Photo submitted to Times Observer Warren County Chief Probation Officer Carl McKee, Forest County Chief Probation Officer Steve Barnett, MADD Founder Candace Lightner, Youngsville Borough Police Chief Todd Mineweaser, and Warren County Probation Officer Kim Corey at the PA DUI Annual Conference in Pittsburgh. Not pictured is Warren County Deputy Chief Probation Officer Mike Walters.

Some keynote speakers are more recognizable than others.

At the PA DUI annual conference last week in Pittsburgh, the speaker was the founder of the movement.

In 1980, Candace Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter, Cari was killed “by a multiple repeat offending drunk driver,” according to

Days later, Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD –eventually Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

She is credited with focusing “unprecedented attention on the issue of impaired driving, shaping public perception, advancing tough legislation, and leading to a dramatic reduction in drunk driving deaths and injuries.”

On of MADD’s chief accomplishments is the push that resulted in the passage of a national 21-year-old drinking age.

It became “the largest anti-drunk driving movement in the world.”

Lightner was appointed to the National Commission on Drunk Driving in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan.

She founded We Save Lives and continues to use education, legislative advocacy, and social media in “taking on drunk, drugged, and distracted driving.”

Attending from Warren and Forest counties were Youngsville Borough Police Chief Todd Mineweaser, Warren County Probation Chief Carl McKee, Deputy Chief Michael Walters, and Officer Kim Corey, and Forest County Probation Chief Steve Barnett.