The actual number of people killed annually in accidents involving drunken drivers is not 18,000 per year but 7,500, said Pruett. And most of those victims are the drunken drivers themselves. For example, almost a third of the drunken drivers involved in fatal crashes are on motorcycles. Many others kill only themselves when they run off the road late at night. When you get to the statistic that should be central to the debate - the number of innocent people killed by drunken drivers - it is about 2,500 annually, said Pruett"].
Why bring this up in response to the issue of lowering the drinking age? MADD will no doubt be at the forefront of this issue. You need to prepare yourselves for a barrage of absolute bullshit from MADD on this. Partial facts and vague statistics are the lifeblood of the MADD propaganda machine and it is a machine that will not tolerate any dissenting viewpoints, nor will it debate its critics in any open forum.
["MADD generally attempts to mask its radical, neo-prohibitionist agenda in the veneer of
sound science and sober statistics." Charles V. Pena, former MADD executive director, Virginia.]
["MADD continues to inflate the number of people killed by drunk drivers to further its
prohibitionist agenda." Center for Consumer Freedom.]
[MADD's report is "chock full of inaccuracies and errors, but MADD officials have
refused to comment on them". Jerry McCory, Director of the Governor's Council on
Impaired and Dangerous Driving.]
[Its "inflated drunk driving statistics confirm MADD's relevance and help it raise funds."
Radley Balko, writer.]
[Mothers Against Drunk Driving "has basically become a propaganda mill churning out
false and misleading statistics." Jay Caruso.]
Even Candy Lightner wants nothing to do with the new corporate MADD. For those who dont know, Candy Lightner quit MADD in disgust, which is very telling considering that, back in 1980, she founded the organization after her daughter Cari was killed by a drunk driver. MADD’s leadership is now a group of executives, mostly men, pulling in six figure salaries with all the trimmings including generous pension plans. They hold court with politicians while the good hard working people in the grass roots MADD toil endlessly for meager scraps.
["MADD has become big bucks, and that's it." "It's a big corporation." Sandy Kaufman, former MADD chapter President.]
["One of the worst performance records (on spending inordinately to raise money, then spending below-average amounts on their stated mission) goes to Mothers Against Drunk Driving." Daniel Puzzo describing MADD's low grade by the independent American Institute on Philanthropy]
[Non-profit organizations typically permit their chapters to keep most of the money they raise. For example, Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) chapters get to keep 90% of all funds they raise. But MADD claims ownership of every penny raised by all its many chapters. Thus, after raising $129,000 locally and turning it all over as MADD demands, the Las Vegas chapter received a check from the national office for $1.29 (one dollar and twenty nine cents) as its share. MADD's "focus is on greed," said the chapter President, who reported "I've never seen such bloodsuckers!"MADD Money. Investigative report., K5 News, Seattle, Wa]
Yes, I think its ridiculous that a soilder can die for his/her country, but cant have a beer.
I think its absurd that an American citizen may buy a home and raise a family, but not be allowed an alcoholic beverage.
That being said, given MADD’s tactics, money and political influence, my moneys on MADD.

However, I’d love to see some statistics regarding drunk driving when the drinking age was still 18 back in the day and what it has been since it was changed to 21. I mean, if there is no definitive data showing that if the legal age is 18, there will be more drunk driving, why not change it? Especially if half the appeal for younger people is the “forbidden” nature of doing it though they aren’t supposed to.

I think changing it will be an uphill battle, even with all the rational arguments in the world.

I agree with their message, but not their delivery.

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