Three distinct groups make up the vast majority of the impaired driving problem in this country:

• Underage drinkers

• Young adult drinking drivers (21- to 34-year-olds)

• Repeat offenders or chronic impaired drivers

For your 3D Prevention Month activities, you may choose to target one of these three groups for action. The following offers some background on these target audiences and suggestions for strategies to address them.

Underage Drinkers

Although great strides have been made in addressing the problem of underage drinking and driving, young people are still over-represented in motor vehicle crash statistics when compared to adults.

One of the most successful efforts to deal with the problem of underage drinking and driving is the passage of zero tolerance laws. Fifty states and the District of Columbia now have zero tolerance laws. Although every state has some variation of these laws, some only cover under age 18 or 19, and others allow tolerances higher than the recommended maximum of .02 blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

Strengthening these weaker laws should be a priority. Enforcement and public awareness of zero tolerance laws certainly could be more vigorous, and any effort in this direction would be a positive step.

To make these laws even more effective, juvenile court judges should be brought in as partners, for they are ultimately the ones who make the laws work. Parents can also address the problem of underage drinking and driving by being more involved in their teenagers’ decision making processes.

Graduated licensing has been highly successful in some states and should be pursued. Among the provisions of a graduated licensing program should be “use-lose” laws that make it illegal for anyone under age 21 to purchase, possess, transport, or consume alcohol, with immediate sanctions against the driver’s licenses of those who are caught with any detectable amount of alcohol in their bodies.

Young Adult Drinking Drivers (21- to 34-year-olds)

Young legal drinkers, ages 21- to 34-years-old, are responsible for more alcohol-related fatal crashes than any other age group. The existing data confirm that drivers in this age group:

• Comprise more than half of all the impaired drivers involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes

• Are responsible for more alcohol-related fatal crashes than any other age group

• Have the highest BAC’s in fatal crashes

• Are about twice as likely as other drivers to have experienced a prior crash

• Are four times more likely to have had their licenses suspended or revoked

• Are the most resistant to changing drinking and driving behavior

This audience is challenging to reach. The first step is to design programs specifically addressing this population. One of the most effective ways to get the anti-impaired driving message to any hard-to-reach audience is through the use of highly-visible, well-publicized sobriety checkpoints, such as National Holiday Lifesavers Weekend. Law enforcement must have support for this important tool.

It is also important to support any legislation that targets this age group. Legislation, enforcement, and community programs all require public information and education support. Funding and incentive grants may be available for targeted campaigns.

In efforts to reach this age group, it is vital to involve the hospitality industry with server training and effective intervention techniques.

Employers, especially industrial employers, are also key partners. Judges and prosecutors need to be made more aware that driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenders in this age group are likely to have a problem with alcohol. Mandatory screening for first time offenders is just one example of possible adjudicative action to help reach this population; treatment requirements are another.

New technologies offer additional solutions, such as ignition interlock and home-arrest devices. Prosecutors should be made aware of these sentencing options and judges should be asked to support them. If legislation is necessary to make these available in your state, your 3D Coalition could support such a bill.

The Repeat Offender or Chronic Impaired Driver

These people repeatedly drive with high BAC levels. While they make up only 1 percent of all drivers on the road at night and on weekends, they account for nearly 50 percent of all fatal crashes at that time. No one is a first-time offender. It is generally accepted that an impaired driver has had more than 1,000 impaired driving experiences before being arrested. The chances of being caught are infinitesimal. Every opportunity needs to be exercised when an impaired driver is in custody.

Because of underlying problems with alcohol abuse and alcoholism, chronic impaired drivers (whether underage or adult) cannot or will not change their unsafe driving behavior. Traditional approaches have not worked with this difficult audience.

Strong enforcement efforts such as sobriety checkpoints need your support. Mandatory alcohol screening is a vital countermeasure, and each and every DWI offender should be screened and assessed for alcohol problems and dependence. Treatment programs should be a routine part of sentencing for chronic offenders.

Technology is also an asset. If a chronic impaired driver cannot or will not stop driving impaired, all the technological advances available need to be used to protect the motoring public: ignition interlock devices, home-arrest bracelets, remote BAC testing, and other emerging technologies. As we find out what works, we must encourage judges to use them. Other creative sentencing options such as vehicle impoundment or license plate confiscation also need to be considered.

Chronic impaired drivers are reviled by society, but as individuals they are often pitied. Approaches need to take into consideration that these people have a medical and possibly a psychological problem that need appropriate attention. Health departments and other alcohol screening and treatment facilities will probably need additional resources to handle a large influx of clients, so a state may need to consider a new funding program (such as one that ties fees, fines, and penalties to the cost of treatment).

Any program that strives to address one of these specific target audiences will help us reach solutions to the impaired driving problem in this country.