TRAFFIC EDUCATION AND ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS

Underage Drinking and Driving in California

Each year, over one hundred underage California drivers die, and thousands more are injured in alcohol-involved vehicle crashes.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer
Letter on Check Yourself...Never Drink and Drive! Campaign
November, 1999

Growth of Underage Population

· By 2007 there will be a 33.5 percent increase in California teens 15-19 years of age. (Youthquake Ahead, California Office of Traffic Safety, 1997)

· The number of Generation Y (children born between 1980 and 1993) drivers in California will increase by 6.1 million by the year 2007. (Ibid)

Incidence of underage drinking and driving in California

· More than 33 percent of vehicle-related teen deaths involve alcohol. (California Office of Traffic Safety, 2000)

· Motor vehicle collisions are the number one killer of teens. (Ibid) · Among 11th graders, 38 percent reported driving a car after drinking or being in a car driven by someone after drinking. (7th Biennial California Student Substance Use Survey, California Department of Justice, 1998)

· Drivers under the age of 21 comprise only 5.4 percent of the state’s drivers, but they are responsible for 13 percent of alcohol-related crashes. (Automobile Club of Southern California, 1999)

· The total cost to California for crashes resulting in injury or death involving Generation Y drivers is projected to reach $14.3 billion in 2007, when the entire Generation Y is of driving age. (Ibid)

· Overall, there is a recent declining trend in the incidences of alcohol-related fatalities among underage drinkers. However in 1999, there were 3,518 collisions in California involving drivers under the age of 21 who were under the influence. In these collisions, 100 of the drivers were killed and 130 victims (other than the drivers) were killed. (California Highway Patrol Fact Sheet, 2000)

· Nationally, in 1998, 21 percent of the young drivers who were killed in crashes were intoxicated. (Traffic Safety Facts, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1998)

The Department of Justice/Office of Traffic Safety Check Yourself...Never Drink and Drive! campaign

· The Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center (CVPC) and the Office of Traffic Safety formed a partnership to produce and distribute four Check Yourself... Never Drink and Drive! public service announcements to nearly 200 television stations and cable companies in April and May 1999. These materials were designed to help prevent drinking and driving tragedies often associated with high school graduation ceremonies.

· CVPC also designed seven underage drinking and driving posters, four of which were translated into Spanish. Nearly 80,000 posters were distributed to high schools, county alcohol and drug program administrators, community organizations, law enforcement agencies and juvenile justice agencies. An estimated 200,000 brochures for parents were distributed in February 2000.

History of California's efforts to stop underage drinking and driving — highlights

· 1953 — California enacted its current minimum drinking age of 21. (Section 25658 Business and Professions code)

· 1984 — California began its pilot program of sobriety checkpoints. In 1987 the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the checkpoints. (Anti-DUI Program Elements, California Highway Patrol, 2000)

· 1985 — The community-based Sober Graduation Program began in California. The program targets teens during the prom, graduation and end-of-the-year activities. (Ibid) · 1990 — California lowered the "legal" blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit while driving from .10 percent to .08 percent. (Section 23152b and 23153b, Vehicle Code [VC])

· 1990 — California enacts AB 3620, which funds the Designated Driver Program to encourage and reward people who choose to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages on a particular occasion in order to drive others home safely.

· 1994 — California’s "zero tolerance law" (23136 VC) was enacted. The law allows for a civil/administrative license suspension for those who are under 21 years of age and drive with a BAC of .01 percent or more. The law also requires any person under 21 years old to submit to a preliminary alcohol screening device or other evidentiary test in order to determine their BAC or face a suspension for refusing to do so.

· 1997 — Senate Bill 1329 (Chapter 760) amended the law relating to minors' driving rights, and requires that:

Drivers under the age of 18 hold the specified instruction permit for not less than 6 months prior to applying for a provisional license. n The person complete 50 hours of supervised driving practice, with not less than 10 of those hours to include driving during darkness.

The provisional driver's license be subject to specified conditions, including that for the first 6 months after issuance of a provisional license the licensee not drive between the hours of 12:00 A.M. and 5:00 A.M. or transport passengers who are under 20 years of age, unless accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver who is the licensee's parent or guardian or a person older than 25 years of age.

California organizations which seek to reduce drinking and driving

· The California Office of Traffic Safety is charged with reducing fatalities, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes through the administration of the California Highway Safety Plan. In August 1997, the California Coalition Against Driving Under the Influence (CaDUI) and the California Office of Traffic Safety commissioned a statistical and demographic analysis of the potential impact of "Generation Y" on the safety of a California roadways. This study has formed the basis for steps which attempt to reduce the dangerous and deadly impact of the growing numbers of teen drivers. The Office of Traffic Safety can be reached at 7000 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95823; (916) 262-0990; http://www.ots.org.

· Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded by a small group of California women in 1980 after a 13-year-old girl, the daughter of one of the founders, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He had a long history of drinking and driving arrests and convictions and had been out of jail only two days, not forced to do his sentenced prison time. MADD is a non-profit grass roots organization with more than 600 chapters nationwide. The focus is to look for effective solutions to the drunk driving and underage drinking problems, while supporting those who have already experienced the pain of these crimes. MADD has been successful in a variety of areas, such as initiating the "zero tolerance" policy, lobbying before Congressional committees and tightening prosecution of convicted drunk drivers. MADD can be contacted at P.O. BOX 601008, Sacramento, CA 95860-1008; (916)-481-6233; through other local chapters; or at http://www.madd.org.

· California Coalition Against Drinking and Driving Under the Influence (CaDUI), a group of approximately 50 government, private sector and safety advocacy groups, provides support to regional and community-based groups fighting DUI and conducts recruitment of private-sector support for public-service efforts. CaDUI can be reached at http://www.sna.com/casaferoads/cadui.

· Traffic Alliance for a Safer California is a statewide alliance of law enforcement agencies, insurance companies, automobile manufacturers, public and private sector organizations and traffic safety advocates. TASC was established in 1999 as an expansion of CaDUI. TASC can be reached at http://www.ots.org/campaign/tasc.html.

Resources produced by the Attorney General’s Crime and Violence Prevention Center to encourage support for ending underage drinking and driving

· No Rite of Passage — Preventing Underage Drinking and Driving: A Guide for Parents is a color brochure aimed at informing parents of the hazards of underage drinking and driving. This brochure as well as additional material on youth and drugs can be obtained from the Crime and Violence Prevention Center, 1300 I Street, Sacramento, 95814; by phone at (916) 324-7863; or by fax at (916) 327-2384. For additional information, please visit http://caag.state.ca.us/cvpc or www.stopdrugs.org.