Brad Bulla, Tennessee State Advisory Board Member

At the age of 17, Brad Bulla’s son, Jed, was a champion fiddle player who started playing his instrument when just five years old.  Jed performed for adoring fans in nearly every state in the union and in August 2005, was spending his time honing his skills in anticipation of competing at the Grand Master Fiddle Contest in Nashville, TN.  However, in a tragic turn of events, his life was cut short when he took a ride with an underage drunk driver. The young, impaired driver lost control of his vehicle and it left the road at nearly 100 miles per hour.  Jed was brutally thrown from the vehicle onto the pavement and died on August 3, 2005.

Subsequently, while grieving his son’s death, Brad began working with Mother’s Against Drunk Driving to bring awareness of the consequences of drunk and drugged driving and offer comfort to other victims of the same. He has been a frequent speaker at Victim Impact Panels, school assemblies, prison classes, law enforcement cadet training classes, civic meetings, attorneys conferences, victim advocate training seminars and was a keynote speaker at the National Life Savers Conference in 2009. Brad is often called on for media events and interviews and has been a force for stronger drunk driving laws – such as lobbying the state legislature to pass Ignition Interlock Legislation – in Tennessee.

In 2010, Brad was elected to serve on the National Board of Directors for MADD. He was subsequently elected to the Executive Committee and serves as the Governance Board Chairman.  Additionally, Brad serves on the Board of Directors for Tennessee Voices for Victims – an advocacy organization for the victims of violent crime.