‘Tie One On’ campaign targets drunk driving
Kevin O’Kelley believes people are precious. They are so precious, they should never lose their life in a drunk driving accident.
But, he realizes that sometimes people don’t always think ahead to designate a sober driver when they head downtown. To bring awareness and encourage people not to drive drunk, O’Kelley contacted Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Rapid City to bring the “Tie One On For Safety” campaign to the University of South Dakota.
As of Nov. 13, students can pick up red MADD ribbons from the information board in the Muenster University Center or at the information desk to tie around the outside mirror of their car in the hopes of reminding them not to drive if they’ve had anything to drink.
“When you’re heading out, that’s too late to think about getting a sober ride,” said O’Kelley, assistant vice president for research compliance at USD. “It needs to be thought of all the time — before people go out.”
O’Kelly writes a monthly safety article for the AVISO monthly newsletter for faculty and staff, and said he usually writes a letter about driving safety for the month of November, because winter weather conditions start to become a concern for drivers. This month, he decided to take a different approach and tackle drunk driving.
“Drunk driving is more dangerous than driving on ice, and drunk driving on ice is even worse,” he said.
[notification type=”grey” title=”Statistics “]The rate of drunk driving is highest among 21-25 year olds at 23.4 percent, according to madd.org. Every day in America, 28 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes. Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash. Drunk driving costs the U.S. $199 billion a year. Over 1.2 million drivers were arrested in 2011 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. [/notification]
(Photo: Kevin O’Kelley, left, and AJ Meyer, right, hang MADD ribbons on the information bulletin board in the Muenster University Center Wednesday afternoon for students. O’Kelley brought the “Tie One On For Safety'”campaign to the University of South Dakota in an effort to remind students to use a designated driver. Emily Niebrugge / The Volante).
