October 28th will mark the second anniversary of the passage of Melanie’s Law, named after our daughter who was killed by a drunken driver in July, 2003. A lot has happened in that time.

We hope that you noted the editorial on August 27th in the Boston Herald expressing the view that Massachusetts is “on the right track” because of the new tougher approach to dealing with the problem proscribed by Melanie’s Law. The National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a drop of 7% from 2005 to 2006 in fatalities involving a driver with a BAC of more than 0.08. In 2005, when tremendous public awareness was created by Melanie’s Bill, the rate dropped 20% from 2004. Thirty-five fewer lives were lost in 2005 and eleven fewer in 2006. That means that in two years 46 lives have been saved. MADD calls this “a fantastic trend”.

Certainly there are many more factors than just the tougher sanctions created by the law. State and local police are conducting many more sobriety checkpoints, the media is far more focused on the problem, the Registry is strictly enforcing the Ignition Interlock mandate for repeat offenders with more than 2,000 now in use and the public awareness of the consequences of this reckless behavior - financial, punitive, social and humanitarian - are making more people think before driving drunk. There’s so much more that needs to be done, but Melanie’s life was not lost in vain and her legacy continues to be that of saving and changing lives.

We’re very proud of Melanie and what the memorial fund established in her name has been able to do to change the lives of victims of drunken driving and to help other young people pursue their education.

None of us will ever really know how many lives Melanie’s Law will save, but we hope that you will take special pride in what you have done to make Massachusetts’ roads safer for everyone.