As Congress Readies to Convene on Transportation Bill and Looks at Underage Drinking Prevention Measures, MADD Calls for Funding to Limit Youth Access to Alcohol, Educate Adults Through a Media Campaign and Stepped Up Law Enforcement Efforts

Washington, DC - Hailed as one of the most effective anti-drunk driving laws ever passed, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and members of Congress today marked the 20th anniversary of the National Uniform 21 Minimum Drinking Age Act by announcing that 20,000 young lives have been saved from highway crashes since the law was enacted in 1984. They also called for swift congressional action this year to prevent underage drinking by increasing federal funding to step up enforcement and create a national media campaign aimed at adults to limit youth access to alcohol. In addition to underage drinking prevention, MADD said a major nationwide law enforcement mobilization campaign to curb drunk driving and boost seat belt use should be included in the pending transportation reauthorization bill (TEA-21).

On July 17, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the national 21 minimum drinking age legislation into law to eliminate the deadly "blood borders" between states that had differing minimum drinking age laws. The legislation was originally introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the late-Congressman James J. Howard (D-NJ) and former Congressman Michael Barnes (D-MD) after President Reagan's Commission on Drunk Driving recommended this federal action in its final report issued in 1983. As then Secretary of Transportation, Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) was the chief advocate of the federal 21 law in the Reagan Administration.

"Twenty-years. Twenty-thousand young lives saved. Twenty-thousand families kept whole," said Wendy J. Hamilton, MADD national president. "Unknowingly, so many young people have been given a second chance to live long, productive lives. We don't know who they are. But we do know that the nationwide 21 drinking age law has proven to be perhaps the single most effective anti-drunk driving law enacted since MADD was founded in 1980."

While alcohol-related traffic fatalities involving youth ages 15 to 20 have declined significantly over the years, thanks in large part to the 21 law, fatalities among that age group are now increasing to more than 2,400 deaths in 2002. Underage drinking kills 6,000 people annually due to traffic crashes, homicides, suicides and unintentional injuries. A recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study commissioned by the federal government aims to change that and has presented national recommendations for preventing underage drinking - a problem costing the nation $53 billion each year.

MADD is asking Congress for legislation to pursue the following solutions endorsed by the NAS report:

• Creating a national media campaign encouraging adults not to provide alcohol to youth;
• Increasing federal resources to fund compliance and access-related enforcement activities that will prevent adults from selling or providing alcohol to minors. Aiding in this effort, MADD's Youth In Action teams work with law enforcement to educate alcohol retailers and other adults about the 21 law. Currently, all states prohibit possession and purchase of alcohol by those under 21, but 15 states allow consumption and 14 allow attempts to purchase alcohol, and;
• Designating one federal agency to deal with underage drinking issues.

"The American people deserve real safety and the pending bill presents an opportunity to be as bold as the 21 law. We will be watching," added Hamilton.

MADD wants increased accountability for the expenditure of federal traffic safety funds as well as proven, science-based, impaired driving countermeasures in the transportation bill including:

• Expanded Impaired Driving and Seat Belt Law Enforcement Mobilizations;
• Inclusion of High BAC Offenders in the Repeat DWI Offender section of the highway bill;
• Incentives for passage of Primary Seat Belt Enforcement laws; and
• Strengthened enactment of a National Standard Banning Open Containers of alcoholic beverages in vehicles.

Senator Elizabeth Dole said, "I am truly proud to have played a role in the enactment of the 21 minimum drinking age law. At the same time we celebrate 20 years of success and lives saved by this landmark legislation, it is important that we look forward to what more can be done to curb underage drinking and drinking and driving."

Hamilton added, "I am encouraged by the fact that the issue of drunk driving in society has received many years of attention and there has been much progress in reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries. Many partners, law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, health and safety officials and corporate leaders, are taking positive action but there is still much to do, regarding underage drinking and drunk driving. I have faith in our country that there will be other laws, like 21, that combined with strong enforcement and swift adjudication, will save more lives."

MADD is the premiere organization working to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. MADD is a 501(c) 3 charity with 600 chapters and 2 million members nationwide. Nearly 270,000 lives have been saved since MADD's founding in 1980.

Please read the full NAS Report, "Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility".