Mothers Against Drunk Driving History

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On May 3, 1980, Cari Lightner was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Fair Oaks, California (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, History, n.d.). The driver had recently been arrested for Driving Under the Influence hit-and-run and left Cari’s body at the scene (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, History, n.d.). Cari’s mother, Candace formed Mothers Against Drunk Driving because of that incident. In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was implemented in the United States that imposed a federal penalty for states that did not raise the minimum legal drinking age to 21 for purchase and possession of alcohol (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, History, n.d.). This made a radical change to the United States as how we see it now. The minimum drinking age made if more difficult for under agers to access alcohol from stores resulting in them not being able to drive drunk. It was not until 1989 that Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada was founded (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD Canada’s history, n.d.). The founding members of this social movement were victims and survivors of drinking and driving incidents who wanted to educate the Canadian public. Some of the early pioneers were …show more content…

They worked many hours to evolve this organization and to inform the public and try to correct the laws concerning underage drinking and driving drunk (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD Canada’s history, n.d.). The PRIDE organization began initiating discussions with MADD U.S. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD Canada’s history, n.d.). They were asking permission to become an organization in Canada. John Bates, a PRIDE member, was able to successfully negotiate with MADD U.S. to form Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD Canada’s history, n.d.). Bates was given the titles of Founder by the National Board of Directors (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD Canada’s history,