MADD Virginia E-newsletter                                                                     May 2024

Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Beta Epsilon Chapter at James Madison University

MADD Virginia has had the privilege of having support from many organizations over the years, one being Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Beta Epsilon chapter, located at James Madison University. JMU’s ASA has worked to not only spread our message to help eliminate impaired driving throughout their campus but has also raised thousands of dollars for our cause.

 

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), each year there are approximately 1,825 college students who die due to alcohol related injuries. NIAAA conducted an interview which reported that 33% of college students drive after drinking alcohol and 12.2% of college students choose to drink and drive after consuming a minimum of five drinks. Source

 

Greek organizations get the opportunity to choose philanthropies to raise money for. Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Beta Epsilon chapter has graciously chosen raise money for MADD Virginia by hosting an annual basketball tournament. This year’s tournament took place on March 22, from 1:00 pm – 4:00pm at UREC on their campus. Organizations including fraternities, sororities, clubs, and sports teams, build teams to compete against one another. The week leading up to the tournament, ASA teams up with different restaurants to collect additional proceeds. This year, ASA raised $15,074.30 for MADD.

The current ASA President, Ryanne Haney, explained that “multiple members of Alpha Sigma Alpha have had personal experiences or known individuals affected by drunk driving accidents. Supporting MADD is a way that we can honor those impacted and work towards preventing future tragedies.”

 

Thank you, Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Beta Epsilon Chapter, for continuing to help fundraise and support MADD to help eliminate drunk driving.

May is Global Youth Traffic Safety Month

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers, and the summer months are especially dangerous for teens on the road.  An average of seven teens die every day in traffic crashes throughout the U.S. See more NHTSA Facts here.

The National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), an office of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has released a new data visualization tool for  data comparing fatal crashes involving young drivers between 2012 and 2021. There were over 47,000 people killed in U.S. crashes involving young drivers during that time period.

The report includes a breakdown by state. In Virginia, between 2014 and 2023 there were 886 fatal crashes involving young drivers.   Summary:

- 110 of those fatal crashes were in 2021; the highest number since 2014 when there were 71.

- Young drivers, 15-20 years of age, accounted for 61% of those fatal crashes and drivers over 21 years accounted for 36%.

- 67% of all fatalities were drivers, 25% were passengers and 8% were pedestrians all in crashes involving young drivers. 45% of all the fatalities were the young drivers themselves.

The report does not include whether the crashes were drug or alcohol related, but we all know the importance of educating young drivers on the dangers of impaired driving. MADD has the tools to help parents have lifesaving conversations with young drivers. Parents can download a free copy of MADD’s Power of Parents Handbook, in Spanish or English here. Contact the MADD Virginia office at [email protected] for free in person parent workshops or more information.

Calendar

6/11/24 - MADD Mid-Atlantic Monthly Virtual Support Group via Teams at 6:00 pm

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YzY1MWQyNjAtYzA3OC00MGVkLTk4M2EtYTUzMmEwNzA5YzNh%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%224d97059f-5f7e-491b-8c1e-8ff3eb6788c0%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228f0751c2-c692-4387-9287-3b5b82719d9f%22%7d

Meeting ID: 254 192 243 438 

Passcode: YEbVpg 

5/18/24 Walk Like MADD Northern Virginia

6/1/24 Walk Like MADD Shenandoah

9/28/24 Walk Like MADD Richmond

Impaired Driving Stories in the News

3/29/24 Tiffney Wittersheim Dies, Passenger of Impaired Driver, 54, Henrico

3/31/24 Man Charged with DUI after Hitting Chesterfield Firetruck

3/3/24 Roberto Arellano Killed in Crash, 19, Loudoun

4/1/24 William Allison Died in Drunk Driving Crash, Jr., 60, Frederick County

4/18/24 Passenger Dies After Trying to Ride on Hood of Car

MADD Around Virginia

Volunteer Valarie Patterson-Ricks shared her story at Sussex Central High School.

Volunteer Greg Estep spoke at a Pre-Prom Assembly for Juniors and Seniors at Union High School in Big Stone Gap, VA. Also speaking were Wise County Commonwealth Attorney, Brett Hall and Deputies Cress and Vipperman of the Wise County Sheriff’s Office.

Volunteer Vickie Brown shared her story with a Pre-Prom Assembly at Mecklenburg High School via Zoom.

The view from the podium that volunteer Mary Mitchell saw while preparing to share her story for the Navy in Norfolk.

Click It or Ticket

Click It or Ticket is a national high-visibility enforcement campaign that focuses specifically on the consequences of not wearing a seat belt while urging riders to always buckle up. Source Your seat belt can be the one thing that saves your life. In 2017, nationally, 15,000 lives were saved by the use of a seat belt and in 2022, 11,302 people killed in car crashes were not wearing seat belts. On average, every 47 minutes someone not wearing a seat belt dies in a car crash. Make sure that you and all your passengers are buckled up before starting to drive. For more information on this campaign, please click here.

This newsletter is supported by a federal highway safety grant administered by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.