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U.S. Transportation Secretary Slater Joins First Lady, Mothers Against Drunk Driving to 'Tie One on for Safety'

21 December 2000

U.S. Transportation Secretary Slater Joins First Lady, Mothers Against Drunk Driving to 'Tie One on for Safety'

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 Marking the anniversary of his
nomination, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today joined First
Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) President
Millie I. Webb at the White House in tying a red ribbon to a local family's
car to encourage all Americans to join in the fight against impaired driving
this holiday season.
    It was four years ago today that President Clinton nominated Slater to be
the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and he used the occasion to re-emphasize
his commitment to safety, which was the top priority that he set then.
    "Thanks to MADD and partners like it, we have been successful in driving
home the message that drunk driving is unacceptable," Secretary Slater said.
"Our emphasis on transportation safety, with assistance from President
Clinton, the First Lady, and Vice President Gore, continues to help reduce the
number of deaths and injuries in alcohol-related crashes."
    Alcohol-related fatalities dropped significantly in recent years, but they
still account for 38 percent of all crash fatalities.  In 1996, 41 percent of
traffic fatalities in the United States were alcohol-related, and in 1992, the
rate was 45 percent.  Last year, nearly 16,000 people died and more than
305,000 were injured in alcohol-related crashes.
    Secretary Slater commended MADD for leading the nation in 'tying one on
for safety' and reminding Americans that impaired driving is one hundred
percent preventable.  The Tie One On For Safety campaign is MADD's largest
public awareness program, and encourages motorists to tie a ribbon to their
automobiles as a reminder to drive safe and sober.  The event is part of
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, proclaimed by President
Clinton earlier this month.
    Secretary Slater encouraged everyone this holiday season to help keep
drunk drivers off the road.  "Abstaining from drinking and driving, stopping a
friend or loved one from doing so, and wearing a seat belt is your best
defense against impaired drivers," Secretary Slater said.
    Earlier this month, MADD joined the U.S. Department of Transportation,
National Transportation Safety Board, the International Association of Chiefs
of Police, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
(NOBLE) to launch the largest-ever nationwide enforcement mobilization to get
impaired drivers off the road.  As part of the You Drink & Drive. You Lose
campaign, thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states operated
sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols. For more information on the You
Drink & Drive. You Lose campaign, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's (NHTSA) website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov .
    Also expected to help reduce the number of deaths and injuries is a
provision in the 2001 Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
which was signed by President Clinton on Oct. 23, 2000, and which will help
states take drivers impaired by alcohol off the roads.  The law requires the
U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration to
withhold, beginning in fiscal year 2004, certain federal highway construction
funds from states that do not adopt and enforce a .08 Blood Alcohol
Concentration (BAC) standard as the level at or beyond which a driver is too
impaired to drive safely.  This is expected to save hundreds of lives per year
when all states have adopted .08 BAC as the threshold.  Nineteen states and
the District of Columbia now have .08 BAC as the limit.