Alex Otte

As the youngest-ever national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD), Alex Otte championed an epic advocacy effort alongside other victims and survivors of drunk driving that resulted in the greatest legislative victory in MADD's 42-year history. She made an enormous impact on marshaling support for legislation requiring advanced impaired driving prevention technology in all new vehicles, which will bring about the end of impaired driving, a crime that kills more than 10,000 and injures more than 300,000 Americans each year. At age 13, Alex was on a jet ski when a boat driven by a drunken operator going over 60 miles an hour hit her from the side, throwing her off the jet ski. Otte landed face down in the water, the boat went up over the jet ski and landed on top of her body before it sank. She suffered a shattered jaw, broken neck, collarbone and femurs, a lacerated liver, a severe traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for a week. When she finally woke up, she found that she had lost her right leg. With her intimate knowledge of the experience of trauma victims and survivors of drunk driving crashes, Alex has committed her life to preventing impaired driving. Alex never expected to see the eradication of drunk driving in her lifetime. Now, she does, thanks to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included language directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a rulemaking process and set a final standard within three years for impaired driving safety equipment on all new vehicles. Automakers then have 2-3 years to implement the standard. Alex continues to lead MADD’s “War Room” effort, which was pivotal in getting the law passed, to ensure NHTSA issues its final rule within the timeframe specified in the law. She compassionately encourages other victims to talk with representatives in Congress about the horrible impact impaired driving has had on their lives. She brings empathy and maturity to her role as National President far beyond what most would expect of a 25-year-old.