Mothers against Drunk Drivers
BSHS/355
March 04, 2014
Mothers against Drunk Drivers
In the early 70’s and 80’s drinking and driving was considered a social norm because it was a common practice between both teenagers and adults. During this era, men and woman associated the ability to purchase and consume alcohol beverages with adulthood. Unfortunately, this misguided ideology led to the deaths of many men, woman, and children. Despite the increasing number of fatalities because of drinking and driving, the government did not enact any legislation to help minimize the number of drinking and driving incidents. According to “Madd” (2014), “on May 1980, Candy Lightner’s daughter was killed by a drunk driver, and this incident would change the way America viewed drunk driving forever”. Candy’s advocacy helped change society’s misconceptions and arrogance associated with drinking and driving. Although public support is a concept that many people tend overlook, advocating on behalf of others is essential because most people are oblivious to problems which do not affect them.
Problems that led to the creation of MADD
In the early 1980s, alcohol was becoming a major problem among the American youth for multiple reasons. One of those reasons was the age requirement to purchase and consume alcohol was different in each state. As a result, children who lived in a state where the legal drinking age was 21 would drive to another state where the legal drinking age was 18 to purchase and consume their beverages. Another problem the creators of M.A.D.D. faced was the social ideology as it related to drunk drivers. In the 1980s, driving with intoxicated was considered a social norm (“Madd”, 2014). This ideology was even promoted on television, through advertisement, and in the movies. For example, BJ and the Bear and Smokey and the Bandit were television shows, which often depicted the main characters...