Hundreds of MADD Supporters Meet in St. Louis on...( Activists Focus on MADD's new fro...),Health

Activists Focus on MADD's new frontier:

the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the heels of Labor Day weekend -- a holiday that traditionally brings large numbers of drunk drivers -- nearly 500 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) supporters have convened in St. Louis to kick off their annual national conference today at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand and Suites Hotel 800 Washington Ave, St. Louis, Mo. The conference theme is, "Gateway to a New Frontier: A Nation Without Drunk Driving." The focus of the conference is MADD's new Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving and the annual Victim/Survivor Tribute, along with discussions on the prevention of underage drinking and more than 50 concurrent training sessions.

The national conference unites members of MADD affiliates across the country to share ideas and learn more about methods to eliminate drunk driving, serve victims/survivors and prevent underage drinking. With the new Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, the gathering will highlight techniques and technologies that can eliminate drunk driving, and will honor law enforcement personnel who are the key to achieving that goal.

Leading the conference and the charge to eliminate drunk driving is MADD dad Glynn Birch whose 21-month old son, Courtney, was killed by a drunk driver in 1988. "If the repeat drunk driver that killed my son would have had an ignition interlock on his vehicle, my tragedy would not have occurred," said Birch. He is passionate about the Campaign which embraces innovative steps such as mandated ignition interlock systems to prevent a drunk driver from driving after drinking.

The Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving has four elements: full implementation of alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, intensive high-visibility law enforcement, development of advanced vehicle technologies to prevent drunk driving and grassroots support led by
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