Clara Shelton has been a proud volunteer with MADD Colorado since losing her 18-year-old brother to a drunk driver in 2016. She has helped pass life-saving legislation in Colorado and volunteered with a team of victims and survivors that advocated for the passage of the HALT Act at the national level. She is part of MADD Colorado’s Advisory Board and has consistently been the top fundraiser for MADD Colorado’s annual Walk Like MADD event. When Clara’s not volunteering with MADD, she works full time in marketing and communications and sings in a community choir. Clara lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and Cleocatra the cat.
With an estimated 325+ million gallons of beer consumed on Super Bowl Sunday coupled with late-night celebrations and post-game commutes, the risks for impaired driving significantly increase. Nationwide, impaired driving fatalities have risen 33% since 2019, making this year’s efforts more urgent than ever.
Impaired Driving Is a Public Health Crisis Nationwide
- Every day, impaired driving claims the lives of 37 people in the U.S., that’s one person every 39 minutes.
- In the time it takes to watch a single football game, 4 to 5 lives are lost to this entirely preventable crisis.
- According to the latest data from NHTSA, 45% of all fatal crashes on Super Bowl Sunday in 2022 involved alcohol.
- Alarming increases in impaired driving deaths — up 33% since 2019 — underscore the need for action, particularly during high-risk events like playoff games and the Super Bowl.
About the “Take a Minute. Make a Plan.” Campaign
- In a collective effort to fight impaired driving, MADD, Diageo, the NFL, and Uber have joined forces on the “Take a Minute. Make a Plan.” campaign, which was launched during Impaired Driving Prevention Month.
- The campaign encourages football fans to take just one minute to plan a safe ride home before celebrating — a simple act that can save lives.
- The average fan spends 690 minutes a week thinking about football. Taking just one more minute to ensure a safe journey home is a small yet significant step toward fostering a culture of responsibility, especially during high-excitement moments like football games where socializing is part of the experience.
- From rituals like face painting and selecting the right jersey, to gathering the essentials for an ideal tailgate — taking just one minute to plan can make a vital difference to ensuring a safe ride.
- "Take a Minute. Make a Plan." While football games offer unforgettable celebrations, planning to never drive impaired is just as important as pregame rituals and the final score.
- Let’s come together to protect one another — not only in the stadium but also on the roads, ensuring that every celebration ends with everyone arriving home safely.
- As football fans gather to celebrate their favorite teams, they are urged to plan ahead and use safe transportation options.
- For more information, visit www.TakeAMinuteNow.com.
Our message is clear: safety is a shared responsibility.
If You or Someone You Know Has Been Impacted by Impaired Driving, MADD Is Here to Help
- MADD provided supportive services to nearly one million victims of impaired driving at no charge through local victim advocates and its 24-Hour Victim Help Line: 1-877-MADD-HELP.
