ANNIVERSARY OF NATION'S DEADLIEST DRUNK DRIVING CRASH BRINGS CALL BY NTSB CHAIRMAN FOR MORE STATE ACTION

[NTSB Press Releases <NTSBPressReleases@xxxxxxxx>]

Title: ANNIVERSARY OF NATION'S DEADLIEST DRUNK DRIVING CRASH BRINGS CALL BY NTSB CHAIRMAN FOR MORE STATE ACTION

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                      NTSB PRESS RELEASE
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2008
SB-08-17

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ANNIVERSARY OF NATION'S DEADLIEST DRUNK DRIVING CRASH BRINGS
CALL BY NTSB CHAIRMAN FOR MORE STATE ACTION

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Washington, D.C. - On the week of the 20th anniversary of
the nation's deadliest drunk driving accident in which 27
people died, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman
Mark V. Rosenker issued a call for more robust measures to
reduce the number of hard core drinking drivers on America's
roadways.

"Unfortunately, the tragedy of so many lives lost 20 years
ago in Carrollton, Kentucky, as a result of a hard core
drinking driver is repeated every day on a smaller scale,"
said Rosenker.  "We know how to address this problem. 
What's needed are more effective measures on the state level
to help ensure that responsible drivers are not endangered
by those who continue to drink and drive." 

On the night of May 14, 1988, a hard core drinking driver
with a .24 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) killed
24 youths and 3 adults and injured 34 others on their way
home from a church outing. The drunk driver, in a pick-up
truck, was traveling in the wrong direction on Interstate 71
in Carrollton, Kentucky.

Hard core drinking drivers (repeat offenders with a prior
driving-while-intoxicated [DWI] arrest or conviction within
the past 10 years or those driving with a BAC of 0.15 or
greater) make up a small fraction of the driving population
but were involved in about 53% (9,414) of the 17,602 alcohol
related fatalities in 2006. 

The Safety Board established a model program, which is on
its "Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements," to address
hard core drinking driving after determining that such a
complex and intransigent behavioral problem was most
effectively addressed by a multi-faceted approach.  The
program consists of 11 elements - legislative,
prosecutorial, and judicial measures along with vehicle
sanctions and enforcement strategies - all of which have
proven effective in reducing the number of accidents caused
by hard core drinking drivers.

The Safety Board has partnered with the states, the
Department of Transportation, and advocacy organizations,
including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), in support
of measures addressing the challenge of keeping hard core
drinking drivers off the road.  Former MADD President
Karolyn Nunnallee, whose 10-year-old daughter, Patty, was
killed in the Kentucky accident, said, "As we mark the 20th
anniversary of the nation's deadliest crash, my heart aches
for the victims/survivors of the crash as well as the
thousands killed in drunk driving crashes and nearly half a
million injured in alcohol related crashes every year."

While 28 states have adopted one or more elements of the
model program, no state has all 11 that the Safety Board has
recommended, and Kentucky currently has only four.  "While
we have seen some progress in all the states, not enough has
been done," said Rosenker.  "If more of the elements of our
model program were implemented by the states, there would be
far fewer tragedies caused by drunk drivers."

Details of the Safety Board's model program and a summary of
actions needed by the states are available on the NTSB
website at
http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/hard_core_drinking.htm

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NTSB Media Contact: Peter Knudson
(202) 314-6100
peter.knudson@xxxxxxxx

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