Preventing Drunk Driving in Adolescents

Zane Mehl

Introduction to DriveSafe Whatcom

Who is DriveSafe? Goal

What does DriveSafe do? Treatment Prevention Legislative Action

Problem Statement

Drunk driving is a serious issue. Adolescents in Whatcom county engage in

drunk driving at significantly higher rates than the state average.

Drunk driving is a difficult issue to address.

OutputsPrevention and Treatment

School drunk driving awareness program

Adolescent offender education program

OutputsLegislative

• Promote legal change in adolescent licensing and zero tolerance alcohol limits

• Checkpoint information program

Outcomes

School drunk driving awareness program-Increased awareness of terms and definitions about alcohol among Whatcom 10th and 12th grade student population as measured by a pretest post-test with 80% accuracy by December 2011.

Adolescent offender education program- Prevent recidivism amongst 10th and 12th grade students from Whatcom county who were caught drinking and driving as measured by less then 10% of program graduates either returning or committing another act of drunk driving.

Promote legal change in adolescent licensing and zero tolerance alcohol limits- Legislation is passed that adopts zero tolerance and stricter hours for graduated licenses in Washington State by the end of 2012.

Outcomes (cont.)

Checkpoint information program

• Short term: Raise awareness about benefits of checkpoint programs among police and legislators, as measured by anonymous opinion polls after presentations.

• Medium: Create positive attitudes about checkpoint programs among general populous as measured by opinion polls.

• Long: Put to vote referendum to change state constitution allowing exemption for checkpoints by 2013, success will be measured by passage of bill.

Evaluation

School awareness program- will be measured by students participating in the program taking a post-test focusing on awareness of terminology, definitions and risk management.

Adolescent offender education program- Will be measured by the percentage of program graduates who avoid second offenses.

Promote legal change in adolescent licensing and zero tolerance alcohol limits- Will be evaluated by whether Washington State adopts zero tolerance and/or stricter hours for graduated licenses by the end of 2012.

Change legislation to enable checkpoint system- Will be measured by opinion polls as well as passage of proposed legislation.

Conclusion

•Tested methods

•Sustainable

•Addresses a serious problem

•The time is now!

References

CDC. (2010). Motor vehicle safety: Research update: Effectiveness of designated driver programs to reduce alcohol-impaired driving is unknown. Retrieved from:http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/EffectivenessDDrv406.htmlCDC. (2010). Motor vehicle safety: Impaired driving. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.htmlMADD. (2009). Drunk driving statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.madd.org/Drunk-Driving/Drunk-Driving/Statistics/AllStats.aspxNHTSA. (2005). Graduated driver licensing system. Retrieved from: http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/new-fact-

sheet03/graduateddriver.pdf NSDUH. (2004). Graduated driving licensing and drinking among young drivers. Retrieved from:

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/licenses/licenses.pdfRMC Research Corporation. (2009) Healthy youth survey 2008 survey results: Statewide results grade 10. Retrieved from: https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hys/Documents/2008CntyReports/CO00Gr10.pdfRMC Research Corporation. (2009) Healthy youth survey 2008 survey results: Statewide results grade 12. Retrieved from:

https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hys/Documents/2008CntyReports/CO00Gr12.pdf Transportation Research Board. (2005) Implementing impaired driving countermeasures: Putting research into action.

Retrieved from: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec072.pdf