Proclamation 5591 --
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Week, 1986
By
the President of the United States of America
A
Proclamation
Driving
by people impaired by alcohol or other drugs is one of our Nation's most
serious public health and safety problems. Each year, drunk and drugged drivers
cause tens of thousands of highway fatalities and hundreds of thousands of
injuries. In 1985, for instance, more than half of all highway deaths were
alcohol-related.
Each
of us must help reduce this carnage through an awareness of what can be done, a
commitment to do the right thing, and a refusal to tolerate drunk and drugged
driving. We need to detect and stop impaired drivers before they cause an
accident. We must insist upon strict law enforcement and swift and sure
penalties and ensure that the privilege of driving is withdrawn when a drunken
driver deliberately endangers others. We must not wait until personal tragedy
strikes to become involved.
Statistics
show that a disproportionate number of our young people are involved in
alcohol-related accidents and that raising the legal drinking age reduces
alcohol-related crash involvement among young drivers. Most States commendably
have raised their legal drinking age. The Federal
government continues to encourage States to establish 21 as the minimum age at
which individuals may purchase, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages. We can
all be grateful for the efforts of dedicated citizen volunteers in creating the
growing awareness that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death
among young people.
More
and more informed, concerned citizens are getting involved in generating
awareness, education, and action to remove drunk and drugged drivers from our
roads and highways. With the continued involvement of private citizens working
together, and action at all levels of government, we can begin to control the
problem of drunk and drugged driving.
In
order to encourage citizen involvement in prevention efforts and to increase
awareness of the seriousness of the threat to our lives and safety, the
Congress, by Public Law 99 - 447, has designated the week of December 14
through December 20, 1986, as ``National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness
Week'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in
observance of this week.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of December, in the year
of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed
with the Office of the Federal Register,