Who Founded MADD and Why

It is every parent’s worst nightmare to lose a child. Having to bury a child is hard enough, but can you imagine what it would be like if your child died because he was hit by a drunk driver? A driver that should have never been on the road in the first place. A driver whose stupid decision altered the rest of your life and ended your child’s. There is no doubt that if this happened to you you would be mad. No, you would be furious. Livid. Inconsolable.

This is exactly what happened to Candy Lightner. In 1980, her 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was living any 13-year-old’s dream life. She was the star of the softball team, outgoing, intelligent and loved by all. On May 3, Cari was headed out to have a fun day with her friend at a church carnival. But she never made it to the carnival. Instead a 43-year-old man made a decision to drive drunk. And this wasn’t the first time. In fact, he had three previous drunk driving convictions and was even out on bail from an alcohol-related hit and run that occurred just two days before this tragic event.

As you can imagine, Candy got mad. There is no logical reason that her daughter should not still be alive today. In 1980, drunk driving was rarely talked about, and its effects were not as widely known. Candy was not going to just stand by and let another parent unnecessarily suffer. She founded MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, to spread the word about the absurdity that this man was allowed to drive after so many previous convictions. She founded MADD so that people would be aware that drunk driving is a serious problem and that innocent lives are being lost on a daily basis.

Even though MADD has done a lot to bring awareness to drunk driving, “in 2010, 10,228 people were killed and approximately 350,000 were injured” from it. There is still a lot of work to be done. Drunk driving can and should be eliminated and MADD will not stop until it is. Cari had to lose her life in order to bring awareness to this serious problem, and her mother has made sure that her loss was not in vain.