The Andrew McMorris Foundation Presents Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with MADD’s Legislative Hero Award
On behalf of our sweet boy Andrew, the entire McMorris family, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, we were honored to join in thanking Senator Charles Schumer for his leadership in making drunk driving prevention technology part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The Senate RIDE act and House HALT act will require automakers to equip all new cars with drunk driving prevention technology. NHTSA has 3 years to evaluate the technologies and set the standard for impaired driving prevention in all new vehicles. Automakers then will be given 2-3 years to implement the new standard.
Thank you, Senator, for allowing your heart to be touched by our tragedies — and for using your many skills to make other New Yorkers and our neighbors around this nation safer on our roads.
Passage of this legislation is the most significant, lifesaving public policy victory in MADD’s 41-year history and it marks the beginning of the end of drunk driving.
Senator Schumer has been with us through the long fight to get drunk driving prevention technology into all cars. He understood this needed to be a bipartisan effort, and he welcomed the participation of senators and representatives on both sides of the aisle. It took a lot of support from our allies in Congress — along with Senator Schumer’s public leadership and behind-the-scenes work — to SECURE this legislative victory.
And now it will take a slightly different skill set — but just as much dedication and attention to detail — to ensure that the rulemaking process required by this new law is faithfully and thoroughly completed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
According to NHTSA’s own latest data, alcohol-related deaths increased 14% since 2019 with 11,654 lives lost in 2020 (this is an alarming trend since those numbers are increasing)
The need for drunk and impaired driving prevention technology is even greater today than when we first started working on this legislation.
Drunk and Impaired driving is an ugly 100% preventable crime. It is a crime with very personal and very devastating consequences.
That’s what this legislation, and now this rulemaking process, is all about: Ending the crime of drunk driving before yet another impaired driver goes out and kills or injures someone in your family.
“I am humbled and honored to receive the Legislative Hero Award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. While I have spent my career working to make our roadways safer, the fierce advocacy of Andrew McMorris’ family and friends – along with so many others who’ve lost loved ones – propelled me forward and was integral to successfully updating federal impaired driving technology safety regulations as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. Within the next few years, automakers will be required to equip vehicles with drunk driving prevention technology, saving lives and sparing other families the pain of losing a loved one in these preventable tragedies. As long as I am in the Senate, I will continue to partner with MADD and those working to make our roadways safer for all.” – US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
Thank you Senator Schumer for your lifelong commitment to making our roads safer you are truly our legislative hero.
A special thank you to Sheila Lockwood for presenting the award with us, Gabrielle and Doug from In Focus for being our event photographers, Digital Waterworx for capturing the event on video, Ages Events Entertainment for our set up and sound system, Kendal Kreations for our ballons, Shawn Hirst and Tara Spohrer from MADD NY , and everyone else who helped make this event a success.
Alisa & John McMorris
