Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and overall push for stricter alcohol policy. The Irving, Texas

Irving, Texas

Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...

–based organization was founded in 1980 in California by Candice Lightner

Candy Lightner

Candace Lynne "Candy" Lightner is the organizer and founding president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving . On May 3, 1980, Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed by a hit-and-run driver at Sunset and New York Avenues in Fair Oaks, California.The leniency of the sentence given to the...

 after her 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver.
"The mission of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking."

Generally MADD favors:

• Education (about the dangers of drunk driving), advocacy and victim assistance
• Strict policy in a variety of areas, including an illegal blood alcohol content
  Blood alcohol content
  Blood alcohol content , also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes....
  
   of .08% or lower and using stronger sanctions for DUI offenders, including mandatory jail sentences, treatment for alcoholism and other alcohol abuse issues, ignition interlock devices, and license suspensions
• Helping victims of drunk driving (this includes family members and other loved ones of both innocent victims and guilty impaired drivers)
• Maintaining the minimum legal drinking age at 21 years
• Mandating alcohol breath-testing ignition interlock devices (IIDs) for everyone convicted of driving while legally impaired

In 2002, Lightner stated that MADD "has become far more neo-prohibitionist

Neo-prohibitionism

Neo-prohibitionism is the belief that the influence of alcohol in society should be reduced through legislation and policies which further restrict the sale and possession of alcohol in order to reduce average per capita consumption and change social norms to reduce its acceptability.-Use of the...

 than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol.