‘Tree of Life’ Preparations Reminder of Dangers Lurking on Highways

RALEIGH — At the Mother’s Against Drunk Driving headquarters in Raleigh on Wednesday, November 14; volunteers gathered tying by-hand, white and garnet-colored satin ribbons, each representing a life of one of the hundreds of souls claimed on North Carolina roadways in 2017.

“The statistics just came in and it’s heartbreaking just how many futures are cut short due to crashes, many of them preventable, on our roadways,” said Lori Brown, MADD State Program Specialist.

Brown was one of more than a dozen volunteers who met early Wednesday to assemble the memorial bows that specifically represent alcohol-related crashes. This year 1,400 bows will be tied on the ‘Tree of Life’ during the annual lighting and candlelight vigil in Raleigh.

“You don’t have to drive drunk, you don’t have to ride without a seatbelt on, you don’t have to text and drive, and yet year after year, we find ourselves here, preparing to memorialize the victims who died needlessly,” said Brown.

The ‘Tree of Life’ ceremony is funded by The Governor’s Highway Safety Program which supports a myriad of safe-driving initiatives like Click It or Ticket, Booze It & Lose It, BikeSafe NC, Watch For Me NC, Speed a Little. Lose a Lot, and North Carolina’s Vision Zero initiative, which is working to meet the goal of zero deaths on through community involvement and data-driven safety interventions.



“Every year our volunteers end up in front of a pile of ribbons, that represent a name, a friend, a family member, a co-worker or even a child,” said Mark Ezzell, Director of The Governor’s Highway Safety Program. “The reality is, people don’t have to die this way and we’re hoping awareness activities like this will actually change behaviors so that maybe, next year, our ‘Tree of Life’ will be bare,” said Ezzell.

The ‘Tree of Life’ will be lit on the grounds of the State Capitol at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 7, in honor of the lives lost due to crashes on North Carolina roadways.

The tree is illuminated with:

• Red lights and ribbons memorializing the victims of alcohol-related crashes

• White lights and ribbons commemorating the lives lost in all vehicle crashes

The memorial event proceeds the holiday Booze it & Lose It campaign which runs December 14 through 31.

For more information, visit ghsp.nc.gov, or follow GHSP on Facebook and Instagram.