MARYLAND
Check Your Wreck

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

The leading cause of death for young drivers ages 15-19 are motor vehicle crashes. Most of the fatalities are a direct result of impaired driving. According to the 2001 Adolescent Survey, approximately 15 percent of twelfth graders have driven while under the influence of alcohol in the past twelve months. Approximately 25 percent of twelfth graders rode with a driver who was under the influence of alcohol.

Their prevailing attitude about their mortality creates a unique problem in reaching these drivers about the dangers of impaired driving. Efforts to ingrain the impaired driving message will require innovative and comprehensive programs targeting these drivers. The Check Your Wreck project presents this message through a display at each of the participating high schools during the prom season and summer vacation.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

These visual displays placed at the driveway entrances of the participating high schools are intended to reach the younger drivers during a critical time of year. The students and adults who view the wreck will see the impaired driving message. The students and teachers who participate in the program will be able to spread the message at school, just prior to the prom season and summer vacation.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

Students will decorate and place an impaired driving message on a wrecked vehicle. Members of the police department will judge the entries and determine the one that best conveys the impaired driving message.

The project will include a number of monitoring and evaluation activities such as:

• Recording the number of schools, students, and teachers who participate in the program.
• Sending program information to each school through the School Resource Officer (SRO).
• Photographing and documenting each school's efforts.
• Rewarding each school and participant for taking part in the program.
• Obtaining feedback from the SRO about the reaction to the display.

RESULTS

None as of yet, activities are scheduled for the 2002 Prom/Graduation season.