Teen Safety
The teen years are a time for fun and freedom. Unfortunately, many teens put themselves at risk on the road – and pay the price. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers.
Several national campaigns can help communities counter this trend and increase teen safety.
The National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS), a network of more than 40 youth serving organizations, is sponsoring several programs to promote safe and healthy lifestyles among youth. NOYS is encouraging organizations to undertake a "My Gift To You" program. Teens give "Call Me" cards to their friends, which state "If you are ever in a situation where you feel unsafe due to the potential for drinking and driving or any other potential danger, know you can call me because I am your friend." For more information about NOYS and its projects, check out their Web site at http://www.noys.com.
Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) has launched a 2000 x 2000 campaign to decrease teen alcohol-related fatalities to 2,000 by the year 2000. To get a free campaign kit, call 800-787-5777.
Of all age groups in the United States, teenagers are the least likely to be buckled up. For information about how to increase teen belt use, see the "Buckle Up, America!" section of Program Publications of Planner 19 and NHTSA’s Campaign Safe & Sober Planner 18.
Zero Tolerance
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have the legal tools in place to prohibit teens from drinking and driving: the minimum drinking age of 21 years old and "zero tolerance" laws that prohibit those under age 21 from operating a motor vehicle with any amount of alcohol in their system. The 21-year-old minimum drinking age law continues to be resoundingly successful. Since 1982, alcohol-related crash fatalities have decreased 59 percent for ages 15 through 20.
But states and communities may not be using these laws to their full potential. Additional aspects of halting underage drinking include:
- Coalitions of community leaders (government officials, media, judges, principals and teachers, parents, social services, doctors, nurses, law enforcement, clergy, liquor licensing authorities, advertisers) making a commitment to tackle the problem
- Halting retail and third-party sales of alcohol to teens
- Cracking down on false identification
- Saturation patrols
- Compliance checks and sting operations
- Parent party patrols and "party hotlines"
- Teen courts
- Parental notification and involvement
For more information, see the Youth DWI and Underage Enforcement manual, Retail-Oriented Best Practices for Underage Drinking Prevention, and other resources in Program Publications for Planner 19.
Although many of these activities are conducted primarily by law enforcement agencies, a "Safe Communities" approach will enhance their effectiveness. "Safe Communities" brings together key organizations and decision-makers to collaborate on strategies to increase safety, engendering the leadership, resources and community support needed for efforts like these. Community-wide zero tolerance efforts need judges and prosecutors who take underage drinking violations seriously. Educators, health care professionals, parents and others concerned about underage drinking need to express their awareness of the scope of this problem and their support for enforcement programs. Look for the "Safe Communities" section of Program Publications for Planner 19.
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DOJ Grants Fight Underage Drinking
The U.S. Department of Justice, supported by Congressional appropriations of $25 million in both 1998 and 1999, is overseeing a block grant program to tackle the underage drinking problem in the United States, particularly the sale of alcohol to those who are under age 21. The Combating Underage Drinking Program is the responsibility of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
This block grant program has awarded funds to each state and the District of Columbia to develop state-wide initiatives, including task forces, enforcement efforts and media campaigns to address the underage drinking problem. Ten states were awarded additional monies to work with selected communities to improve enforcement and prevention of alcohol sales to minors.
The state awards are made to agencies selected by their governor to oversee the grant program. For instance, 17 state highway safety offices have been selected to receive this grant funding from the Department of Justice. For further information on state agency selection contact Ellen Shields-Fletcher, State Relations and Assistance Division, OJJDP, at 202-616-3640.
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Graduated Licensing
Teenage drivers are over-represented in traffic crashes: drivers ages 15 through 20 are 6.7 percent of the driving population yet are 14 percent of the drivers in fatal crashes. Why is this true? Driving a car is a highly complex task. It takes time and experience to acquire sthe skills and judgment needed to become a proficient driver. Not surprisingly, a young driver may be short on these qualities.
Some of the factors that contribute to teen death and injury on the road area:
- Inexperience
- Risk-taking behavior: Young drivers may be immature and impulsive, leading to poor judgment and high-risk behaviors such as speeding and improper passing
- High-risk situations, such as nighttime driving or passengers who distract the driver or create peer pressure to take risks
- Alcohol use
- Illegal drug use
- Not using a seat belt
Fatal crashes involving teen drivers are more likely to be single-vehicle crashes and are more likely to involve speeding than fatal crashes involving older drivers. More fatal crashes involving teen drivers occur when passengers – usually other teenagers – are in the car.
States can take steps to reduce the number of crashes involving inexperienced drivers. At least 24 states have adopted licensing requirements known as "Graduated Licensing," which limit the inexperienced driver’s exposure to the riskiest driving situations and eases beginning drivers into the traffic environment. As a young driver becomes more proficient and advances through the licensing system, restrictions and conditions are removed.
States that implement graduated licensing can significantly reduce the crash rate of young inexperienced drivers. For example, Maryland had a 5 percent reduction in crashes and 10 percent reduction in convictions for all 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
In California, the rate of crashes involving 15-17 year old drivers decreased 5.3 percent. Ontario, Canada, had a 27 percent reduction in collisions for 16-19 year old drivers.
