MADD makes 'tie one on' safety pitch

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Mothers Against Drunk Driving is putting a new twist on a liquor-related phrase when it asks New Mexicans to 'tie one on' for the holiday season.

MADD wants everyone to tie a red ribbon onto their cars to support the fight against drunk driving.

That announcement brought the national MADD President Laura Dean-Mooney to Albuquerque Friday.

“The main reason people continue to drive drunk is because they can and because we let them,” Dean-Mooney said.

Dean-Mooney lost her husband, Mike, when he was killed by a drunk driver in 1991.

Dean-Mooney spoke of MADD's goals around the country pushing for more police officers looking for drunk drivers on roads, requiring ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, something New Mexico already does, and developing of technology that would stop a person from driving if their blood alcohol content was over o.08.

After the announcement, law enforcement officers and firefighters tied the red MADD ribbons onto their vehicles.

Albuquerque Chief of Police Ray Schultz outlined his goal for sobriety check points.

“Our goal is to someday do a sobriety check point and be out there for four hours and not arrest a single drunk driver," he said. "When we achieve that, we can claim victory."

This time of year is one of the most dangerous to be on the road, according to MADD.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s 2008 the deaths of 1,500 people were blamed on drunken drivers.

The MADD red ribbons are available at all Albuquerque Police Department substations.