{"id":795,"date":"2019-07-03T17:41:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T17:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madd.org\/southwest-florida\/?p=795"},"modified":"2022-05-25T11:27:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T11:27:11","slug":"795-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madd.org\/southwest-florida\/795-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan Ahead for a Non-drinking Driver Before the Celebration Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/h5>
CONTACT: Lori M. Burke, lori.burke@madd.org<\/a>, 239.791.7560<\/h5>

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MADD Southwest Floria Urges Safety During One of the Deadliest Holidays for Drunk Driving<\/strong><\/h4>
Plan Ahead for a Non-drinking Driver Before the Celebration Begins<\/em><\/h5>

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Fort Myers, FL\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 Long holiday weekends can be dangerous on America\u2019s roads, and July 4th<\/sup> and the days surrounding the national holiday are among the deadliest for drunk driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving<\/a> (MADD) urges everyone to celebrate safely by planning ahead and designating a non-drinking driver if plans include alcohol.<\/p>

Law enforcement will be setting up sobriety checkpoints and out in full force arresting drivers who are not sober during this holiday.<\/p>

Sobriety checkpoints<\/a> are an enforcement program that allows officers to stop all or predetermined vehicles to check for sobriety of the drivers and have been proven effective in enforcement and community education and awareness.<\/p>

\u201cCelebrating our nation\u2019s independence with backyard barbecues, fireworks displays and other festivities should be fun, not dangerous,\u201d said Lori Burke, Executive Director. \u201cCelebrate safely by designating a non-drinking driver every time plans include alcohol.\u201d<\/p>

More people die in drunk driving crashes in July than any other month, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The July 4 holiday is particularly deadly.<\/p>

Drunk driving typically accounts for about 40% of all traffic deaths on July 4th<\/sup> and the weekend before or after. According to NHTSA, 39% of all traffic deaths from 6 p.m. Friday June 30 to 5:59 a.m. Wednesday July 5, 2017, were alcohol-related. Drunk driving killed 237 people in that time period that year (the most current data available from NHTSA).<\/p>

Drunk driving remains the leading killer on our roads, yet these senseless deaths are 100 percent preventable, 100 percent of the time. MADD\u2019s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving<\/em><\/a> is helping create a future with No More Victims\u00ae. The campaign includes advocacy for stronger drunk driving laws including ignition interlocks for all drunk driving offenders, support for high-visibility law enforcement, support for advanced vehicle technologies and public support for these initiatives.<\/p>

MADD reminds everyone to take personal responsibility every day by using taxis, public transportation, rideshare services or calling a non-drinking friend if their plans include alcohol.<\/p>

********<\/p>

About Mothers Against Drunk Driving<\/h5>

Founded in 1980 by a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, Mothers Against Drunk Driving\u00ae (MADD) is the nation\u2019s largest nonprofit working to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. MADD has helped to save nearly 380,000 lives, reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50 percent and promote designating a non-drinking driver. MADD\u2019s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving\u00ae calls for law enforcement support, ignition interlocks for all offenders, advanced vehicle technology and public support. MADD has provided supportive services to nearly one million drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors at no charge through local victim advocates and the 24-Hour Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP. Visit www.madd.org or call 1-877-ASK-MADD.<\/p>

###<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lori M. Burke, lori.burke@madd.org, 239.791.7560 \u00a0 \u00a0 MADD Southwest Floria Urges Safety During One of the Deadliest Holidays for Drunk Driving Plan Ahead for a Non-drinking… Continue reading Plan Ahead for a Non-drinking Driver Before the Celebration Begins<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-campaign-to-eliminate-drunk-driving","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlan Ahead for a Non-drinking Driver Before the Celebration Begins - Affiliate Southwest Florida<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madd.org\/southwest-florida\/795-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plan Ahead for a Non-drinking Driver Before the Celebration Begins - Affiliate Southwest Florida\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lori M. 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