DUI Memorial Moving Across Pennsylvania

A memorial wall with the names of 1,000 drunk driving victims is traveling across Pennsylvania to raise awareness of impaired driving in the holiday season.

The Pennsylvania DUI Association’s Victims Moving Memorial starts at West Chester on December 10 before visiting Norristown, Scranton, the Delaware County Courthouse and ending up in Harrisburg by week’s end.

Addressing DUI at all stages – education, prevention, enforcement, adjudication and rehabilitation – is the mission of the Pennsylvania DUI Association.

In 2010, there were 459 motor vehicle deaths in Pennsylvania in which alcohol was a factor. On an average day, there were 34 alcohol-related traffic accidents, leaving 26 people injured and at least one dead.

This is from the Scranton Times-Tribune:

Housed in a 30-foot trailer, the Moving Memorial features a wall with the names of 1,000 drunken-driving victims who have been honored in the Pennsylvania DUI Memorial Garden. The interior of the trailer replicates the outdoor setting of the garden, located at the association’s headquarters in Harrisburg.

Pennsylvania’s DUI Victims’ Memorial Park was dedicated in October 2003. The park is located in front of Pennsylvania DUI Association headquarters on Front Street in Harrisburg overlooking the Susquehanna River.

As the name implies, the garden honors the 500-plus Pennsylvanians who are needlessly killed every year in drunk driving crashes. It incorporates bricks, pavers, benches, trees, shrubs and an abundance of flowering plants to create a beautiful and serene setting.

Although auto accidents where alcohol was involved accounted for approximately 10 percent of the total crashes in Pennsylvania in 2010, they resulted in 35 percent of all persons killed. Alcohol-related crashes were almost 4.5 times more likely to result in death than those not related to alcohol.

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