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The ABCs of BAC Subtitled “A Guide to Understanding Blood Alcohol Concentration and Alcohol Impairment,” this NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) brochure provides answers to questions about BAC and its effects. This is a two-page downloadable brochure. ++++++++++ Driving Forces On March 17, the Maryland House of Delegates approved a measure to prevent inexperienced teenage drivers from carrying teenage passengers except in limited circumstances. Four other bills focused on preventing teen driving-related deaths also passed. Maryland's governor is expected to sign the measures into law. Connect for Kids. March 7, 2005 ++++++++++ States Limit Teen Driving to Improve Safety In spite of an increase in population in the 16-year-old age group in the country, fatal accidents involving16-year-olds have decreased 26 percent in recent years. The decrease is attributed to restrictions on teen driving in 48 of the 50 states through graduated drivers license programs. Wyoming has instituted a graduated licensing program and Montana is considering it. All but 11 states include nighttime driving restrictions for novice drivers. A growing trend for states with graduated licensing is to take on distracted driving cell phone use by teens. ++++++++++ My Car the Informer A growing number of companies offer small boxes that watch, record, and report the speed, braking, and rate of acceleration of a car. Some of them pinpoint where the car is. All the systems track speed, perhaps the best indicator of careless driving. Parents plug a small black box into a dashboard port and a monitor taps data generated by on-car computers to monitor their adolescents’ driving habits. Their teenage children are not thrilled. ++++++++++ Underage Drinking This is the latest in a series of POP COPS Guides from DOJ (Problem-Oriented Policing Guides published by Community-Oriented Policing Services in the Department of Justice). The guides summarize knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems and they’re useful to the rest of us too. This one addresses underage drinking and factors that contribute to it. 76 pages long, including a Summary of Responses to Underage Drinking, a table showing how they are supposed to work, how they work best, and factors to consider before implementing. Also of interest, two news articles on the subject: ++++++++++ Girls are Driving More and Faster Than They Used To Among 15- to 20-year-old girls there has been a 42% increase in young female driver fatalities from 1992 to 2002. The rate for young males rose 15%. Young women are crashing cars and dying in cars at significantly higher rates than a decade ago. They’re driving like guys. ++++++++++ Graduated Driver Licensing and Drinking Among Young Drivers  | During the years 1999 to 2001, 21% of young drivers ages 15 to 17 were binge drinkers and 6% were heavy drinkers. | | Young drivers ages 15 to 17 in states with the most restrictive driver-licensing laws had lower rates of heavy drinking than those in states with the least restrictive laws. | | Young driver age 15 to 17 in states with more restrictive driver-licensing laws had lower rates of driving under the influence of alcohol than those in states with less restrictive laws. |
Click on the link above for details, charts and graphs. ++++++++++ New Online Resource Library for judges on Impaired Driving NASJE (National Association of State Judicial Educators) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) are the providers of this resource library to provide judges, court staff and judicial educators with a comprehensive and user-friendly source of materials on numerous aspects of impaired driving criminal cases. The library includes current information on everything from initial stops and field sobriety tests to expert testimony, sentencing and DUI/DWI courts. ++++++++++ LA Initiative to Curb Habitual Drunk Drivers A newly organized Habitual DUI Offender Task Force in Los Angeles will target anyone with three convictions for driving under the influence within seven years. The task force team has focused on 35 high-risk cases. About half the drivers involved have been rearrested for probation violations. The team compiled information on repeat offenders, including their addresses, the cars they drove and their drunk-driving histories. The officers organized surveillance teams to monitor those considered high risks. ++++++++++ Child Endangerment Report: Every Child Deserves a Designated Driver MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has released a new report which outlines weaknesses in state laws against child endangerment. The report found that drivers who are caught drinking and driving with a child in the car are often not charged with child endangerment and that when such charges are brought, they are often reduced through plea-bargaining or dismissed. Among the report’s recommendations: | Provide public awareness and training on child endangerment issues for judges, attorneys, law enforcement, family services and other health and safety officials. | | Establish state child endangerment laws that apply specifically to children at least 16 years old. | | Increase enforcement of child passenger safety laws, adopt primary seat belt laws, and consider a provision for adding points to driver’s license records for violations. |
