Founded | 1989 |
---|---|
Founder | John Bates [1] |
Headquarters | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
Area served | Canada |
Key people | Steven Sullivan (CEO) |
Products | Public Service Announcements |
Website | madd.ca |
MADD Canada is the Canadian arm of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Its stated purpose is to stop impaired driving and to support victims. MADD Canada operates public awareness and education programs which focus on preventing impaired driving. Local activities are carried out by chapters in approximately 100 communities across Canada.
The organization also supports a number of federal and provincial initiatives aimed at reducing incidents of impaired driving, including changes to Criminal Code provisions against drunk driving, and a zero blood alcohol content limit for drivers under 21. [2]
MADD Canada's victim services programs support victims, train victim services volunteers, and deliver death notification training for medical, police, firefighter and victim services personnel.
The organization's youth services programs include a multimedia assembly presentation which tours Canadian high schools and is seen by approximately 750,000 students annually. The organisation also provides a classroom education tool called Breaking Point.
MADD Canada runs several annual public awareness campaigns and fundraisers, including the "Strides for Change" walk-a-thon, and a door-to-door program, "Faces of MADD Canada", which operates in 13 local communities. "Project Red Ribbon" distributes red ribbons to Canadian motorists to signify the importance of not driving while impaired. Campaign 911 urges the public to call 911 if they see drivers they think may be impaired. MADD Canada also produces television and radio public service announcements across the country.
MADD Canada programs are supported through corporate and public donations. The organization also raises funds by selling breath mints, sold especially at pubs in the Toronto area.
In July 2021, MADD Canada CEO Andrew Murie called for Nova Scotia Premier Ian Rankin to take stronger action against drunk driving following Rankin's apology for a previously undisclosed conviction for impaired driving. [3] Previously, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell had taken steps to curb impaired driving following revelations of their own previous charges. [3]
In December 2022, MADD Canada partnered with the Fredericton Police Force on their annual Project Red Ribbon campaign, aiming to promote sober driving during the holiday season. In the same month, Fredericton police reported a four-year high in impaired driving arrests, totalling 199 as of December 16, up from 166 in 2021. [4]
On December 9, 2006, an article in the Toronto Star alleged that about 19 cents of every dollar the organization raised went to victim services and combatting drunk driving. [5] [6] In response to this allegation, MADD Canada temporarily suspended its fundraising activities. [6]
MADD CEO Andrew Murie argued that MADD's outreach campaigns also served to warn individual members of the Canadian public that impaired driving can lead to criminal charges, serious injury, and death and was thus not purely fundraising. [6] Murie stated that the Canada Revenue Agency had audited MADD Canada in 2002-2003 and gave them a "clean bill of health". However, according to the Star's Kevin Donavan, a letter from the Agency dated March 3, 2003, stated that MADD had conflated fundraising with charity, and warned MADD not to count fundraising expenses as charitable expenditures. [6]
Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle with the operator's ability to do so impaired as a result of alcohol consumption, or with a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. For drivers 21 years or older, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is illegal. For drivers under 21 years old, the legal limit is lower, with state limits ranging from 0.00 to 0.02. Lower BAC limits apply when operating boats, airplanes, or commercial vehicles. Among other names, the criminal offense of drunk driving may be called driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI), or operating while impaired (OWI).
Driving under the influence (DUI) is the offense of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. Multiple other terms are used for the offense in various jurisdictions.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop driving with any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired driving policy, whether that impairment is caused by alcohol or any other drug. The Irving, Texas-based organization was founded on September 5, 1980, in California by Candace Lightner after her 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver. There is at least one MADD office in every state of the United States and at least one in each province of Canada. These offices offer victim services and many resources involving alcohol safety. MADD has claimed that drunk driving has been reduced by half since its founding.
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The terms "designated driver" and "designated driving" refer to the selection of a person who remains sober as the responsible driver of a vehicle whilst others have been allowed to drink alcoholic beverages.
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