Links – DUI and Youth
DUI Foundation – Educate and Prevent
Driving under the influence of alcohol and other impairing substances is an epidemic in our society that doesn’t appear to be going away in the near future.
Effectiveness of Social Host and Fake Identification Laws on Reducing Underage Drinking Driver Fatal Crashes
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25307400
Traffic Injury Prevention (2014) 15, S64-S73
The minimum legal drinking age-21 (MLDA-21) state laws consist of multiple provisions that support the coreMLDA-21 laws and include a family of policies directed at controlling underage drinking and underage drinking and driving. Because social host and fake identification laws have recently garnered interest by policy makers in the states, this study examined their effectiveness. The study found that for those drivers younger than aged 21 years, fake identification (FID) supplier laws were associated with significant decreases in Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) ratios after states adopted these laws; and the 24 states that have adopted FID supplier laws are saving an estimated 14 lives per year in the United States. An additional 16 lives could be saved if the remaining states adopted this law. FID supplier laws prohibit the production of a FID or transfer of an ID or FID to another person. The more stringent the law (i.e., whether a state prohibits only one element [weaker law] compared to both transferring and manufacturing a FID [stronger]) the more effective a deterrent it becomes to supplying a minor with a FID. States without FID supplier laws should consider adopting them.
Lowering the Drinking Age and Car Crashes
American Journal of Public Health. January 2006; Vol. 96, No. 1, pp. 126-131
According to a study based on data from New Zealand, conducted by Robert Voas, Ph.D., at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, lowering the drinking age increases car crashes among youth. The study found that the rate of traffic crashes and injuries increased 12% for 18-19 year old males and 14% among 15-17 year old males in the four years before and after the New Zealand legislature lowered the drinking age to 18. For females, rates rose 51% for 18-19 year olds and 24% for 15-17 year olds. The study estimated that 400 serious injuries and 12 deaths each year among 15-19 year olds would not occur if New Zealand raised their minimum legal drinking age. Currently, there are five U.S. States that have legislation pending to lower their minimum legal drinking age.
Status Report: Special Issue – alcohol -impaired driving
http://www.iihs.org/sr/default.aspx?2005
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Status Report. April 2, 2005; Volume 40, Number 4
During the 1980s and 1990s, important progress was made toward reducing serious crashes and deaths involving drivers under the influence of alcohol. According to a publication by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), worldwide progress has stalled and hasnt revived. Making further progress will require new ways of thinking about existing countermeasures and incorporating new technology.
Vital Signs: Drinking and Driving Among High School Students Aged =16 Years – United States, 1991-2011 (CDC Report, 2012)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6139a5.htm?s_cid=mm6139a5_w
MMWR. October 5, 2012 / 61(39); 796-800
CDC analyzed data from the 1991-2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) to describe the trend in prevalence of drinking and driving (defined as driving one or more times when they had been drinking alcohol during the 30 days before the survey) among U.S. high school students aged =16 years. The 2011 national YRBS data were used to describe selected subgroup differences in drinking and driving, and 2011 state YRBSs data were used to describe drinking and driving prevalence in 41 states. Although substantial progress has been made during the past 2 decades to reduce drinking and driving among teens, in 2011, one in 10 students aged =16 years reported driving after drinking during the past 30 days. Most students who drove after drinking alcohol also binge drank.