Traffic Safety Digest  
Winter2003
 
Project Characteristics
Young drivers and alcohol-related fatal crashes
Program Areas
Alcohol & Other Drugs
Youth Programs

Type of Jurisdiction
City

Targeted Population
Young drivers ages 14-20

Jurisdiction Size
23,965

Funding
Section 410: $48,751

Contact
Alex Karami
CO DOT
Safety and Traffic Branch
4201 E. Arkansas Ave.
Denver, CO 80222
(303) 757-9360
alex.karami@dot.state.co.us

Digest Listing


     

COLORADO
Team Fort Collins Underage Drinking/Driving Prevention


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

In 2001, over one-third of all drivers between the ages of 21 and 29 who were involved in a fatal crash were impaired by alcohol. One quarter of all 18 to 20 year old drivers in fatal crashes were impaired. Underage drinking and driving is a serious concern in Ft. Collins; statistics from the City Clerk’s Office show that in 1998:

  • There were 920 youth cited for possession/consumption of alcohol;
  • Five citations were issued for using false IDs; and
  • Twenty-three youths were cited for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), which included citations under the Zero Tolerance statute.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Team Fort Collins was created in an effort to help reduce underage drinking and driving, and zero tolerance violations in Fort Collins by 10 percent.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In order to meet the goal, the team developed the following strategies and activities:

  • Provide 120 retailers with Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS) about preventing alcohol sales to underage drinkers.
  • Provide additional scanners for false identification card recognition to law and liquor enforcement personnel.
  • Recruit youth to aid liquor enforcement officers with retailer compliance checks through the “Shoulder Tap” program, which educates the public about the liability of purchasing alcohol for underage drinkers.
  • Create Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) chapters at the four high schools in Fort Collins.
  • Train five student groups at Colorado State University on the dangers of underage drinking and driving.

RESULTS

As a result, Team Fort Collins:

  • Provided 15 TIPS classes to most of the city’s 250 liquor retailers.

  • Purchased 15 identification scanners with the funds from the Colorado Department of Transportation, all of which are being used by a task force comprised of law enforcement and liquor enforcement officials.

  • Completed ten “Shoulder Tap” classes to educate the public about the liability of purchasing alcohol for the underage drinkers.

  • Created one SADD chapter with 25 participants. The Team added a Social Norms marketing component to increase the target audiences’ perception of socially acceptable behavior. The resultant marketing campaign targeted social norms about alcohol that focuses on the current use, attitudes about use, age of first use, and perception of peer attitudes.

  • Comparing the number of citations between the baseline and the project year, Team Fort Collins exceeded its project objective of reducing the number of underage DUI citations by 10 percent, as shown in the table below.
 Citation Baseline # Project Yr # Reduction
 Underage possession of alcohol citations   870  146  83%
 Citations for use of false identifications  12    n/a
 False identifications forwarded to police by retailers     2100  n/a
 Underage DUI, including zero tolerance  29  24  17%
 # of retailers cited for selling alcohol to minors  19  4  79%

    

 
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