Prevention Works!

Targeting Impaired Driving Among Youth

In order to address the ongoing concern of teenage drinking and driving, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention has recently published Impaired Driving Among Youth: Trends and Tools for Prevention. The publication’s purpose is to assist program managers, practitioners and policymakers in their program design and implementation efforts. This technical report summarizes the most effective strategies for preventing impaired driving by young people in the United States and provides interventions that can be adapted for any community.

While there have been considerable reductions in the incidence of impaired driving nationwide, research has shown that alcohol-related crashes involving one age group—youth between 15 and 20 years old—have increased by nearly 5 percent. Further, almost 37 percent of youth traffic crash fatalities in the United States in 1996 were directly related to alcohol consumption.

Based on an examination of historical trends in teenage drinking and driving, this 34-page report addresses key issues that have an impact on prevention efforts. Included in the report are:

• Impaired driving issues with a focus on young drivers.

  This section presents an overview of the impaired driving problem. Among the issues discussed are defining impaired driving, geographical considerations, racial and ethnic incidences, proven strategies, and drug use. Also included: research on preventing impaired driving among youth.

• Minimum age alcohol purchase laws and their effects (a review); what States and communities can do to ensure enforcement.

  Laws that limit alcohol purchase to those 21 years of age and older are an effective way to focus attention on impaired driving by young people. This report focuses on an evaluation of why such laws are important, how well they have worked in the past, and how they can be made more effective in the future.

• An examination of zero-tolerance statutes, which require zero or low blood alcohol levels for young drivers.

  This report examines how zero tolerance laws, when properly implemented and enforced, can be doubly effective. First, they send a don’t-use message to young people; second, they prevent alcohol-related crashes among young drivers. Included in this section is an overview of the strategy and reasons for the widespread use of zero-tolerance laws. In addition, the importance of publicity and enforcement of such laws—as well as the challenges that can accompany their enforcement—are discussed.

• Discussion of easing young drivers into the traffic flow gradually via graduated licensing.

  Graduated licensing was developed to improve traffic safety by protecting young people as they gain maturity and experience behind the wheel. This approach is also an important strategy in preventing substance abuse. This report discusses the application and use of graduated licensing as a deterrent to impaired driving.

For more information about impaired driving among youth, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at ncadi.samhsa.gov.

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To receive a complimentary copy of this PreventionAlert, call SAMSHA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) @ 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired).

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PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

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