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Diversity

 

 

“With so many lives at stake, MADD is committed to finding culturally appropriate solutions to decrease drunk driving and underage drinking, and increase seat belt use. The number of people in diverse populations is growing, but that doesn’t mean the number of deaths and injuries have to rise as a result. MADD wants to join all communities in protecting their loved ones from preventable tragedies.”
Sammy Quintana
Former Member
MADD National Board of Directors

Since MADD was founded in 1980, alcohol-related traffic fatalities have dropped by 40 percent and more than 330,000 lives have been saved.  But drunk driving continues to killed and injure thousands of innocent motorists each year, and the devastation among several ethnic communities is disproportionately high.

To achieve our most fundamental goals – saving lives and supporting victims – we’ve created a series of initiatives to reach out to culturally diverse communities and individuals across the U.S.
 
Statistics and Implications
Race and ethnicity data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that among people killed in traffic crashes, members of diverse populations – with the exception of Asians and Pacific Islanders – were more likely than the general population to be driving while intoxicated, without a valid license and without wearing a seatbelt. Three communities within the U.S. have the highest fatality rates from alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking: Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans. 
  •  Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for Hispanics ages 1-44 and the sixth leading cause of death for all ages. (CDC, 2000)
  • Hispanic students (36.1 percent) were significantly more likely than Caucasian students (28.3 percent) to have ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol. (CDC, 2005)
  • Three out of four Native American driver fatalities and eight out of 10 pedestrian fatalities occur in alcohol-related crashes. (Voas et al, 2000)
  • Among Native Americans, 18.2 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year. (Caetano and McGrath, 2005)
  • More than 50 percent of Native American child pedestrian (6-15 years-old) fatalities are alcohol related, and half of those fatalities involve children who have been drinking. (Voas et al, 2000)
  • Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African Americans ages 3-13. They are the second leading cause of death for African Americans ages 14-29. (CDC, 2000)
  • Among African American men, 16.5 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year. Among African American women, 9.2 percent reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year. (Caetano and McGrath, 2005)
Recommendations from MADD’s Diversity Forum II  
In 2006, MADD invited local, state and national leaders representing dozens of diverse groups and health and safety organizations to discuss greater outreach initiatives and identify solutions for minimizing deaths and injuries. To save save lives and prevent injuries among the Hispanic, African American and Native American communities, the forum recommended new partnerships and strategies for addressing drunk driving, underage drinking and seat belt use. 
 
MADD is to aggressively pursuing the forum’s five recommendations: 
  • Participate in culture-specific awareness activities in 10 communities across the nation.  We believe MADD can help elevate the priority placed by community members on preventing underage drinking and drunk driving by becoming an active participant in diverse community activities.
  • Work in partnership with diverse groups in four communities to minimize or eliminate alcohol funding for cultural celebrations, specifically Cinco de Mayo and Juneteenth.  We are striving to become a partner in helping diverse communities create a safe environment key cultural celebrations by recognizing the damage caused by alcohol and minimizing the role it plays in these events, thus preventing needless deaths and injuries.
  • Support and participate in positive collaboration between the law enforcement community and diverse citizen groups. MADD has long-established relationships with the law enforcement community.  As it continues its support of enforcement, the organization also aspires to strengthen its relationships with diverse communities and serve as a bridge between the two groups to help find opportunities for collaboration in the shared goals of saving lives.
  • Continue to identify diverse organizations and agencies that may share common public health and social agendas and establish partnerships and outreach activities.  To achieve its life-saving goals, MADD is reaching out to groups that may share its goals and seeking opportunities for collaboration.
  • Create an organizational position statement on racial profiling that promotes equitable and effective enforcement of impaired driving laws. MADD works in support of the law enforcement community to help ensure that enforcement of impaired driving laws is fair and just.
Building Partnerships
To achieve these goals, MADD works with a broad range of organizations, including the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas, the American Prosecutors Research Institute, the Bureau of Indian Affairs—Northern Pueblos Agency, the California Highway Patrol, Healthy African American Families, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, Nambe Pueblo, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of African Americans for Positive Imagery, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention, the Navajo Nation and the National Black Prosecutors Association.
 
Resources  
As a complement to these outreach efforts, MADD has developed and distributed several culturally-specific campaigns through its local affiliates. 


For the Hispanic Community  
We’ve created three unique awareness campaigns for the Hispanic community.

Loteria is an educational campaign based on the popular Mexican game.  Program materials include a brochure, poster and community guide that outline the problems associated with impaired driving and provide solutions.

Pasa Las Llaves/Pass the Keys is a powerful messaging campaign that encourages Hispanics to take a more active role in addressing drunk driving.  The program materials inform Latinos about the dangers posed by drunken drivers—and urge them to make a personal pledge to "pass the keys" to a sober driver when they plan to drink or have been drinking.  The poster for Pasa Las Llavas features a specially commissioned painting by Latina artist Irene Carranza.
 
PorTu Hijo/For Your Child provides information for Hispanic parents on the importance of setting boundaries regarding underage drinking and establishing family norms that contradict cultural “rites of passage” involving alcohol.  It includes print brochures, public service announcements and websites.
 
In addition, MADD offers other resources in Spanish, including Protecting You/Protecting Me, our federally recognized alcohol-use-prevention curriculum for students in grades 1-5, and brochures available free from our victim/survivor resource library.
 

For the African American Community
For the African American community, we’ve developed a African American Heritage Kit for use during Black History month in February and throughout the year.  The kit includes posters, brochures and other resources.

For the Native American Community
MADD’s customized materials for Native Americans include a heritage kit and the Path of Hope.  

The Native American Heritage Kit is ideal for use during National American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month in November and throughout the year.  The kit includes two posters, a community guide, fact sheet and print PSAs.
 
Path of Hope raises awareness of MADD's free victim services across Indian Country.  Program materials include a brochure, three posters, print and TV PSAs and a 12-minute video.  The video features five Native American families sharing the impact of drunk driving and the hope they’ve found at MADD.
 
In addition, we’ve adapted Protecting You/Protecting Me, our federally recognized elementary alcohol-use-prevention curriculum to reflect Native American culture, with Native traditions, characters and storytelling.