Anheuser-Busch Announces Winners of Its 1999 Safe Driving Platform Contest for Journalists.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2000

Anheuser-Busch announced today the winners of its first annual Safe Driving Platform contest for journalists. The competition was created as a way to urge legislators to focus on hard core drinking drivers -- one of the two high risk groups of drivers identified as a priority for legislative attention in its public policy guide, the Safe Driving Platform.

Winners of the 1999 contest, which had print and electronic media categories, include Bill Gang, a former reporter with The Las Vegas Sun, and Joan Lippert, a reporter with APBnews.com, an online news magazine.

"There is no question that news media attention influences public policy at all levels of government," said Stephen K. Lambright, group vice president and general counsel, Anheuser-Busch Companies. "We salute those reporters who filed stories on hard core drinking drivers last year, and hope they will continue their valued role in educating the public and lawmakers on this important issue."

Winning entries for the contest were selected by a panel of judges, including Herb Simpson, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, and Hazelwood Missouri Police Chief Carl Wolf. In commenting on the contest, Wolf said, "I commend Anheuser-Busch for its foresight in addressing this serious issue by recognizing and rewarding quality journalism aimed at this effort."

Joan Lippert: " ...tough nuts remain"

Lippert, of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, said she was surprised to learn she was selected as the winner in the 1999 Safe Driving Platform electronic media category but noted, "The people who deserve the real credit are the sources for the article. They're the ones who raise awareness of drunk driving and influence public policy."

Lippert's 1999 article "As Drunken Driving Deaths Drop, Concerns Remain" took a closer look at the challenges of dealing with repeat drunk drivers. She noted while alcohol-related fatalities fell to a record low last year, experts believe a hurdle to continuing this progress will depend on the success in dealing with the hard core.

To emphasize this point, Lippert's article quoted John Moulden, president of the National Commission Against Drunk Driving. "The social drinkers have been deterred, but the tough nuts remain."

She also reported a number of states are turning to lawmakers to better address drunk driving, citing examples from North Carolina's "Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoint program, to other states developing laws with tiered sanctions to hand out increasingly stiffer penalties to drunk drivers convicted of multiple offenses.

Breaking The DUI Cycle: Bill Gang

While Lippert's article brought to light many of the challenges created by hard core drunk drivers, former Las Vegas Sun reporter Bill Gang's story on an innovative program for dealing with repeat drunk driving offenders revealed another hurdle in dealing with these individuals: rehabilitation.

Gang's article "Breaking The DUI Cycle" profiled an experimental program in Nevada which combines the use of modern technology along with tough supervision. It was developed, he wrote, as a result of the frustration those in law enforcement, judicial and substance abuse communities felt with the system inadequacies in dealing with repeat offenders.

The program, he wrote, offered "...a different solution, focused on curing problem drinkers." The program, which is an option to incarceration for repeat drunk driving offenders, offers these individuals the opportunity for a clean driving record if they succeed. If they fail, going to prison for their drunk driving offenses is likely, depending on the seriousness of the offense and record of the defendant.

Specifically, the Nevada program concept combines intensive supervision, electronic monitoring, individual and group counseling and mandatory Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. For example, defendants must have a breath-ignition device installed in their cars, which requires them to blow into the machine and show they have not been drinking before they star the car.

And, defendants are monitored with house-arrest devices. In addition, defendants are required to pay $500 to be in the program, and must pay monthly fees of $300. Experts noted these expenses are tiny compared to the $16,000 annual cost for prison for a repeat drunk driver.

In commenting on his winning story, Gang said he was pleased his article will soon gain more attention from policymakers because "it recognizes the importance of that dramatic and innovative program (for serious DUI offenders)."

Anheuser-Busch's Lambright explained winners of the 1999 contest will be honored in several ways. In addition to receiving a plaque to commemorate their accomplishments, Anheuser-Busch will donate $5,000 in each of the two winners' names to a U.S. college or university of their choosing.

Specifically, Gang selected California State University-Fullerton (Fullerton, California), and Lippert selected Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Massachusetts). The funds will be awarded to a student selected by college officials who plans to study public policy or journalism.

In addition, Anheuser-Busch intends to distribute copies of the winning articles to legislators as part of its legislative communications activities. Since the early 1990's, Anheuser-Busch has been involved in pushing for legislative action against repeat drunk drivers and new, inexperienced drivers via its Safe Driving Platform.

The Safe Driving Platform outlines a strategic approach for policymakers to consider when addressing these two groups of high risk drivers, with specific solutions proven to be effective in reducing road crashes.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the world's largest brewer and one of the largest theme park operators in the U.S. The company is also a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers.

SOURCE: Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.