National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, 1999

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Part V

The President

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Proclamation 7257--National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month,
1999

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7257 of November 30, 1999

National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention
Month, 1999

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Drivers who operate motor vehicles while under the
influence of alcohol or drugs are one of our Nation's
greatest public safety risks; those drivers take
advantage of the privilege of driving without assuming
the corresponding responsibility of driving safely. In
1996 alone, more than 46 million Americans drove their
cars within 2 hours of using drugs, alcohol, or both,
causing death or injury to themselves and thousands of
others each year.

Thanks to the grassroots activism of organizations such
as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, greater public
awareness of the dangers of impaired driving, and
stronger laws and stricter enforcement, we have made
progress in our efforts to keep drunk and drugged
drivers off the road and reduce alcohol-related
fatalities. Last year, the number of people killed in
alcohol-related crashes reached a record low, and the
number of young people killed in such accidents fell to
the lowest rate ever recorded. But as anyone who has
lost a loved one to an alcohol-related crash will
attest, one impaired driver on the road is one too
many.

That is why safety continues to be my Administration's
top transportation priority, and that is why we remain
committed to eliminating drunk and drugged driving.
Because research shows that the risk of a fatal car
crash significantly increases when a driver's blood
alcohol content (BAC) exceeds .08, I continue to
challenge the Congress to enact a tough national
standard of impaired driving at .08 BAC. In support of
this goal, last July Vice President Gore announced
incentive grants totaling $57 million to 17 States and
the District of Columbia for lowering the legal
threshold for drunk driving to .08 BAC. These grants
make up part of the more than $500 million in Federal
grants authorized under the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century, which I signed into law June 9,
1998, to offer States incentives to enact and enforce
laws that make driving with .08 BAC or greater a drunk
driving offense.

I am pleased that today, thanks to legislation I signed
in 1995, every State in our Nation and the District of
Columbia has enacted zero tolerance laws for underage
drinking and driving. I urge leaders and policymakers
at the State and local level to continue to focus
resources and public attention on drunk- and drugged-
driving prevention and enforcement programs. Using
these three powerful tools--increased public awareness,
stronger laws, and tougher enforcement--we can make our
neighborhoods and highways safer and continue to reduce
deaths and injuries.

In memory of the thousands of people who have lost
their lives to alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, I
ask that all motorists participate once again this year
in a ``National Lights on for Life Day.'' By driving
with car headlights illuminated on Friday, December 17,
1999, we will underscore the profound responsibility
each of us has to drive free from the influence of
alcohol or drugs.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim December 1999 as National
Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. I urge all
Americans to recognize the dangers of impaired driving,
to take responsibility for themselves and others around
them, to prevent anyone under the influence of alcohol
or drugs from getting behind the wheel, and to help
teach our young people about the importance of safe
driving.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-fourth.