Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

No MADD member can get through an interview without stating the lie that drunk drivers kill 14,000 - 17,000 each year. I have blogged before on how the alcohol related fatality number is a complete fraud. Today I found out that MADD knows this as well.

Why would MADD inflate alcohol related deaths? For donations, government funding, to suppress dissent, and because most people believe this garbage.

On the MADD website they have a reference page to back up their blood on the highway propaganda. Let's look at two articles MADD relies on. The titles are my own.

1. Alcohol related does NOT mean killed by a drunk driver.
MADD relies on the NHTSA definition of an "alcohol related fatality", which they just happen to use interchangeably with "drunk driving death" when they talk to the media.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics
& Analysis, Research & Development; Traffic Safety Facts 2000, Alcohol.
DOT HS 809 323

NOTE: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) defines a fatal traffic crash as being alcohol-related if either a
driver or a nonoccupant (e.g., pedestrian) had a blood alcohol concentration
(BAC) of 0.01 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater in a police reported traffic
crash. Persons with a BAC of 0.10 g/dl or greater involved in
fatal crashes are considered to be intoxicated.

According to MADD these are drunk driving deaths-

Joe drives home after work. Joe is sober. Joe has a heart attack and runs over Bill. Bill is a pedestrian who was walking home after having 2 beers at dinner. MADD says- drunk driving death.

Amy gets a call from her friend Susie. Susie is too drunk to drive home from the local bar. Amy picks up Sarah. On the way home a sober driver runs a red light and kills Amy. Sarah is fine. MADD says- Drunk driving death.

2. Statistical Fiction

(NHTSA) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for
Statistics & Analysis, Research & Development; Traffic Safety Facts 2000, State Alcohol Estimates. DOT HS 809 334
NOTE: Estimates of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes for the U.S. are based on data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Known BAC test results are not available for all drivers and non-occupants involved in fatal crashes for a number of reasons, most frequent of which is that persons are not always tested for alcohol. To address missing data, NHTSA has developed and employs a
statistical model to estimate the likelihood that a fatal crash involved driver
or non-occupant was sober (zero BAC), had some alcohol (BAC of 0.01-0.09) or was
intoxicated (BAC of 0.10) at the time of the crash. The statistical model
was developed using all available known data in the aggregate (that is, at the
national level) and applied to each individual driver and non-occupant with an
unknown BAC test result. The estimates include a mix of both known and
estimated BACs.

In 60% of fatalities there is no BAC information for anyone. Why? Because the police on the scene did not think it was necessary to collect this information.

What are the good intentioned bureaucrats at NHTSA to do? They have millions of tax payer dollars to waste and they need to seem relevant. NHTSA chose to make up a formula and create fatalities.