MADD Virginia E-Newsletter                                                       December 2024

End Of Year Press Conference

With the rallying message, “Impaired Driving Ends Here,” MADD Virginia invites donors to contribute to help save lives during the holiday season. MADD Virginia and Richmond Ford are teaming up to raise funds and awareness to help end impaired driving.

Our end-of-year press conference was held on November 21, 2024, at Richmond Ford West. Our speakers at the event included our emcee Lisa Black, victim/survivor of a drunk driving crash, Lt. Col. Hanley of Virginia State Police, Retired Chief John Keohane of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police/the VA Cannabis Control Authority, Director of Highway Safety Strategy Brandy Brubaker of VA Department of Motor Vehicles, and Robin Doaty, our victim speaker. If you are looking to donate to help us end impaired driving, please visit www.madd.org/donate.

 

You can find a recording of the event on the MADD Virginia Facebook Page.

 

Victims, volunteers, MADD staff members, including Bryna Clark-Braverman and Jennifer Hamilton, and many others gathered on November 19, where 10,000 candles lit up the National Mall, each representing a life that could be saved every year through anti-drunk driving technology enabled by the HALT Drunk Driving Act. It was a powerful moment of unity, remembrance and action.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible and to everyone who came out to this event to support us.

To read more about this event, please visit https://madd.org/press-release/madd-illuminates-the-national-mall-with-10000-lights-to-represent-the-lives-that-could-be-saved-by-anti-drunk-driving-technology/.

Impaired Driving Prevention Month

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over / If You Feel Different, You Drive Different

The holiday season is one of the deadliest seasons when it comes to drunk driving. “During the 2018-2022 December months, there were 4,759 people killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes. In December 2022 alone, 1,062 people died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes.” Source

December is Impaired Driving Prevention Month…help us remind everyone to make a plan for a safe ride home before the party starts. With the holidays coming up, make sure you are celebrating the season safely. Even one drink can cause impairment. If you’ve been drinking, call a sober friend, rideshare or taxi to get you home safely. Make sure you are driving sober this month and every other month. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

More information can be found here.

Impaired Driving Stories in the News

Police Investigate Fatal Crash in Arlington

Police Investigate Fatal Crash in Clarke County

Boy Dies After Mass Casualty Crash in Fairfax

Alcohol Deemed Factor in Three Vehicle Crash in Bedford

MADD Around Virginia

Volunteer and Board Member Lisa Black shared her story with the 104th Cadet class at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy. She is shown here with instructor Lt. Dallas Hill, of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office.

MADD Virginia attended National Night Out with the Colonial Beach Police Department.

Program Specialist, Jennifer Hamilton, and volunteer and Board Member, Lisa Black, spoke to 1100 students at JMU to promote their SafeRides program.

MADD VA Volunteer Mary Mitchell spoke to the Navy on the USS George H.W. Bush.

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