Although deaths from drunk driving have been reduced nationally in recent years, there are still 1,200 to 1,500 persons killed or injured by drunk drivers in the Hudson Valley each year. In 1981 Wappingers Falls Rotarian Nick Johnson and his wife Josephine, a severely damaged victim of a drunk driver, decided to do what they could to reduce the drunk-driving toll, starting Dutchess Country RID (Remove Intoxicated Drivers), a chapter of RID-USA. On this program Mr. Johnson and RID volunteer Rich Silva describe tools used to keep intoxicated drivers from repeating their crime and ways that parents can reduce the risk that their children will be perpetrators or victims. They also describe the annual events that Dutchess RID sponsors as memorials to victims, as well as a fundraiser featuring antique automobiles.
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