Hollywood Hits the Road to Park Drunk Drivers

As impaired drivers continue to kill more than 17,000 people in the U.S. each year, AWAKE Community (Artists Working for Awareness Knowledge and Education) is joining with the more than 30 congressional members of the Stop DUI Caucus to honor, unify and energize the many organizations and individuals who work everyday to prevent these deaths.

AWAKE Community was founded by singer/songwriter Emily
Richards (http://www.emilyrichardsmusic.com) in honor of her 19-year-old sister Annie who was killed by a drunk driver in July 2000. Emily is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and a volunteer for Recording Artists Actors and Athletes Against Drunk Driving.

“AWAKE’s aim with this event is to use the arts and the artistic community to build a bridge from Capitol Hill to local communities. Synergizing the collective missions of the many groups working to reduce impaired driving is our goal,” said Richards, who in addition to founding the AWAKE Community is the newly appointed president of MP3tunes, a company formed by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson. “After my sister’s tragic death in 2000 I made a conscious decision to dedicate my career and my life to fighting impaired driving so other families can avoid the terrible pain my family has suffered.”

The Congressional Stop DUI Caucus was launched last May in conjunction with a nationwide anti-DUI media campaign with the National Association of Broadcasters and is chaired by U.S. Representatives Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Jon Porter (R-Nev.). The Caucus is a bi-partisan group of Members of Congress
committed to reducing drunk driving through increased public awareness and education efforts. The Caucus provides Members of Congress with information on effective programs and countermeasures to reduce drunk driving.

During the last 10 years, alcohol-related crashes killed more than 155,000 people and injured nearly 5 million at a cost to taxpayers and our economy in the tens of billions of dollars. Unfortunately, alcohol-related highway deaths are reportedly on the rise.

The event is being sponsored by contributions from: Anheuser-Busch, Easterns Automotive Group, State Farm Insurance, the Beer Institute, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Miller Brewing Company, the REEF Foundation, MP3tunes, PAS International and numerous individuals dedicated to the fight against drunk driving.