MEDIA ADVISORY

Massachusetts State Police to Team Up with MADD to Unveil New Mobile Breathalyzer, Kick Off Summer with Drunk Driving Warning

As part of their ongoing efforts to increase safety on Massachusetts roadways, the Massachusetts State Police, the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will join with Mothers Against Drunk Driving on Thursday, June 26 to kickoff the summer season by unveiling the State Police Department's new mobile breathalyzer unit, raising awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence, and releasing new statistics related to OUI enforcement. The department's new Breath Alcohol Testing (B.A.T.) Mobile -- B.A.T. II for short - is a mobile command post equipped with breathalyzer stations, a booking area and holding cells that State Police use at OUI enforcement operations, such as sobriety checkpoints. Additionally, families who lost loved ones to drunk drivers will share their stories about the losses they suffered at the hands of impaired drivers, in the hope that other families will be spared the pain they have endured.

Attending:

• Colonel Mark Delaney, Superintendent, Massachusetts State Police;
• Undersecretary Kurt Schwartz, Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
• Phillip Weiser, Regional Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration;
• Barbara Harrington, State Executive Director, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Massachusetts;
• Patsy Juliano, mother of a victim of a drunk driving crash

Background: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006 there were 174 alcohol-related fatalities in Massachusetts. The most recent statistics show that one out of every three people know of someone who has been killed or injured by a drunk driver. The effectiveness of the State Police Department's first B.A.T. Mobile in supporting year-round sobriety checkpoints will be enhanced by the addition of B.A.T. II. The mobile breathalyzers provide command posts in which troopers can rapidly process impaired drivers at the scene of sobriety checkpoints, allowing officers to resume patrol in one-third of the time a traditional drunk driving arrest would take.

B.A.T. II was purchased with funding provided by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information, go to www.mass.gov/highwaysafety