MADD Walk-a-Thon to Seek Tougher Drunk-Driving Laws

A transcontinental walk-a-thon intended to dramatize the need for stronger measures against drunk drivers will begin Aug. 17 on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced Wednesday.

Candy Lightner, who founded MADD five years ago after the drunk driver who killed her daughter was given a light prison sentence, said participants will walk across 12 states pushing carriages filled with pictures of families and bearing a Declaration of Caring that they hope to present to President Reagan on Dec. 9 in Washington.

In a joint press conference with New York City Mayor Edward Koch and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, Lightner said walk-a-thon participants hope to “recapture the spirit of the Olympic Torch Relay” in their cross-country trek.

Celebrities to Join Walk

Athletes, celebrities and area officials will be recruited for the walk, which is expected to raise at least $100,000 to be donated by the walk’s sponsor, Tang breakfast drink.

Additional funds will be raised by sponsoring walkers, she said.

States to be crossed are California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The press conference at New York City Hall was called to promote a bill pending in the New York Legislature to raise the drinking age in that state from 19 to 21.

Supported by Governor

Cuomo said he was pushing for passage of the bill so that every state in the region will have the same drinking age.

Otherwise, he said, “we’ll seduce young people from the area into our state to drink, and they will get killed or injured trying to make it back.”

He said the state Assembly’s Commerce Committee is considering the measure. “If it passes the Assembly,” he said, “it’s done because the Senate has already approved such a bill. The moment is now.”