MADD Take the Wheel

M.A.D.D – Take the Wheel Initiative
Nov. 29, 2006, 1:29AM
MADD pulling out all the stops in Houston area
Group uses both education and prevention in one area for first time

By ALEXIS GRANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle After launching a nationwide campaign last week to eliminate drunken driving, Mothers Against Drunk Driving decided the Houston area, with one of the highest rates of drunken driving fatalities in the country, needed some extra attention.
For the first time, the group will implement all of its educational and prevention programs in one area, in an effort to cut down on alcohol-related crashes here. Leaders plan to unveil the pilot program today, with the support of local families who have lost loved ones to drivers under the influence.
"Drunk driving is a choice," said Melissa Roschal, whose 17-year-old brother, Robert Austin Reyna, and three of his friends died last Christmas after their van was hit by a drunken, underage driver.
"These little kids in that van didn't have a choice," Roschal said. "They were robbed of a choice because somebody else decided to be irresponsible."
MADD is hoping to prevent that from happening to other Houston-area families with its Take the Wheel initiative. The organization will hold four town hall meetings, support a MADD chapter at the University of Houston, and implement all of its youth programs, from elementary to high school, in the Humble Independent School District.
"We figure if we're going to work on an initiative like this nationwide, we need to hit the area that has the biggest problem," said Lynn Fields, co-chairwoman of the MADD Southeast Regional Council in Texas.
See full story here http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4365993.html