The Caucus was launched at a Capitol Hill news conference where the members of Congress joined the National Commission Against Drunk Driving (NCADD) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to release the industry's new "Stop Drunk Driving Now" public awareness campaign for local broadcasters.
By kicking off the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus before the Memorial Day weekend, the legislators hope to bring new energy and awareness to the issue, particularly the alarming increase in alcohol-related highway deaths during the summer months. The jump in deaths during these months -- which include Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day -- is so striking that they have been called the "100 Deadly Days of Summer."
After the Congress enacted legislation in the early 1980's to uniformly raise the minimum drinking age to 21 and to provide incentive grants to states that cracked down on drunk driving, states strengthened their laws, toughened their enforcement, and expanded their education campaigns. This nationwide action contributed to a 38 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths from 1982 to 1994. DUI deaths then stagnated for five years before starting to climb again in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
"The alarming rise in recent years of alcohol-related highway deaths is a big reason why I have joined with my colleagues to create the bipartisan Congressional Stop DUI Caucus," said Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV), a co-chair of the Caucus. "We will work with every interested organization across this country to raise awareness about the prevalence of drunk driving and to spark renewed action at all levels of government to combat this major public safety threat."
Over the past ten years, alcohol-related crashes killed an estimated 170,000 people and injured nearly five million others at a cost to taxpayers and the economy of nearly $500 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT). At this rate, one of three Americans can expect to be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.
"There is a mistaken belief that the war on drunk driving has been won," said Caucus co-chair Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV). "The fact is, every minute another person is injured and every 30 minutes another is killed in DUI crashes in our country. The Congressional Stop DUI Caucus will help get drunk driving back on the national agenda."
Dangerous Summer Holidays
The summer season holiday periods of Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day were the most deadly seasonal holidays of 2002. On the average day in 2002, 41 percent of traffic deaths were alcohol-related, but during these three higher risk summer holidays, 51 percent of the 1,715 total highway deaths were alcohol-related.During the entire 100 days of summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day, alcohol-related crashes killed 5,270 people, which accounted for a disproportionate 30 percent of the 17,419 alcohol-related traffic deaths that year. The three major summer holidays of 2002 broke down as follows: Memorial Day -- 237 of 491 traffic deaths were alcohol-related (48 percent), Fourth of July -- 330 of 683 traffic deaths alcohol-related (48 percent), and Labor Day -- 300 of 541 traffic deaths alcohol-related: (56 percent).
"Those summertime statistics are part of a disturbing trend: total alcohol-related fatalities, which dropped dramatically over many years beginning in the 1980s, are once again on the rise," said John Moulden, President of the NCADD which helped to spearhead the formation of the congressional caucus. "To be sure, both federal and state governments and many hard working advocacy groups have taken important steps to reduce these deaths. We are concerned that with so many important public safety concerns facing our nation, the problem of drunk driving is not getting the attention and support it deserves."
For more information on the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus and the NAB's "Stop Drunk Driving Now" campaign, contact the National Commission Against Drunk Driving at www.ncadd.com or 240-247-6004.
The Congressional Stop DUI Caucus is co-chaired by Reps. Jon Porter (R-NV), Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Jim DeMint (R-SC). Other members to date are Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Michael DeWine (R-OH), Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and John Ensign (NV), and Reps. J. Gresham Barrett (SC), Henry Brown (R-SC), James Clyburn (D-SC), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Jim Gibbons (R-NV), Ron Kind (D-WI), James Oberstar (D-MN), Mike Oxley (R-OH), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Mike Rogers (R-MI), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), John Spratt (D-SC), Tom Udall (NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Albert Wynn (D-MD).
