MADD Working To Get License Plates Back In Circulation

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Tennessee will once again be seeking to get its specialty license plate back in circulation.

Norris Skelley is a MADD Tennessee state board member and leader of the Upper Cumberland MADD chapter. He said the plates serve as rolling billboards to bring awareness to the issue of impaired driving.

“It is the only specialty license plate that has a highway safety message on it and a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of the work we do is not only about drunk driving, but also drugged driving,” Skelley said. “It’s so rampant and our numbers for crashes and fatalities have gone up in the last couple of years. It’s really important that we get those back out there because they bring a sense of public awareness.”

The state stopped producing the license plates two years ago after MADD failed to reach a minimum circulation requirement. The design will be back in circulation if the organization can pre-sell 1,000 plates before June 30th.

Skelley said it’s important to get to plates re-circulated because they provide vital funding for MADD.

“We use the funding from the license plates as a match for the Victims of Crimes Act fund, which provides funding for our victim services programs,” Skelley said. “The program allows victim advocates to go to court or just to provide emotional support and we do it at no cost to those families.”

State Senator Paul Bailey has passed a bill that extends MADD’s opportunity to get the license plates back in circulation. Skelley said about 300 plates have been pre-sold so far.

Anyone interested in pre-ordering a MADD plate can sign up at tnmaddplates.com.