Since the Ad Council launched its campaign in 1983, more than 68 percent of Americans report that they have tried to prevent someone from driving after drinking.
In 1998, America experienced its lowest number of alcohol-related fatalities since the U.S. Department of Transportation began keeping records.
Campaign taglines have included: "Drinking & Driving Can Kill A Friendship" and "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk."
Mothers Against Drunk Driving was started in 1980.
MADD records show Americans take 233 billion trips in cars each year. Of those, about one out of every 2,000 trips are taken by those who are driving under the influence of alcohol. Yet, almost one out of every three traffic deaths involve drunk driving.
So, a proportionally tiny amount of bad behavior is one of the major causes of death and injury on the roadways, MADD states.
Every 53 minutes on average, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash (9,878 people in total in 2011). Every 90 seconds, someone is injured because of this entirely preventable crime.
About one-third of the drunk driving problem -- arrests, crashes, deaths, and injuries -- comes from repeat offenders. At any given point, all of us potentially share the roads with 2 million people with three or more drunk driving offenses.
Taking away their licenses isn't enough as 50-75 percent of them drive anyway. This is why MADD says we need to require ignition interlocks for all drunk driving offenders -- to stop these offenders before they repeat their crimes.
Two-thirds of the drunk driving problem comes from people who, before they kill or injure themselves or others, have yet to be arrested.
Related story: SEARCH Ohio's DUI database
MADD says that's why everyone needs to support law enforcement to help deter drunk drivers through proven solutions like sobriety checkpoints. It's also why MADD says everyone should strongly support research into technology that will eliminate drunk driving.
