MADD and Law Enforcement Agencies Nationwide Will Work Together to Prevent Impaired Driving Leading Up to the High-traffic Holiday Weekend

IRVING, Texas, Aug. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In a powerful nationwide initiative to fight impaired driving ahead of Labor Day weekend, Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is partnering with law enforcement agencies for the seventh official "Saturation Saturday" on August 24, 2024. This coordinated effort aims to save lives by intensifying impaired driving enforcement during one of the year's busiest travel periods.

Labor Day weekend celebrations often lead to a dramatic rise in fatal impaired driving crashes. In 2022, there were 490 crash fatalities nationwide over the Labor Day holiday period — 39% of which involved a drunk driver, according to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

In an effort to prevent these devastating tragedies, MADD volunteers and staff across fifteen states and Puerto Rico will coordinate with their local police departments to host events, roll call briefings, and sobriety checkpoints to show support for officers conducting enforcement operations. The areas participating in Saturation Saturday this year include California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sobriety checkpoints reduce drunk driving deaths by up to 20%. The virtual and in-person Saturation Saturday events also align with the annual National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign, which mobilizes its Labor Day high-visibility enforcement efforts in August and September.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck effort to save lives by ramping up prevention and enforcement efforts ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend," said MADD CEO Stacey D. Stewart. "Police officers are often our first line of defense against impaired driving. On Saturation Saturday and every day, MADD is committed to supporting equitable and just enforcement efforts to stop this 100% preventable crime."

One of the key elements of MADD's Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, launched in 2006, is support for equitable and just high-visibility traffic safety enforcement to both deter and catch drunk drivers. "Saturation Saturday" is an opportunity to team up with law enforcement departments nationwide and amplify the message that if you choose to drive impaired, you will get caught. MADD urges the public to plan ahead for a safe ride home over Labor Day weekend by choosing a rideshare service, designating a non-drinking sober driver, or using public transportation.

Every year, more than 13,000 people are killed and almost 400,000 injured by impaired drivers. Drunk driving fatalities have increased by 33% since 2019. Every 79 seconds, someone in the U.S. is killed or injured by a drunk driver — and that number does not include the deaths and injuries caused by drivers who were impaired by cannabis or other controlled substances.

Including passive impaired driving prevention technology in all new vehicles as mandated in the lifesaving HALT Act will eventually end this deadly public health crisis. Equipping cars with this passive technology is expected to save more than 10,000 lives a year and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries from ever occurring. But until then, law enforcement officers must continue their dedicated efforts to keep impaired drivers off the roads.

About Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is the nonprofit leader in a movement to create a world where there are #NoMoreVictims of impaired driving. By working in collaboration with law enforcement to end underage drinking and all drunk and drugged driving, MADD has helped reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50%, saving more than 475,000 lives. The organization is a vocal advocate for stricter sentencing, new laws, and new technology, including implementing the HALT Drunk Driving Act. MADD also has provided supportive services to nearly one million victims of drunk and drugged driving at no charge through local victim advocates and its 24-Hour Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP. For more information or to donate, visit us at https://madd.org/ and follow MADD on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Media Contact

Katie Alvino, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 877.275.6233, media@madd.org, https://madd.org/

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SOURCE Mothers Against Drunk Driving