MADD Asks Red-Ribbon Pledge of Sober Driving

To promote sober driving during the holiday season, the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is asking motorists to tie red ribbons on their vehicles as a promise to drive sober.

MADD launched its third annual Red Ribbon campaign Monday, a national effort to help curb the number of alcohol-related driving fatalities during the holiday season.

“Drunk driving is not an accident, it’s not a mistake, it’s murder,” said actor Dick Van Patten, former star of the television series “Eight Is Enough,” who spoke at MADD’s press conference in Irvine.

“The most precious gift is the gift of life,” said Sherry Metcalfe, president of the Orange County chapter of MADD.

Metcalfe said that last year 2,213 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related crashes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

MADD estimates that 20 million vehicles will carry the ribbons during the monthlong campaign, a figure it said is reason to be optimistic that fewer deaths will occur this year.

Orange County chapter of MADD is distributing 500,000 ribbons during the campaign. “We feel it has made a difference because it raises awareness,” said Metcalfe, whose parents were killed by a drunk driver in a car accident 4 years ago.

More alcohol is consumed in December than in any other month, according to the organization’s statistics. “Fifty-six percent of all the fatal crashes during the (1987) Christmas season were alcohol-related,” Metcalfe said.

The national campaign is being sponsored by 7-Eleven stores, which will distribute the ribbons from its 7,000 stores nationwide. MADD volunteers also will distribute ribbons in hotels and schools throughout December.

The Supreme Court has authorized sobriety checkpoints on city streets. Part I, Page 1.