Medical Students Launch Drunk-Driving Awareness Program

Students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have launched Doctors for Designated Drivers (DFDD), a program aimed at informing the public about the dangers of drinking and driving and promoting the practice of using a designated driver, the Bronx Times reported Aug. 26.

The non-profit group was formed by Howard Forman, co-chair of the American Medical Association Action Team on Alcohol and Health. The group is asking establishments where alcohol is served to provide an incentive, such as free admission or free non-alcoholic beverages throughout the night, to designated drivers.

"The great difficulty of our mission is that some bar owners will be unhappy because they believe they would lose business as a result of the incentive," said Arkady Broder, senior vice president of public relations for DFDD and a second-year medical student at Einstein.

DFDD is currently lobbying for the incentive program in Washington, D.C. and in New York, with the hope that the idea will catch on nationally.

"Our goal is to educate the public of the important issues and to show that it is completely unacceptable to drink and drive," said Broder. "In other parts of the world, such as Scotland, it is shameful to drive while intoxicated. We want to reshape the way drunken driving is viewed in the United States."

Source: www.jointogether.org