MADD BEGINS ANNUAL RED RIBBON CAMPAIGN

Loretta Wilson knows firsthand how a drunk driver can change a family's life. On November 5, 1988, her daughter Cathy was killed four miles from Oak Ridge as she tried to avoid a drunk driver who had already run another car off the road.

Cathy Wilson had been a cosmetology student in Cape Girardeau. She had a job waiting for her when she graduated in three weeks. She was 21 years old.

The driver of the other vehicle was sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement in the accident. He served 14 months. Shortly after he got out of prison, he was arrested again for driving while intoxicated.

It is her own story and stories like it that make Loretta Wilson mad. Because of it, Wilson was instrumental in forming the Cape Girardeau County chapter of MADD -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

On Monday, members of the MADD Community Action team, along with representatives from the Cape Girardeau Police Department, were at the Cape County Ambulance Service to kick off the annual Red Ribbon Campaign, which will run through New Year's Day.

Charles Groshong, operations manager for the ambulance service, said that his organization was happy to support MADD's efforts at reducing drunk driving because the ambulance personnel are among those who have to respond to the aftermath of automobile accidents involving drunk drivers.

Each ambulance was adorned with a red ribbon tied to its antenna as a reminder to all motorists not to drink and drive.

"Sometimes an ambulance can serve as a sobering reminder," Groshong said.

Nearly 250 people were killed in alcohol related traffic crashes in 1996 alone, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. An additional 7,106 people were injured. Drinking-related traffic accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults in the United States.

Alcohol was involved in 5 percent of all traffic accidents in Missouri last year, an increase of 1.6 percent over 1995. In accidents with fatalities the percentage involving alcohol jumps to 25.5 percent, the patrol said.

"In fact, last year in Missouri, one person was killed or injured in drinking-related accidents every 1.2 hours," said Capt. Jim Watson of the highway patrol.

Watson said that Cape Girardeau ranked ninth in the state and first in the Southeast Missouri region in frequency by percentage of drinking-related accidents. One in every 72 accidents in the city involve alcohol.

Because the holiday season is a time of increased drinking, people need to be aware of the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, said Bettie Knoll of MADD.

"No one gets in a car with any intention of hurting others. They don't realize it until after it happens," she said.

The purpose of the Red Ribbon Campaign, she said, was to remind people not to drink and drive or to let their friends drive drunk.

"You can party and have fun, but don't drink and drive," she said.

MADD will hold its third annual candlelight vigil on Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. on the police department lawn in remembrance of those killed and injured by drunk drivers. Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle and Police Chief Rick Hetzel will speak at the vigil.

Family members of victims and survivors of accidents will be given ornaments to hang on a Christmas tree at the police station following the vigil. The ornaments bear the names of people killed or injured in alcohol-related accidents.