Proclamation 5753 --
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Week, 1987
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
During
the past 5 years, thousands of dedicated citizen volunteers throughout our
Nation have taken part in the programs and activities of National Drunk and
Drugged Driving Awareness Week. These efforts just before the holiday season
have proven enormously successful in increasing public awareness of the dangers
of driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. As the 1987 holiday season
approaches, we need to focus once again on the terrible cost in human lives and
suffering caused by drunk and drugged driving.
Although
alcohol is still involved in more than half of all highway deaths, we are
beginning to see signs of real progress in our battle against drunk driving. In
1986, 41 percent of the total traffic fatalities throughout our Nation involved
at least one driver or pedestrian who was intoxicated, down from 46 percent in
1982. During the same period, the proportion of intoxicated teenaged drivers
involved in fatal crashes dropped from 28 percent to 21 percent, the largest
decrease for any driver age group. This is progress, but our battle is far from
over. If we hope to realize our goal of eliminating intoxicated drivers from
our streets and highways, we must continue the positive momentum of the last
few years and resolve to do even more in the future.
Each
of us can help reduce the senseless carnage on our highways by refusing to
tolerate drunk and drugged driving and by becoming more aware of what can and
ought to be done. We must insist upon efficient and effective criminal justice,
find improved ways to detect and stop impaired drivers before a crash occurs,
and increase our willingness to communicate our concerns to friends and family.
Of
increasing concern is the combination of alcohol and drugs and its impact on
the incidence of motor vehicle crashes. We should all be aware that driving
after the use of drugs -- including prescription and over-the-counter drugs --
may create safety hazards on our roads and highways, and that combining drugs
with alcohol increases these hazards.
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 Senate Joint Resolution 136, has designated the week of December
13 through December 19, 1987, 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 11th day of December, in the
year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,