Bakersfield to Host 12th Walk Like MADD + MADD Dash 5K, Co-Presented by Chain Cohn Clark

Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s signature event to help us raise awareness and funds to eliminate impaired driving locally returns for the 12th time to Bakersfield on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Park at River Walk.

The 12th Bakersfield Walk Like MADD and MADD Dash 5K — co-presented by Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark, Eagle Mountain Casino, and Valley Strong Credit Union — aims to raise funds for MADD Kern County educational programs, help innocent victims of DUI crashes, and help raise awareness of the impaired driving problem in our community.

In just the first half of this 2025 year – from January through June – Bakersfield Police Department made 387 DUI arrests and investigated 112 DUI collisions with seven fatalities. From January through August, California Highway Patrol’s Bakersfield Division made 1,322 arrests and investigated 265 DUI crashes with 15 DUI fatalities. Currently, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting more than 1,600 misdemeanor DUIs involving alcohol and more than 70 DUI felonies.

With these statistics, Kern County ranks among the worst in the state for DUI crashes resulting in injuries, and ranks worst in the nation for DUI arrests. In California in 2023, 1,355 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes, and nationally, someone is killed or injured in an impaired driving crash every 85 seconds.

“Impaired driving is 100% preventable, yet it continues to devastate families in our community. Every one of these numbers represents a shattered family, a stolen future, and a tragedy that never should have happened.” said Matt Clark, managing partner at Chain | Cohn | Clark. “By raising awareness, supporting victims, and demanding accountability, we can build a community where no one has to fear being injured or losing a loved one due to an impaired driver. We will not stop fighting until drunk and drugged driving is eliminated from our roads, because even one life lost is one too many.”

In what has become one of the largest fundraising walks and runs in Kern County, Walk Like MADD and MADD Dash brings together people from our community – surviving victims of crashes, families and friends of injured and deceased victims, law enforcement, prosecutors, first responders, advocates, and community leaders and members – to march, rally and run for the cause. Participants can sign up as a walker or 5K runner, help gather donations, or volunteer.

The cost is free to attend, $35 for the walk and run ($30 for youth), which directly funds the local MADD chapter in its mission. To join, register, volunteer, or donate, visit give.madd.org/bakersfield.

Since the first Bakersfield Walk Like MADD and MADD Dash in 2014, nearly $700,000 has been raised to help local victims of DUI crashes, for educational programs in local schools, and help support MADD Kern County prevention programs. This year’s event will feature a kid’s fun run and kid’s activities, a timed 5K run with medals for top finishers in age categories, food and other vendors, awards for top fundraisers, and a march by victims, their families and supporters.

In addition to presenting sponsors Chain | Cohn | Clark, Eagle Mountain Casino, and Valley Strong Credit Union, the event is also sponsored this year by Kern County Prosecutors Association, Punjabi Golf Association of Bakersfield, Rain for Rent, Janaway Publishing Inc., Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation, and Mission Bank.

MADD Kern County representatives can be reached at its local phone number for victims is 661-493-8200. The 24-hour hotline is 877-MADD-HELP.

MADD’S MISSION

The long-standing fundraiser also has a new name, “Move With MADD”. This change allows more people to participate and support our mission, regardless of their physical abilities. Learn more at madd.org/movewithmadd. The event serves as a catalyst to honor lives lost to impaired driving, support survivors — some of whom can no longer walk, and others who are learning to walk again — and drive progress in prevention efforts. The event has three main components:

• Remember: Walk and run for those who no longer can and alongside those who are learning to walk again.
• Inspire: Walk and run empowered even when we feel powerless, as survivors when we have been victimized, and with purpose when we have lost our way.
• Commit: Walk and run with supporters who share our vision of “No More Victims.”

Funds raised during the Move With MADD support:

• Victim Services: MADD provides free, 24/7 emotional support and guidance to victims and survivors of impaired driving. MADD’s trained advocates assist with legal processes, crime victim compensation, court accompaniment, and more.
• Education and Prevention: MADD offers educational programs in schools, workplaces, and communities to raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving and promote responsible choices. Through youth-focused initiatives and community outreach, MADD encourages a culture of safety on the roads.
• Law Enforcement Partnerships: MADD collaborates with law enforcement on high-visibility enforcement campaigns, such as sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols, to deter impaired driving and ensure law enforcement is equipped with the latest tools and strategies to protect communities from impaired drivers.
• Advocacy and Innovation: MADD pushes for stronger laws and proactive solutions to end impaired driving, like the HALT Drunk Driving Law, which requires lifesaving anti-drunk driving technology in all new vehicles to end this crime.

Move With MADD events take place across the country; in 2024, 87 communities united over 13,000 walkers and more than 1,200 MADD volunteers and staff, raising nearly $4 million.

Nationally, impaired driving statistics are as follows:

• 2 out of 3 people will be impacted by drunk driving crashes in their lifetime.
• Every day 37 people are killed in drunk driving crashes, or every 39 minutes someone is killed.
• Every day 1,063 people are injured, or every 81 seconds, in drunk driving crashes.
• The average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before first arrest.

Chain | Cohn | Clark has been a longtime partner of MADD and MADD Kern County, helping honor local officers and community members for their work in fighting DUI crimes through the annual Kern County Law Enforcement & Prosecutors Recognition Awards. Clark is a founding board member for the local chapter of MADD and is a recipient of the “Pursuit of Justice” award by MADD California. He regularly speaks to DUI offenders during the MADD Victim Impact Panels. Law firm marketing director Jorge Barrientos in 2023 was given the “Honorary Volunteer” award from MADD California. MADD Kern County honored Chain | Cohn | Clark with a “Community Champion” award in 2018 for the law firm’s work toward raising awareness locally and helping victims.

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If you or someone you know is injured in an accident at the fault of someone else, or injured on the job no matter whose fault it is, contact the attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000, or fill out a free consultation form, text, or chat with us at chainlaw.com.