By Jacob Crosby
jacob@newsroom.byu.edu
The Salt Lake chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is looking for help from Congress and the Utah State Legislature to decrease the number of people killed or injured in drunk driving accidents.
The chapter returned earlier this week from MADD's 2000 National Conference in Washington D.C.
Rosalind Richards, president of MADD's Salt Lake Chapter, said the conference celebrated the organization's 20th anniversary by holding a rally outside the U.S. Capitol
MADD urged Congress to pass pending legislation to lower the drunk driving limit to .08 blood alcohol concentration in every state.
Richards said lowering the BAC level to .08 would save more than 500 lives per year.
'Those who oppose this legislation argue that we're trying to beat up on social drinkers,' Richards said. 'A .08 BAC level means four drinks per hour for a 170-pound man - that is hardly social drinking.'
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the District of Columbia and 17 other states have set their drunk driving limits to .08 BAC-including Utah.
Mary Phillips, legislative liaison for the Salt Lake chapter of MADD, said the chapter's local focus this year is to work on legislation that makes private probation mandatory for DUI offenders in Utah.
Phillips said private probation is ideal because it requires offenders to pay the bill-about $35 per month for monitoring and $6 to $7 per month for routine alcohol testing.
'Ten years ago the Utah Legislature outlawed probation for misdemeanor crimes because it was too expensive,' Phillips said. 'Private probation takes away that expense.'
Phillips said private probation has been available for almost a year, but judges in Utah have not used it enough.
'We have first, second and some third-time offenders walking out of the courtroom on their own recognizance,' Phillips said.
'Judges have not jumped on private probation. That is why we need a legislative mandate.'
Phillips said her chapter is working with the state's Council on Driving Under the Influence to determine the details of the probation mandate and ease the concerns of the Utah Court Administration.
'We hope to have something by December for next year's legislative session,' Phillips said.
Phillips said she had no idea drunk driving was such a problem until she got involved with MADD.
Richards agreed with Phillips and said her eyes were opened when a drunk driver hit her husband and caused serious brain damage.
'This is an issue that involves everyone,' Richards said. 'People need to call their legislators to help us stop drunk driving - there's nothing more powerful than that.'
According to the Utah Department of Public Safety, there were almost 11,000 DUI arrests during 1999.
Nationally, there is an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 33 minutes, according to the NHTSA Web site.