To learn more about graduated licensing, see Saving Teenage Lives: The Case for Graduated Driver Licensing, and Q&A: Graduated Driver Licensing in Program Publications for Planner 19.
Teen-to-Teen
Many communities are finding that the most effective messengers for getting a safety message to teens are other young people.
One example is Washington state’s SAFTYE (Stop Auto Fatalities Through Youth Efforts) Network, a statewide network of more than 250 youth-organized clubs. The students elect their representatives to the Student Advisory Board, which determines the goals and policies of SAFTYE. The students implement and host the group’s training conference and regional meetings. The students make the decisions on all aspects of activities, including conference topics and speakers. To participate, teens must meet several criteria, such as signing a volunteer contract committing to stay drug-free and violence-free, and to always buckle up.
The adults involved with the network give the teens the tools they need to run meetings, hold debates, and collaborate, then turn leadership over to the students. "We have deliberately created a process of youth and adults working together, and whenever possible, the youth voice is leading," said Letty Mendez, the Youth Program Manager for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Students involved with SAFTYE also help bring the traffic safety message to other state decision-makers; SAFTYE representatives sit on the Governor’s injury prevention advisory committee and on the statewide substance abuse council. Mendez has created a handbook on the process and resources needed for the Network. For more information or to get a copy of the handbook, contact:
Letty Mendez
Youth Program Manager
Washington Traffic Safety Commission
1000 S. Cherry, P.O. Box 40944
Olympia, WA 98504-0944
1-877-4-SAFTYE
Hundreds of communities have established "teen courts," programs in which juvenile offenders agree to be sentenced by a jury of their peers. These programs are emerging as a promising mechanism for holding youth charged with alcohol and other offenses accountable for their actions. Teen courts:
- help youth realize that they will be held accountable for their problem behavior;
- educate youth on the impact their actions have on themselves and others;
- build skills in young people and educate youth about the legal system; and
- provide a meaningful forum for youth.
Communities that are struggling with alcohol and drug use and drinking and driving by its teenage residents may find teen court a helpful response to some juvenile offenses. These programs can help send a strong message to youth in the community that their peers do not condone, and will invoke a response to, law-breaking behaviors, including the use of alcohol.
Developing and implementing teen courts on a local level requires a coordinated and collaborative effort among agencies and community sectors, such as law enforcement, probation, courts, schools, parents, youth. For a manual on developing and implementing a teen court program, see Peer Justice and Youth Empowerment, an Implementation Guide for Teen Court Programs, in Program Publications for Planner 19.
A peer-to-peer project promoting bicycle use and safety is being coordinated by the National Peer Helpers Association (NPHA), the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement, the National Safety Council and NHTSA. The program will develop, implement and evaluate peer-delivered curriculum modules at elementary/middle schools and college campuses. For more information, please visit the NPHA Web site at http://www.peerhelping.org.
Driving While Drowsy
While teenagers are developing their driving judgment and skills, they may overestimate their capabilities. One growing area of concern is fatigue-related crashes. Police have cited driver drowsiness/fatigue in an estimated 56,000 crashes annually, resulting in roughly 40,000 nonfatal injuries and 1,550 deaths, according to Drowsy Driving and Automobile Crashes, a report by NHTSA and the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. These statistics probably underreport the extent of drowsy driving.
Young drivers – especially males – are overrepresented in fatigue-related crashes. Drivers younger than 30 make up one-fourth of licensed drivers but account for almost two-thirds of drowsy-driving crashes. These drivers are four times more likely to have such a crash than are drivers ages 30 years or older. NHTSA has found that males are five times more likely than females to be involved in drowsy driving crashes.
One study (Carskadon) found that teenage boys with the greatest extracurricular time commitments were most likely to report falling asleep at the wheel. The subgroup at greatest risk comprised the brightest, most energetic, hardest working teens.
Educating young drivers about these risks and their own limitations is one step toward addressing this problem. NHTSA and the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (a part of the National Institutes of Health) have recommended an education campaign about drowsy driving and how to reduce lifestyle risks. One of the priority audiences is young men ages 16 to 24.
To tackle this issue in your community, you could create an educational program about drowsy driving aimed at young drivers, or you could incorporate messages in the risks and prevention of drowsy driving in existing programs, including drivers’ education and health science classes. Messages might include:
As soon as a driver becomes sleepy, the key behavioral step is to stop driving – for example, letting a passenger drive or stopping to sleep before continuing a trip. Two remedial actions can make a short-term difference in driving alertness: taking a short nap (about 15 to 20 minutes) and consuming caffeine equivalent to two cups of coffee. But, again, the best thing to do is to prevent drowsy driving in the first place. For more information, visit the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Web site at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov or contact:
National Sleep Foundation
729 15th Street NW
Fourth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-347-3471
E-mail: natsleep@erols.com
Web: http://www.sleepfoundation.org
For more information, see Awake at the Wheel and Drowsy Driving and Automobile Crashes in Program Publications for Planner 19.
Carskadon M: Adolescent sleepiness: increased risk in a high-risk population. Alcohol, Drugs and Driving 1990; 5(4)/6(7); 317-28.
