HERO Campaign Comes to New York City

Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign Honoring
fallen Navy Ensign

New York, N.Y -- A drunken driving prevention campaign inspired by the death of a young Navy officer is taking its message to New York City in time for New Years Eve. The HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers® was established by the family of Navy Ensign John Elliott of New Jersey, who was killed in a head-on collision with a drunken driver in July, 2000, two months after graduating from the United States Naval Academy.

A 60-foot billboard near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel will remind New Year’s Eve revelers to have a sober designated driver to make sure they get home safely.  The sign includes a picture of Ensign Elliott and the message:  “Be a HERO. Be a Designated Driver.” 

“A designated driver would have saved our son and the drunken driver who killed him,” explained Bill Elliott, John’s father and the founder of the campaign.  “The designated driver is the hero in our campaign, which is a living legacy to our son.”  Ensign Elliott was killed as he was traveling from Annapolis, MD to his family’s home in southern New Jersey for his mother’s birthday.  He was killed by a man who had been arrested three hours earlier by police, then released to a friend who put him back behind the wheel while still intoxicated. The man swerved into Elliott’s oncoming lane near Woodstown, NJ, killing them both and injuring Elliott’s girlfriend.

With a goal of ending drunk driving, the HERO Campaign hopes to recruit one million sober designated drivers to prevent friends and loved ones from driving while intoxicated and contributing to the 17,000 Americans killed, and 350,000 injured each year in alcohol-related accidents—according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The HERO Campaign is getting national attention from the NFL and Major League Baseball, who have adopted the program at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands and the Phillies’ Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia.

At a Monday, December 18 news conference, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is expected to declare New Jersey a HERO State in honor of the campaign.  As a United States Senator, Corzine successfully sponsored national legislation in memory of Ensign Elliott.  Known as “John’s Law,” the legislation is modeled after a 2001 law first enacted in New Jersey, requiring police to impound the cars of those arrested on DUI charges for up to 12 hours.  Massachusetts, Maryland and Boston have since passed versions of John’s Law.

Over the holidays, CVS Pharmacy stores will distribute free HERO Campaign car window decals throughout New Jersey, and Comcast Communications is airing public service television commercials promoting the campaign and its safe driving message.

Colleges including the Naval Academy, University of Maryland, Drexel University and Richard Stockton College are also participating in the campaign, as are the cities of Boston, Key West and Houston.

For more information, consult the HERO Campaign website at www.herocampaign.org

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