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
|
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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% |
|
|