"When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill" ... buy the new book here:
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Ronald Reagan 1983:
But this special holiday time is tragically marred for too many of us. You may have spotted the reason on the road last night if you had to drive home: the drunk driver.
Each year, approximately 25,000 lives are lost in alcohol-related automobile accidents. An additional 650,000 are seriously injured. The personal pain and heartache caused by these needless tragedies is immeasurable, and billions of dollars are lost in medical costs, wages, and through hours of missed work. This weekend, while millions of Americans are traveling on our highways and streets and while hundreds of millions more are celebrating with their loved ones, let's take a few minutes to think of ways to protect ourselves and our families from the menace of the drunk and drug-influenced driver.
The first step is to realize that a drunk-driver accident is no accident. The motorist who drinks too much and then drives, who uses drugs and then gets behind the wheel of a car, is a disaster waiting to happen. Overall, alcohol is now involved in up to 55 percent of all fatal highway crashes and is a contributing factor in more than 2 million motor vehicle accidents each year. The drunk driver has turned his car into a weapon -- a weapon that threatens the lives and safety of the innocent.
Fortunately, there's a brighter side. Today we have one of our best opportunities in years to tackle this tragic problem. Public awareness has never been higher. Citizens groups, local officials, legislators, judges, police officers -- people from all over the country are saying, ``Enough is enough. Let's get these killers off our roads and get them off now.''
Last April, I appointed a Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving to explore the problem more fully and to work with State and local governments to develop effective programs. Their interim report has already come in and has some useful findings. For example, we've found that people who've had too much to drink are less likely to drive when they know they have a good chance of being caught. The potential drunk driver who understands that prosecution is certain and the penalty swift will be less likely to insist on driving home.
full event video here: [ Ссылка ]
