Maryland Kicks Off Five Month Checkpoint Strikeforce Campaign

Focuses on Preventing Maryland Drunk Driving Fatalities

New Poll Demonstrates Public's Concern About Drunk Driving, Support for Sobriety Checkpoints

BALTIMORE, Aug. 16 -- At the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Maryland kicked off Checkpoint Strikeforce, a 5-month, statewide campaign dedicated to raising public awareness about drunk driving in Maryland and throughout the region. Over the next 5 months, Maryland law enforcement agencies will hold a minimum of one sobriety checkpoint once a week across the state. Each checkpoint will be dedicated to a Maryland victim of drunk driving, providing an avenue for families of victims to memorialize their loved one and share their experiences. This campaign will culminate in December with an event dedicated to victims and their families called "Maryland Remembers" to help honor and remember the lives lost to impaired driving.

Today, Edward Myers recounted the activities of a tragic July 2003 evening that lead to his conviction of manslaughter in an effort to prevent others from making the same preventable mistake. Edward got behind the wheel after drinking. Every day, Edward Myers, 21, has to live with the fact that his horrible decision cost the life of Christina Lemon, a 14-year old girl with her whole life ahead of her. Mr. Edwards stood before an audience at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, including some of Maryland's leaders in highway safety and participated in a regional effort, to increase the awareness of the impaired driving problem.

Throughout the remainder of 2005, the campaign is employing resonant ads in a robust ($394,225) advertising effort to remind citizens of the many dangers and consequences of impaired driving. Law enforcement agencies are deploying a network of sobriety checkpoints, effectively erasing jurisdictional borders with this key tool to fight drunk driving. The campaign is supported locally by a grant from the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

Drunk driving in Maryland continues to be a serious problem. In 2004, 239 people -- roughly 37% of all lives lost in fatal crashes -- died on Maryland's roads due to impaired driving-related causes. This figure is alarming and is proof positive that the Free State's fight against drunk driving is far from won.

"Safety is the Maryland State Highway Administration's number one priority and with drunk driving fatalities rising again on Maryland highways, we must redouble our efforts," said Administrator Neil Pedersen of the Maryland State Highway Administration. "Because sobriety checkpoints and public education together are essential to combating drunk driving, I could not be a stronger supporter of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign."

A July 2005 public opinion survey of Maryland drivers (residents from Baltimore, the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., Hagerstown and Salisbury) conducted for Checkpoint Strikeforce, by MWR Strategies, found that over half of the Maryland drivers perceive drunk drivers as a dangerous threat with 61% saying drunk drivers are among the most serious dangers they face on the road. Sobriety checkpoints are also strongly supported with nearly nine out of ten (88%) drivers supporting the anti-DUI initiative.

Studies show that sobriety checkpoints can reduce alcohol-related crashes by as much as 20 percent. Using sobriety checkpoints and patrols, when and where drunk driving is most likely to occur, checkpoints deter motorists from driving under the influence and arrest those who do drink and drive. In 2004 alone, a total of 376 people were arrested for driving while impaired during 66 sobriety checkpoints in Maryland.

Checkpoint Strikeforce's creative radio ads, which will run until the end of the year, are designed specifically to hit home with the target audience of 21-to-35-year-old males -- a hard-to-reach audience that is statistically most at risk for drunk driving. Of all fatal crashes, drivers in this age group have the highest incidence of intoxication -- approaching double the rate of teenagers and drivers 45 and older. (Source: NHTSA)

The radio ads will be played at 23 stations across the region in the following four markets: Washington metro, Baltimore, Hagerstown and Salisbury. The radio ads will also be played during live broadcasts of the Redskins and Ravens football games.

Listen to the ads and get more information at http://www.wrap.org/.