On eve of Cinco de Mayo, MADD warns a third of day’s car crashes involve drunken drivers
About a third of all U.S. auto crashes that happen on Cinco de Mayo have historically involved a drunken driver, according to federal traffic data, but the leader of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said revelers can avoid tragedy by taking precautions.
Alex Otte, MADD national president, urged anyone planning to celebrate the day with alcohol to make a plan for how they will get home before they begin indulging.
Otte also had a message for those who think they’ll be safer on the road because there’s less traffic on the road since fewer Californians are leaving their home to reduce their risk of a COVID-19 infection.
“Over the past year, there’s been an increase in alcohol and drug-impaired driving crashes despite a 15% decrease in people on the roadways, a 15% decrease in people traveling, a decrease in traffic because more people have been staying home,” she said. ”...We want to make sure that people who are returning to their normal activities are able to get out and celebrate do so in a way that we all get to go home.”
From personal experience, Otte knows just how dangerous these “party holidays” can be. Her story provides a cautionary tale to those who will be celebrating their Cinco de Mayo in the region. At 13, she was sitting on a jet ski in a lake on July 2, 2010, when an intoxicated boater slammed into her at 60 miles per hour.
“The impact threw me off the jet ski,” Otte said. “I landed face down in the water and the boat went up over the jet ski and landed on my body. I spent about 3 1/2 minutes face down in the water.”
A national spokesperson for MADD, she began reciting her many injuries like someone who’s grown accustomed to having to do so: a traumatic brain injury classified as shaken baby syndrome, shattered femurs, shattered jaw, broken neck, lacerated liver and a broken collarbone.
“My jaw is now made up of three metal plates and 12 screws,” she said. “...They were unable to put my femurs back together, so I now have metal rods in place of bone in both my thighs.”
Otte had eight emergency surgeries within a week of the accident and has had several surgeries since, including one as recently as 2019, that she was unable to provide an exact number.
Althought Otte said she can walk, wear heels and work out today, she works to ensure that people can’t see the disabilities with which she still struggles.
“I have Post-it notes all over the place because a symptom of shaken baby syndrome ... at least for me, is really severe short-term memory loss,” she said. “Recovery will truly never end for me. It’s kind of like, once a trauma patient, always a trauma patient.”
Looking at statistics from the National Highway Safety Administration, Otte noted that 40 people died in drunk-driving crashes on Cinco de Mayo in 2019, accounting for 37% of all traffic deaths on that day.
Holidays, in general, are met with dread by many people in the MADD community, Otte said, because for those that have lost a loved one, that’s another holiday that they’re missing.
“If you drink,” Otte said, “do not drive.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 4:21 PM.
