20th Safe & Sober Planner Operation ABC You Drink & Drive. You Lose. Call To Action Activities Guide Table of Contents Introduction How to Plan and Conduct National Events Community and Civic Law Enforcement Medical and Health Care Educators and Schools Employers Prosecutors and Judges Armed Forces A Dozen Great Ideas! Media Outreach Sample Media Materials Sample Proclamation Ideas for Year-Round Driving Efforts 3D Prevention Month Coalition 3D Prevention Month Grantss Resources Available Tell Us About It! Fact Sheets Program Brochure Resource Guide

These individuals and institutions should be an important part of the planning and activities of 3D Prevention Month. Activities for these professionals might include:

• writing a column for the local newspaper about drinking and driving and 3D Prevention Month activities;
• helping to identify and measure the cost to the community of caring for those injured by impaired drivers;
• participating in news conferences and other 3D Prevention Month events;
• speaking to students and community groups about how impaired driving affects their patients, their facility and the community;
• responding to a mock crash at a local high school, in cooperation with law enforcement and community and student organizations; and
• hosting tours of the emergency department for students and other groups.

Even medical schools have a role to play in impaired driving prevention programs. At the MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, impaired driving issues are incorporated into the behavioral science program for first year medical students, giving future doctors greater insight into the both the societal and medical problems related to drinking and driving.

Emergency medical or rehabilitation facilities make a great backdrop for news conferences or other 3D Prevention Month events by reminding people of the real-life consequences of irresponsible behavior. These events also give victims and their family members an opportunity to participate in activities and share their personal stories.

SUCCESS STORY!

SUCCESS STORY: DIVERSITY IN HIGHWAY SAFETY NEEDED TO HELP REDUCE TRAFFIC INJURIES The nation’s first National Diversity Forum, composed of more than 80 minority groups and traditional safety organizations, met in February 1999 in Miami to plan ways to reduce traffic deaths and injuries, especially among minorities. Representatives of the groups signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Transportation, recognizing the toll of traffic crashes on American families, citing diversity as America’s strength, and committing themselves to work together to increase seat belt and child safety seat use and to decrease impaired driving. Research by NHTSA and other agencies shows that: Native Americans die in car crashes at rates 2-3 times that of other ethnicities; motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics through the age of 24; motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African-Americans through the age of 14; seat belt use among African-Americans is 10 percentage points lower than the national average; 42 percent of minority children are at greater risk because they are improperly placed in child safety seats, while 15 per cent of white infants are improperly placed in child safety seats; per mile traveled, Hispanic and African-American teenagers are 2-3 times as likely as their white counterparts to die in traffic crashes. "Because this safety problem disproportionately affects the minority community, we are meeting with the leaders of some of the nation’s most prestigious organizations to work with us on life-saving solutions," said NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D. He said that the agenda for the National Diversity Forum included extensive discussions of issues that concerned minorities, including differential enforcement, especially as a result of primary seat belt laws. NHTSA is continuing to study whether primary seat belt laws, which allow law enforcement officers to stop motorists who are not using seat belts, result in more minority motorists being pulled aside by police. Preliminary findings from a three-state study by NHTSA indicate that primary seat belt laws do not disproportionately affect minorities, but NHTSA is working with the Police Foundation on another study looking at the relationship between primary seat belt laws and police harassment of minority motorists. For more information on the National Diversity Forum, contact the NHTSA Office of Communications and Outreach (NTS-22), 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590, Fax: 202-366-6916. For more information on programs aimed at diverse audiences, contact your Governor’s Highway Safety Representative or your NHTSA Regional Office (see State and Local Resources in this Program Planner 20).