Democratic Radio: Opportunity to move Wisconsin forward on drunk driving in 2019 Print
Commentary
Written by Wisconsin Senate, Bridget Esser   
Thursday, 03 January 2019 13:09

drunk-driving-crashMADISON, WI – Senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) offered the weekly Democratic radio address today.

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here.

A written transcript of the address is below:

chris-larson“Hi, this is State Senator Chris Larson with the Democratic Radio Address. It’s hard to believe that 2018 is already at a close. Hopefully, you were able to finish your last minute shopping and knock out all your resolutions before the start of the New Year.

“In this rush around the holidays, time never seems to slow down the way I want it to. Still, I hope that each of you got a break to spend more time with your friends, family, and neighbors.

“I am looking forward to 2019 which I hope will usher in a new opportunity to move Wisconsin forward.

“There are big issues that we must tackle, and to do that, we must find common ground. In this next session, I am hopeful that the appetite is finally there to change our drunk driving laws. With nearly 26% of Wisconsin adults admitting to driving while intoxicated, Wisconsin continues to top the national charts with the highest rate of drunk driving.

“We can and must do more to save lives and make our shared roads safe. Exactly 20 years ago I lost a classmate to a repeat drunk driver. Since then, families have continued to needlessly lose loved ones year after year. In fact, in 2017 we lost 179 more of our friends and neighbors due to drunk driving.

“We cannot rest until we change our culture around drinking and driving. In the meantime, I encourage you to please drive safe wherever you are going in the New Year and, if you're going out drinking, have a plan to get home safely.”