Alcohol's Death Toll: Who Pays the Price?

"The death alone is devastating. Fortunately for me, when Patty was killed, MADD was there for me. Through MADD I was able to make some sense of Patty's death," Nunnallee says. "I realize that no matter how much work I do with MADD, I will never bring Patty back, but if I can save other Pattys in the world, that's what I'm going to do. And the beauty is that I'm not alone. I have 3 million members and supporters to help me."

Through what is arguably the largest and most effective grass roots organization in the United States, Nunnallee and other MADD members have worked to reduce drunken driving. During the Labor Day holiday, MADD sponsors the National Sobriety Checkpoint week, an annual initiative designed to create a public awareness of the problem of drunken driving and spare others the pain of senseless loss.

By sharing their personal stories with the public, Nunnallee believes MADD members have made many motorists think twice before driving while intoxicated. "In the past 19 years, we have changed the attitude on drinking and driving," Nunnallee says. "We have put a face on the victim. These are not numbers but human beings."

And the numbers of human beings being killed and injured in alcohol-related crashes has decreased, but it is a bittersweet success. Although alcohol-related deaths in 1998 were at their lowest reported level, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 15,981 people were killed. The personal loss for the families of these 15,981 women, men and children has not lessened.

Preventable Pain
"There is still a lot of anger involved," says Teresa Trimm, whose son was killed in an alcohol-related crash on July 4, 1996 in Kansas. "I miss my son incredibly. It is really hard to believe that my son is buried in a box in the ground and that there is nothing that I can do about it. And it didn't have to happen."

This frustration echoes in the statements of many families and law enforcement officials who see and experience the consequences of wrecks that could be avoided.

"The media focus on guns, gangs and violence, but two people die in car crashes for every one killed in a violent act. Most of those crashes are preventable," says First Sergeant Jeff Winstead of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

"We used to call them motor vehicle accidents; we now call them motor vehicle crashes because many aren't accidents. They could be prevented," says Dr. David Silverstein, associate director of the Regional Trauma Center at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, N.J.

MADD's mission, with the help and support of many victims and concerned citizens, is to focus on prevention. With their public awareness campaigns and special programs, MADD, along with many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, educate the public on the hazards of drunken driving. Although the attitude about drunken driving has changed, many still need the threat of punishment to keep them from driving while impaired.

"There is an invincibility of 'I'm not going to get in an accident,' but they do fear being captured," Winstead says. Therefore, he believes sobriety checkpoints and other law enforcement tactics are effective in reducing the number of people who drive while impaired. In North Carolina, the anti-drinking and driving campaign is called "Booze It and Lose It." "There's a veiled threat there," he says, "but one that we back up."

Educating Youth
"I am not naive enough to feel that it will ever be totally eradicated, but I think that, with education, it can be reduced," says Trimm.

Education is most effective in younger populations, whose attitudes about drinking and driving are still being shaped. Many outreach programs are directed at this audience. One such program is a portrayal of an alcohol-related crash. Actors play crash victims in wrecked vehicles and police and emergency services arrive on the scene in real time, showing students how painful and deadly drunk driving can be. It is a graphic interpretation and is often performed at high schools around prom time.

"It's kind of a scare tactic, but it's to educate them about the realities and consequences of drinking and driving," says Silverstein. These scare tactics often work.

"Nowadays, drinking is very common, but drunk driving is not common," says Stephanie Currarro, 17, a member of the National SADD Student Leadership Council. She says that many of her contemporaries will not drive after drinking. "People know better than to drink and drive. Someone knows someone who has died in a drunk driving accident. Knowing that this person did nothing wrong and they died because of a drunk driver gives people so much grief in their heart and mind," she says.

People are beginning to realize that innocent bystanders are often the victims. Just because someone does not drink and drive does not mean that they should not be concerned or look after others. Anyone can be affected.

"Trauma is a disease of young people," Silverstein says. "The reality is that 10 minutes ago, everything was fine and now your world is shattered either temporarily or permanently."

Victims' Stories
Jewels Rogers' world was shattered as she drove home from her job at McDonald's on Dec. 8, 1998, at 1 a.m. in Jacksonville, Fla. A drunken driver slammed into her truck while driving 90 mph and fleeing the police. Jewels was thrown through her windshield and suffered a severe brain injury, two broken legs (upper and lower parts), two broken arms, a broken wrist, a broken ankle and a spinal cord injury with three fractured discs. She remained in a coma for more than four months until April 15, 1999.

Jewels' mother's world also was shattered the day of her daughter's wreck. Mary Lou Rogers moved to Florida from California and now provides Jewels with the constant care she requires since she left the hospital on July 26.

"Before the accident, I knew [drunk drivers] were out there, but I was never affected by it. I felt sorry for those who were. Now it is my whole life," Mary Lou says. Especially frustrating for her is dealing with the anger she feels toward the drunken driver who hit her daughter. "What gets me is that this guy is allowed to go free and be at home with his family for Christmas while she's in the hospital fighting for her life. That just doesn't seem right."

However, drunken drivers can be victims of their own destruction. Craig Hughes, now 37, still suffers from the repercussions of his alcohol-related crash when he was 18. Hughes' single-car wreck left him severely injured. "It has made my life a living hell," he says. "I threw my life away completely. I came very close to making intelligent decisions, but I wanted to live for the day and found out one morning that I almost didn't have another day."

Poor Judgment
The poor judgment used by Hughes is not uncommon. William Head, a DUI defense attorney in Atlanta, Ga., believes that many people find themselves in situations where they drive when they probably should not. "My clients typically do not go out with an intent to get drunk or violate any laws. They usually find themselves in social or business settings where alcohol is included or readily available. Lack of proper education about alcohol is the primary culprit in America, from my observation of 5500 clients," he says.

People often do not understand how alcohol affects their reaction time and ability to concentrate. "With some people, the ability to make a rational decision about when not to drive becomes clouded and unimportant once a certain alcohol level is reached. Risk taking increases as alcohol consumption increases with many persons," Head says.

Dr. David Nateman, medical director of Baptist Emergency Department in Miami, Fla., says the problem with drunken drivers often can be summed up in two words: poor judgment. "They exercise poor judgment in getting in the car, poor judgment in not wearing a seat belt, then they have delayed reaction time, and then they create a scene in the ER. They are belligerent because they're drunk and they're more combative," he says.

Because of poor judgment, people do not realize that they are impaired and will drive anyway. They use many reasons to justify driving home. "Some people attempt to drive home after drinking a little too much because they either think 'I only have to go X distance. Surely, nothing can happen between here and there.' or 'I've driven before when I maybe should not have, and nothing has ever happened,'" Head says.

"[People think] things like that happen to other people. I am here to tell you that it happens to everyone," Trimm says. "People need to insist on designated drivers and to think before they drink. I think that 99 percent of the drunk drivers who killed someone thought that something like that would never happen to them."

Winstead feels little to no sympathy for people who make these poor decisions. "Driving while impaired is a crime of violence. You see a family who has been wiped out and their bodies broken to pieces; you'll be convinced of that," he says.

"You go to a house to deliver a death message. You pull up in the driveway and trip over a baseball bat or a tricycle on your way to the door where you have to tell them that they've lost someone dear to them. If you do that enough, you become very dedicated to stopping these vicious criminals known as drunk drivers. There is not a community in this country that is immune to the devastation."

Courtney Young
drkoop.com Staff Writer
Date Published: Sept. 7, 1999
Date Reviewed: Sept. 7, 1999
URL:
http://www.drkoop.com/news/special-reports/sobriety/madd.html?id=drknews