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      July 2003 Crackdown

Sample Student Op Ed

While the arrival of the Labor Day holiday may bring thoughts of a new school year for classmates and teachers of young children; many teenagers and young adults have something else in mind - parties and barbeques where alcohol may be available.

We at [insert youth group name] know many of our peers don’t realize that motor vehicle crashes - 40 percent of which involve alcohol - are the number one killer of Americans aged 4 to 34. Sadly, during the Labor Day holiday, the number of fatalities in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes rises sharply to 55%. Unfortunately for many teenage Americans, the final blast of summer fun ends tragically by death or injury in roadway crashes.

For more than two decades, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been focusing on deaths and injuries caused by impaired driving - especially those incurred during high-risk periods such as the Labor Day holiday weekend.

NHTSA reports that last year, more than 43,000 Americans were killed and another three million injured in motor vehicle crashes - many during the holiday season. More than 17,000 of those deaths came from crashes in which alcohol was involved. The vast majority of these deaths - nearly 12,000 - occurred in crashes that involved at least one person with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent, the legal driving limit in all states.

Through the years, impaired driving activists and student activists like [name your group] have been looking at new approaches to reduce impaired driving and its devastating effects on innocent motorists and passengers. Though we have made tremendous progress in a number of areas, many drivers of all ages still don’t get the message: You Drink & You Drive. You Lose.

The threat to our own friends and family is great. Impaired driving is one of the most frequently committed violent crimes in America. Every 30 minutes, someone dies in an alcohol-related crash.

We are all part of the solution. This is a call to action for young people of [your community, city or State], and we urgently need your support. As young adults, we can use our influence to remind our peers to buckle up and refrain from driving while impaired.