Mothers Against Drunk Drivers hold annual walk to raise awareness

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Dozens rallied together today at Hampton Park for the Lowcountry’s third annual Walk Like Madd Awareness event in Hampton Park.

MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is an organization working to prevent drunk driving and to serve those who’ve been impacted by drunk drivers.

Families spent time honoring their loved ones – as the names of hundreds of victims were read aloud.

Organizers of the walk say people who showed up today are members of churches, schools, workplaces, and the community – and all are people who’ve been affected by drunk driving.

Steven Burritt is Regional Executive Director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and he spoke about the preventability of these crashes as well as the impacts they have on the community.

“We can’t continue to know that there are entire families and communities devastated every single day,” Burritt said. “When it comes to impaired driving crashes, every single crash is preventable. If people just don’t get behind the wheel after drinking or using drugs, we’d have no crashes today or the day after. We just have to try everything we can to get there.”

Several law enforcement agencies came out to show their support for victims and their families.

A drunk-driving simulation was also featured to help raise awareness of the dangers of driving while impaired.

Organizers say today’s walk raised more than $32,000 for MADD – thousands more than the organization’s original goal.

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