Introductory Letter Call To Action Table of Contents Program Brochure Resource Guide Media Kit Media Tools Fact Sheets Mobilization Hand-Out Logo Slicks

Impaired driving is no accident. It is a violent crime that kills. Every 30 minutes someone in America dies because of an impaired driver. Every two minutes someone is injured. You, your family or your friends could be next.

Reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities is one of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) top priorities. The national goal is to lower the death toll to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005. To meet this formidable challenge, NHTSA will launch the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. campaign in early December 1999 as part of National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.

You Drink & Drive. You Lose. was developed as the voice of an energized national partnership aimed at intensifying the fight against impaired driving. NHTSA’s partners include the National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives (NAGHSR), Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

The Message is Clear
The campaign’s message is a simple one: Make the right choice—don’t drink and drive. Yet, we know that thousands of Americans every year continue to make the wrong choices. Every day hundreds of families and communities experience the tragedy and pain inflicted by impaired drivers. The loss extends beyond fatalities and the impact on families. Everyone pays for impaired driving with higher taxes, higher health care costs and higher insurance premiums.

The purpose of You Drink & Drive. You Lose. is to help support the hard work already being done nationwide by private and public traffic safety partners. The goal is enhance national awareness about the deadly toll drinking and driving exacts on America’s communities and to generate a greater national urgency to stop the senseless killing and injury on our nation’s highways.

While You Drink & Drive. You Lose. serves as the voice for reaching Americans with this lifesaving message, it is much more than just a public service advertising campaign. You Drink & Drive. You Lose. provides the framework for a comprehensive impaired driving prevention program that provides partners with best practices and guidance on how to implement programs that extend beyond traditional efforts, emphasizing that there is no one solution to this national challenge.

What’s more, You Drink & Drive. You Lose. speaks directly to three high-risk populations identified as most likely to drive after drinking:

• 21- to 34- year-olds
• underage drinkers
• high blood alcohol and repeat offenders.

The You Drink & Drive. You Lose. and National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. campaign planners offer a variety of proven examples of community-based activities designed to assist you in meeting the challenge of reducing alcohol-related fatalities in your own community. This combined planner is a comprehensive set of tools for states and communities to use as we all work together to achieve the “11,000 by 2005” goal. The campaign is based on activity in four key areas:

1. conducting public education;
2. building public-private partnerships;
3. enacting strong legislation; and
4. staging highly visible enforcement.

You Can Stop Impaired Driving. Here’s How…

Impaired driving crashes are preventable. Your pledge to participate in the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. mobilization and National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month effort is crucial. Highly visible enforcement coupled with heightened public awareness is the most effective way to stop impaired driving in your community. When law enforcement and communities mobilize against drinking and driving, lives are saved.

But to be truly successful, your community must take a comprehensive approach. The challenge is too great for any one group to tackle alone but achievable by everyone working together. Highly visible enforcement coupled with heightened public awareness is the most effective way to stop impaired driving in your community. When law enforcement and communities mobilize against drinking and driving, lives are saved.

As a community safety advocate, your participation will help make the streets safer. You can educate the public and encourage responsible decision-making. And if you are involved with youth programs, your influence can be particularly effective in stopping the problem of impaired driving before it starts. You Drink & Drive. You Lose. is an opportunity for you to participate in your community by:

• partnering with the media to raise awareness about the deadly consequences of impaired driving;
• building and expanding partnerships among local and state organizations;
• creating community support for law enforcement’s efforts; and
• enforcing existing laws through active enforcement programs.

Reducing the death toll to 11,000 represents a national commitment. But to reach our goal we must begin at the community level. You’re holding the keys to success. And your commitment to participate in You Drink & Drive. You Lose. is a pledge to make America’s roadways and communities safer by intensifying comprehensive efforts against impaired driving.

You’ll be joining communities across the nation to get impaired drivers off the road. Your participation will help people in your community recognize the deadly costs of impaired driving, and encourage them to act more responsibly.

Join the National Mobilization — December 17^th -19^th

Why mobilize? Because it works. Highly visible law enforcement, including saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints, are effective strategies in reducing impaired driving. A nation-wide “wave” of mobilization from small rural towns to major metropolitan areas, combined with unified public information, puts offenders on notice that their actions are not only serious, but criminal. In short, mobilization deters thousands of potential violators.

The campaign’s first nationwide impaired driving prevention mobilization takes place from December 17^th through 19^th , 1999 as part of Operation C.A.R.E.’s national enforcement program. The second You Drink & Drive. You Lose. mobilization is scheduled for the July 4^th, 2000 weekend. During the December mobilization, you can join Operation C.A.R.E., state and local highway safety agencies, NHTSA and thousands of partners throughout America in the nationally coordinated mobilization effort. Whether you are in law enforcement or involved in community advocacy, you can help by turning up the “volume” about impaired driving and influencing others to act responsibly.

You can use the enclosed post card for ordering a mobilization kit. Please order early to ensure you receive your kit in time for the December 17-19^th weekend mobilization period.

Watch for New Materials

Throughout the year, additional You Drink & Drive. You Lose. resources will be made available to assist partners in developing their comprehensive impaired driving prevention programs. NHTSA is also currently working on creating materials to support the next special emphasis periods that will take place during the 2000 prom and graduation season and Operation C.A.R.E.’s Fourth of July enforcement mobilization.

For more information on impaired driving and resources to help you in your efforts, please refer to the "Resource Guide" contained in this kit or visit the NHTSA World Wide Web site at: www.nhtsa.dot.gov