enforcement Mobil-ization, November 25 through December 1. Officers coast-to-coast blanketed the road with checkpoints and stepped up enforcement of safety belt and child restraint laws.

Last year, motor vehicle crashes claimed the lives of 42,116 individuals. NHTSA estimates that 12,144 lives were saved by safety belts. Some people buckle up for safety, but for many people it is the threat of a ticket that encourages them to wear their safety belt. Recent “Click It Or Ticket” high-visibility enforcement mobilizations have led to increased safety belt use.

Congratulations to the 2002
NHTSA Recipients of the Secretary’s Award

Meritorious Achievement
Rhonda Joseph
Susan McLaughlin
Jeffrey L. Quandt

Excellence
Deborah Boykin
Marcia A. Robertson

Early Warning Team
Kenneth N. Weinstein
Kathleen C. DeMeter
Jonathan D. White
George H. Person
Zachary Taylor Vinson
Lloyd S. Guerci

Volunteer Service Award
David W. Bryson
Augustus B. Chidester, III

Partnering for Excellence (Team Award)
Lori Millen
Peggy Proctor
Lou DeCarolis
Robert Weltzer

Quote of the Month

No matter how small, acknowledge the achievement.”

— Greg Henry Quinn

NHTSA Now is an official publication of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Public and Consumer Affairs.

Editor: Kathryn Henry

Contributors: Belinda Rawls, OCCI; Cathy McCullough, R&D; Keith Poindexter, R&D; Barbara Sauers, OCCI; Melissa Otero, Ad Council; Misty Moyse, MADD; Prentis Kie, NAD.

If you would like to submit articles or photographs, please address them to NHTSA/OPACA, attention Kathryn Henry, NOA-42, 400 7th Street, SW, Room 5232, Washington DC 20590. (202) 366-9550. FAX: (202) 366-5962.

Internet address: khenry@nhtsa.dot.gov