May 2002 Newsletter

Election Results
Congratulations to the 2002-2003 chapter officers, all of whom were re-elected at the chapter meeting on March 21st and will continue in office until June 30, 2003

President: Dan Ingram
Vice President: John Pinckney
Secretary/Treasurer: Sue Baldassari
S.O. Rep: Jeff Levy

Victim Support Group
Thanks to grant support from the USAA Foundation, we have a very active Victim Support Group in Northern Virginia. The sessions are open to anyone who has been injured by a drunk driver or who has lost a loved one in a drunk driving crash. Victim Support Groups are one of the most effective tools to aid those whose lives have been altered by the selfish actions of a drunk driver.

The sessions, which are facilitated by a licensed professional counselor, are free to the participants and are part of MADD's mission of providing support to the victims of drunk driving crashes. The group meets monthly in Burke. To sign up or to get more information, please call Sherry Platt at 703-978-3025.

What Is MADD Doing?
MADD is becoming more and more active in Northern Virginia. We are excited about what we are doing with schools, with victim advocacy, and with the community.

We are increasing our involvement with area schools by providing more speakers and becoming more involved with their alcohol-education programs. We are also working to bring two multi-media programs, "Street Smarts" and "Fake ID", to the middle and high schools. These programs present high-energy drug-prevention messages through a fun and "hip" approach.

In an effort to increase awareness of MADD's victim advocacy services, we are educating counselors, chaplains, and directors of local hospitals and funeral homes about the services that we offer to crash victims and bereaved family members. As a result, these key individuals will be able to explain what MADD has to offer to those in need.

Additionally, we are working to make better use of our incredibly capable and devoted volunteers. We are creating more opportunities for volunteers to become involved. We are looking specifically to increase volunteer involvement in the areas of school and community outreach, victim advocacy, and court monitoring, but are open to all thoughts and areas of interest. If you would like to volunteer or to offer ideas, please contact us at 703-379-1135.

Have FUN and Volunteer
2002 Summer Wine Festivals
As we have done for the past several years, we will be operating the Designated Driver Booths at Vintage Virginia on June 1st & 2nd, and at the Virginia Wine Festival on August 17th & 18th. These events provide great opportunities to help keep our roadways safer and have lots of fun at the same time. MADD volunteers staff the booths that give free soda to those festival attendees who choose not to taste wine. In exchange for helping out for a few hours, volunteers get free admission to the festival. Please call the chapter office at 703-379-1135 to get on the list.

New Office Staff
In the past several months, we have had the pleasure of welcoming two new members to the MADD Northern Virginia office staff.

Mary Elizabeth Fleming, our Program Manager, is working primarily with victim and youth issues. Her undergraduate degree in Psychology and graduate degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution make her a valuable asset to the staff.

Nicole Hill, our Administrative Assistant, is fluent in Spanish and has a degree in Speech Communication. We are very excited to have a person in the office to assist our callers and visitors whose primary language is Spanish.

President's Letter
What has happened to the decline in DUI fatalities? Why has the death toll stopped dropping? These questions came to mind when I read the preliminary DOT 2001 FARS report.

In 1997, there were 16,189 alcohol-related fatalities on our nation's highways. In 1998, this number dropped to 16,020. In 1999 it fell again to 15,976. But then in 2000, it jumped to 16,653 and last year it stayed virtually the same at 16,652. Why did the downward trend of the 1980's and 1990's suddenly stop?

Drunk driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent crime. But many politicians, judges, and prosecutors are unwilling to treat this crime seriously. They write and enforce laws in ways that allow hard-core drunk drivers to continue to drive. How is it possible for a person to be convicted of DUI, then convicted again a few months later (and the judge calls the second conviction a first), then continue to drive drunk on a suspended license and kill two innocent young people as happened recently in our area?

Every person reading this newsletter should be enraged by the disregard that convicted drunk drivers show for the laws. Why are convicted drunk drivers who drive on suspended licenses not put in jail for several months? Why are their cars not forfeited or at least impounded for the length of the suspension?

Our politicians need to know that we want strict DUI laws and we want them enforced. Call your legislator, write a letter to the editor of your local paper, tell your friends. If enough voices demand to be safe from drunk drivers, the decline in DUI fatalities will resume.

Dan Ingram