Perfect Memorials Funeral and Cremation Blog » PRWeb http://www.perfectmemorials.com/blog Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Grim Offer: Free Funeral Planning for Drunk Drivers http://www.perfectmemorials.com/blog/grim-offer-free-funeral-planning-for-drunk-drivers/ http://www.perfectmemorials.com/blog/grim-offer-free-funeral-planning-for-drunk-drivers/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:30:43 +0000 Perfect Memorials http://www.perfectmemorials.com/blog/?p=860 Despite vigorous public education and prevention campaigns aimed at alleviating the drunk-driving problem, alcohol-related accidents claim thousands of lives each year – 13,470 in 2006 alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Every single day in the U.S., 36 die and 700 more are injured in drunk-driving accidents, and the annual costs associated with alcohol-related traffic accidents are estimated at more than $15 billion.

With consequences so devastating, why does anyone still drink and drive? And what will it take to drive home the point that drunk driving is deadly? A website that offers funeral planning and other funeral-related services may be on to something. In mid-May, Funeralwise.com launched a PR campaign to remind people not to drink and drive over the Memorial Day weekend.

Sure, it’s been done before, but this public awareness campaign offered a unique incentive that was innovative, stark and to the point: free funeral planning services for people who plan to drink and drive. Those who don’t drink and drive were also invited to take advantage of the site’s free funeral planning services, and Funeralwise.com pledged to donate $10 to MADD for the first 10,000 people who responded to the offer.

As of this writing, there’s no word on how many people participated in the free funeral-planning offer, and national statistics on traffic deaths over the Memorial Day holiday weekend have not yet been released. (Results from individual states was mixed, with some reporting record increases and others showing dramatic decreases in traffic deaths over the holiday weekend.) We’ll probably never know if any lives were saved by this pointed reminder of the deadly effects of drinking and driving, and only time will tell if this type of campaign can help to reduce the rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths.

For now, keep in mind that the upcoming July 4th weekend is the second deadliest holiday traffic period (Memorial Day is third). Let’s make it safe this year.

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