They're MADD as Hell

A growing protest against the soft treatment of drunk drivers

One day last summer, Tommy Sexton, 15, of Bowie, Md., and some neighbors were driving home after a day of fishing, when a car driven by David Watkins swerved into their lane and hit them. Sexton was killed. Watkins, who was drunk, suffered no injuries on the highway and a mere slap on the wrist in court. He received a two-year probationary sentence and had to pay $200.

Such stories are frighteningly common. Someone is killed in a drunk-driving accident in the U.S. every 23 min., an annual toll of more than 26,000. Yet a drunk driver is rarely arrested, and the possibility of stiff punishment is remote.

At last, the American public's patience seems to be running out. Outraged parents of young victims have formed groups that are badgering legislators, police, prosecutors and judges to crack down on drunk drivers. One of the leaders of the movement is Candy Lightner, 35, of Fair Oaks, Calif. Fifteen months ago, shortly after one of her three children was killed by a drunk driver while walking in a bicycle lane, Lightner quit her job as a real estate agent to found Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). The organization now has 25 chapters in five states. Says she: "We've kicked a few pebbles, we'll turn a few stones, and eventually we'll start an avalanche."

Lobbying by MADD and similar organizations has already led several states to enact tougher laws, most of them dealing with sentencing. New York's legislature passed a bill providing a minimum $350 fine for a first drunk-driving offense ($250 even for those who bargain down to the lesser charge of "driving while ability is Impaired"). A major force behind the measure was Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), a group formed in 1978 by Doris Aiken, 52, with a $50 contribution from her church. Says she: "Last year each drunk driver in New York paid, on the average, a $12 fine, while those who killed a deer out of season had to pay $1,500."

Many states are pulling more tipplers over to the side of the road. A new law in Michigan that allows police to detain drivers whom they suspect of drinking has increased arrests by 21% over the past year and a half. Previously, an officer either had to see an incident or find a witness to it. Maryland's arrest rate is up 109% this year, in part because of a $150,000 federal grant that pays state troopers to work overtime, particularly on weekends, to nab boozed-up motorists.

A final pressure point is the courtroom, where judges and juries have rarely imposed stiff punishment on these largely middleclass, otherwise law-abiding defendants. RID has now set up a program in New York called Court-watch to study each judge's treatment of drunk drivers. If the judges are not tough enough, they risk RID's opposition on Election Day. Aiken claims that her group was primarily responsible for defeating a judge whose 75% conviction rate seemed too low.

Now, however, there is possibly a new obstacle to getting tough. An M.I.T. chemistry professor and a Massachusetts lawyer have concluded that since the amount of alcohol in a person's blood often increases for as long as two hours after he consumes his last drink, any test for intoxication should occur within 30 min. of the crime. Police rarely can meet that deadline. Thus many prosecutors may soon see their best evidence picked to pieces. -

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