Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Attitudes Changing about Drinking and Driving

Aired August 13, 2001 - 07:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Every year, hundreds of people are victimized by drunken drivers, but on New York's Long Island, there is a move among those who serve alcohol to change that.

CNN's Brian Palmer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michelle Lombardi (ph) is getting married next week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, baby.

PALMER: Tonight, Michelle and her friends and her mom are out on the town. They'll be drinking, but they won't be driving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Limousine all night long so we can party all night long.

PALMER: They're partying at Blu, a Long Island, New York nightclub managed by Brian Rosenberg, founder of Bars Against Drunk Driving or BADD, a group of bar owners promoting ways to keep customers who have been drinking from getting behind the wheel.

BRIAN ROSENBERG, MANAGER, BLU: And we're not looking at this as a public relation's move, we're looking at it as a way to save lives.

PALMER: They're giving designated drivers free admission and complimentary non-alcoholic drinks all night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's the designated driver?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mary.

MARY: I am.

PALMER: Offering discounts on cab and limo service.

ROSENBERG: Ultimately, people must take responsibility for themselves. All we can do is be a good influence.

PALMER: Bars around the country have been doing things like this for years. Rosenberg says BADD, which held its first meeting in June, will expand these individual efforts to entire communities. Customers seem to appreciate the efforts, if they notice them at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to come out and enjoy myself. I don't want to feel like having my BMW taken away.

PALMER: While the overall numbers show a decline over the past 20 years, there were still more people killed in alcohol-related crashes last year than the year before.

MILLIE WEBB, PRESIDENT, MADD: You know we've made great progress but there's still much to be done when 16,000 people are dying on our roadways each year, another 600,000 are injured. There's a lot to be done.

PALMER: The National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration, which tracks alcohol related crashes, credits groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving for the decrease in drunk driving fatalities but aggressive police enforcement, tougher laws and evolving attitudes in society against drinking and driving, attitudes that groups like Bars Against Drunk Driving may help change a little more.

Brian Palmer, CNN, Garden City, Long Island.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com