PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Young drivers
are at higher risk of traffic crash involvement than any other segment
of Iowa's population. People ages 16 to 24 represent about 16 percent
of Iowa's licensed drivers, but, in 1997, they accounted for 33 percent
of all impaired drivers involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash. In
1998, this age group represented 25 percent of all impaired drivers
in fatal crashes. Historically, the 16 to 24 year-old group is responsible
for more than 35 percent of alcohol-involved injury crashes in Iowa,
as well. In addition to the combination of relative inexperience with
both driving and drinking, 16 to 24 year-olds traditionally have a lower
rate of seat belt use than older adults. More than 40 percent of Iowa
seat belt citations annually, are issued to people 25 years old and
younger.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In an effort to address
the problem of impaired driving among youthful drivers ages 16 to 24,
the Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau developed the Youth Alcohol
program in 1990. Objectives of the program are to:
- Encourage
and promote the development and implementation of youth/alcohol education
and prevention programs for elementary, junior high, high school and
college students
- Support
the enforcement of Iowa's .02 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) law
for drivers under the age of 21, as well as other laws pertaining
to the purchase and consumption of alcohol by underage individuals
- Reduce/maintain
the involvement of 15 to 24 year-old drivers as a percent of all impaired
drivers in fatal crashes at 30 percent or less
- Reduce/maintain
the involvement of 15 to 24 year-old drivers as a percent of all impaired
drivers in injury crashes at 35 percent or less
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The
Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau focused its efforts for the Youth
Alcohol initiative on education and public information. An annual contract
was initiated with Iowa State University's Department of Public Safety
to develop a youth alcohol training program. The resulting program of
workshops brings together high school students and counselors from around
the state for a 2 ½ day intensive training program on the dangers
of impaired driving, alcohol and substance abuse and positive alternatives
to these self-destructive behaviors. A major theme of the workshops
is how to handle peer pressure, and the development of action plans
and alternative activities and social events that do not involve alcohol
or drugs. Program breakout sessions discuss the importance of decisions
and choices, discouraging drinking and driving through humor, rites
of passage and using your own ideas to help solve youth/alcohol problems.
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