Why Your Teen Should Know About MADD

This moving NFL Partnership video is part of a recent public awareness campaign designed to reach our youth and decrease the occurrence of drinking and driving.

It was produced by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), an organization that aims to stop drunk driving altogether, support the victims of drunk driving, and prevent underage drinking. Founded by a mother who lost her daughter to a drunk driver, MADD is the nation’s largest nonprofit working tirelessly to protect families from drunk driving accidents and prevent underage drinking. MADD also supports drunk and drugged driving victims for free, helping one person every 8.6 minutes through local MADD victim activists and through the MADD hotline. So far, MADD has saved over 300,000 lives, and that number increases daily.

MADD is a wonderful organization started from one mom’s passion to spread the word about the life-altering effects of drunk driving, and how these accidents can be prevented. If not for MADD, many teens would not hear about previous accidents or be able to listen to real statistics and stories from victim’s families about how real lives were lost in drunk driving accidents. MADD saves lives every day, and has programs in place for parents to teach their kids about the tragedies that can happen due to drunk driving. MADD has two major programs, called Power of Parents and Power of Youth to educate teens and parents both about drunk driving, and includes well-researched methods and resources for you to share with your teenage drivers.

Many initiatives supported by MADD are used in schools today to spread awareness to teens about the dangers of drunk driving. For example, teens can wear ribbons on Red Ribbon week, which is a prevention awareness campaign recognized annually in October in the U.S. Crash cars from real drunk driving accidents can be brought to schools to show a live example of what can happen in a crash. MADD also has speakers that make appearances all over the country to help spread awareness about drunk or drugged driving and the impact it has on both the victims and the person responsible for the accident, as well as the families and friends of both parties.

MADD’s Eliminate Drunk Driving campaign focuses on three crucial steps that can catch drunk drivers and stop drunk driving altogether:

• “Support Our Heroes.” MADD wants to increase support for law enforcement officials to catch drunk drivers quickly and get as many drunk drivers off the road as possible.
• “Sober to Start.” Also, MADD wants in-car breathalyzers to be installed in all cars to measure the driver’s blood alcohol level before the car even starts.
• “Secure the Future.” Finally, MADD hopes that by taking these two steps, that the future will be free of drunk and drugged drivers altogether, and families won’t have to suffer the loss of a child or friend due to a drunk driving accident.

Both you and your teen should sit down together and look over MADD’s website; it includes valuable resources and information that every teen can benefit from. Whether you want to read the latest statistics about drunk driving, read real life stories from victims, get involved, or donate to the organization, this website is an all-inclusive resource to encourage you and your teen to talk about drunk driving. Sharing information with your teen about drunk driving can prevent accidents and ensure his or her safety behind the wheel; MADD can help you stay involved in your teenager’s life and make him or her more aware of the dangers of drunk driving.

Make sure to talk to your teen about MADD at an early age, and bring him or her to presentations from MADD if possible. MADD saves lives everyday, and your teen could be one of them.

 
video source:
MADD (Oct 13, 2015) – “MADD NFL Partnership”