It's Your Choice

MONTANA

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS PROGRAM AREA(S)
  Outstanding collaborative effort   Youth Programs
  Targets hard-to-reach/at risk population    Alcohol and Other Drugs
       
TYPE OF JURISDICTION    
  Multijurisdictional    
       
TARGETED POPULATION(S) JURISDICTION SIZE
  Youth   879,000


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Alcohol- and drug-related crashes tend to result in injuries that are more severe than crashes with no alcohol or drug involvement. In Montana, during the past 10 years, alcohol and drugs have been a factor in 50 percent of all fatal crashes involving teens. Also, drivers under the age of 21 are involved at a much higher rate in crashes than are more mature drivers. Many Montana teens live in rural communities in which driving after drinking is more likely, especially during events such as school proms and graduations.


GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the It's Your Choice program was to reduce youth involvement in alcohol- and drug-related motor vehicle crashes through the following objectives:


STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In 1990, a Yellowstone County deputy coroner developed the It's Your Choice program, which is a live re-enactment of a car crash. The crash is staged with local law enforcement officials, fire departments, and emergency medical services (EMS) providers during prom and graduation events, when heavy drinking and driving is common. The presentation uses students who volunteer to be made up as crash victims. A narrator explains the events as they happen, describes the results of the injuries, and reveals the long-term impact on the survivors and their families.

The It's Your Choice program was initiated in Yellowstone County, but has expanded to reach most colleges, high schools and middle schools in the state. To reach the rural communities, where a re-enactment on-site might not be feasible, the Yellowstone County DUI Task Force formed a partnership with a local television station to produce a professional-quality video of the re-enactment for distribution throughout the state. This video received the National Commission Against Drunk Driving Media Awareness Award.

RESULTS
Over a five-year period, Montana state trends have indicated a 16.8 percent decrease in involvement of teens in alcohol-related crashes, compared with a 7 percent decrease in the general population. In Yellowstone County (Montana's most populous county), where the program has been presented most frequently, there has not been a serious injury or fatality resulting from an alcohol-related crash on prom night or graduation night since the inception of the It's Your Choice program in 1990.

This program has inspired collaboration among law enforcement agencies, EMS providers, fire departments, schools, hospitals, funeral homes and the media to take an active part in addressing the issue of impaired driving among Montana youth.

FUNDING
  Section 410:

$3,000

CONTACT  
  Anne Jourdan
Yellowstone County DUI Task Force
P.O. Box 20982
Billings, MT 59104
(406) 254–0434


National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Winter 1998