On December 4, 1977, in Glenville, NY, teenage siblings, Karen and Timothy Morris were riding their bicycles when they were struck by drunk driver. Timothy was killed instantly. Karen died 48 hours later.

Doris Aiken hosted a local NBC talkshow. She had on the Morris teens as guests a month before this tragedy. Their mother contacted Doris since her calls to the DA went unanswered. When Doris spoke to the DA, she told her to mind her own business. She was infuriated and decided to do something.

With a $50 donation from the Unitarian Church, Doris bought an ad in her local newspaper. It was an announcement for a public meeting to address the carnage of drunk driving. On the bone chilling evening of February 5th, the first public meeting was held at UU church. It marked the birth of RID, the nation’s first anti-drunken movement.

A year later, Doris appeared on the Phil Donahue show. As a result, RID quickly grew with chapters sprouting up all across the USA. Her focus was on New York State, where she helped passed 11 anti-DWI bills. It marked the first time that you could no longer plea bargain out of alcohol offenses.

Doris made to two critical decisions in the formation of RID. First, she wouldn’t accept any funding from the alcohol industry. Second, she allowed her chapters to be run autonomously. She felt people on the local level best knew how to address drunken driving in their own communities.

Doris helped to orchestrate national efforts to raise the drinking age from 18 to 21. And more significantly, lower the legal BAC threshold from .10 to .08. The latter legislations saved thousands of lives. In 1997, Doris was honored with the Whitmark award, an international recognition of her mission to curb DWI.

In 2012, her son, William took over as President of RID. Doris Aiken passed away on March 15, 2017. She was a pioneer in the anti-DWI movement. Her legacy is one of empowering people to realize that they can make difference.

Today, William spearheads a New York legislative campaign to lower the BAC to .05. He also works with other road safety advocates in eight other states with similar bills.

The problem of drunken driving has plagued communities for decades. It’s been so consistently pervasive the public has become apathetic. Lowering the BAC has proven to save lives. The arguments against .05 are based on emotion. The science is on the side of lowering the BAC. As with many issues, educating the public is essential to our success.