The report includes a series of tips for families and agencies who work with children, including tips on how children can keep themselves safe when forced to ride with an impaired driver. ++++++++++ Child Car Deaths Linked to Drinking Drivers A new report from the CDC says that more than two-thirds of the U. S. children killed in car accidents involving alcohol consumption between 1997 and 2002 were riding with a driver who had been drinking - 1,588 kids, or 68% of the 2,335 children who died in crashes in which at least one driver had been drinking. The CDC study examined motor vehicle fatalities involving kids who were 14 years old and younger. The study also found that: | Most of these children were not wearing seat belts or proper child restraints. | | 68% of the 1,409 drinking drivers involved in these fatal crashes survived. |
++++++++++ Youth DUI Sentencing and Dispositions – Free Hard Copies A colleague at the National Center for Juvenile Justice called to tell me they have hard copies of this manual available. All you have to do is ask for one. Since this is a very lengthy document, this option will save you a lot of printer paper and ink cartridges. To refresh your memory, click here to look at the guide. Then, if you want a copy, email NCJJ and ask for one. ( ncjj@ncjj.org) ( ncjj@ncjj.org) ++++++++++ Bullet Hole Stickers It has become hot to buy stickers of bullet holes and stick them to your car. Apparently, making your car look like it has been shot up is the latest fad in some locales. ++++++++++ Traffic Safety Facts 2002 – Young Drivers (Go to NEW 2002 Traffic Safety Fact Sheets and click on "young drivers.") This five-page report on teen traffic safety will help you marshal your facts about teen drivers. Some information from the fact sheet: | Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people from 15 to 20 years old. | | In 2002, 3,827 drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed, and an additional 324,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. | | In 2002, 24% of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes were intoxicated. |
++++++++++ Sentencing and Dispositions of Youth DUI and Other Alcohol Offenses: A Guide for Judges and Prosecutors NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), with the assistance of an interdisciplinary working group, teamed up to produce this manual. It is intended to help judges and prosecutors to: | more effectively sanction juvenile and youths for alcohol-related offenses, | | work more cooperatively | | define a role for themselves outside the courtroom in preventing underage drinking and other alcohol-related offenses. |
The manual is about 50 pages in length and downloadable. It includes recommendations for policy and research, a list of references, and a resource list. Go to: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/youthdui/ ++++++++++ Just One Night – New Hampshire PBS Production and Program for Teens About Impaired Driving The centerpiece of this program is the story of Tom Boyle, a successful New Hampshire businessman who is serving 4-8 years for manslaughter. Boyle, while celebrating the successful conclusion of a business deal, drove drunk into a Concord snowplow at 100 mph, killing his passenger. Boyle tells his story about making all the right decisions – except one - to large groups of students at schools and colleges in New Hampshire . This web site describes the program and educational resources. It includes a teachers guide and a court facilitators guide. Just One Night is being used by every high school in New Hampshire . It has been broadcast by public television stations in Rhode Island , Massachusetts , Idaho and Arkansas , and is now being distributed nationally by PBS. ++++++++++ Graduated Drivers Licenses for Teens Reduce Auto Accidents A report released by the National Safety Council on February 18 reports that twelve studies from a recent NSC symposium found that graduated driver’s license programs reduced teenagers’ accident rates by as much as 33 %. Effective GDL programs address the most prevalent risks experienced by novice teenage drivers: a learner’s permit phase that includes more time and more structure, and an intermediate license phase that includes nighttime restrictions and passenger restrictions. Provisional licenses keep teenagers off the road at night. One-third of fatal crashes involving teenagers occur between 9 pm and 6 am , even though only 15 percent of the miles driven by teenagers are driven between those hours. NY Times Article (you must register to read this article, but there is no charge for registration or to read recent articles) NSC News Release ++++++++++ NHTSA Fact Sheets The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a series of fact sheets intended for state legislators posted at its site that may be of interest to readers: Graduated Driver Licensing System - A three stage licensing system that introduces driving privileges gradually to beginning drivers. Novice drivers are required to demonstrate responsible driving behavior in each stage of licensing before advancing to the next stage. Does it work? California reported a 5% reduction in crashes for drivers 15-17. Maryland reported a 5% reduction in crashes and a 10% reduction in traffic convictions for drivers 16-17. Oregon reported a 16% reduction in crashes for male drivers ages 16-17. .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration - 38 states have now lowered their BAC levels to .08. (The fact sheet is out of date on numbers of states. 38 is correct.) Zero-Tolerance Laws to Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving by Youth - The movement to use the threat of license revocation to reduce drinking and driving by younger drivers. 45 States have set the BAC limited at 0.02 or lower for drivers under age 21. State Legislative Fact Sheets |
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