TEENS FACE ZERO TOLERANCE WITH DRINKING, DRIVING

I heard an alarming statistic the other day that made me stop and think. Did
you know that drivers under the age of 20 account for 5 percent of all
drivers, yet account for 14.4 percent of all accidents and 12.2 percent of
all fatal accidents? Doesn't it just take your breath away? It scares the
heck out of me.

What most people - teen-agers and adults alike - aren't aware of is that
driving is a privilege, not a right. You aren't allowed in our society to
drive whenever you want. You have to be a certain age, you have to have
specialized training and pass certain requirements.

I have a_ 15-year-old son. He is eagerly looking forward to driving one day
soon. With the graduated driver licensing system in place now he will slowly
eased into driving, instead of instantly being handed the keys after passing
a written and driving test.

My son will have to learn the responsibility part of driving a vehicle on
the road. He will have to follow the restrictions set forth by the U.S.
Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators. He will be required to demonstrate responsible driving
behavior in each stage of licensing before advancing to the next. I am
extremely happy about that. I think it's a great idea.

Another responsibility he has to learn as a driver is about drinking and
driving. California, along with 49 other states and the District of
Columbia, have laws that prohibit the purchase and public possession of
alcoholic beverages by those under the age of 21. It makes sense then to
expect that drivers under the age of 21 not to have alcohol in their system.
As of February 1998, all but four states have enacted zero tolerance laws.

Zero tolerance, that's the view taken when it comes to anyone under 21 and
alcohol. Teens value their drivers license. It's a big thing, a social step
achieved to carry one in their wallets and show off to their friends. But if
those teens even have one sip of alcohol and then get behind the wheel of a
vehicle they could lose the privilege to drive.

"Officers administer an on-scene breath test and if any amount of 0.01 or up
is found the teens lose their license. If the teen refuses the breath test
they still will lose their license," said Mack Wimbish, Public Affairs
officer with the California Highway Patrol.

"And don't think about popping that gum in your mouth to mask the smell. It
doesn't work," said Sarah Futrell, injury prevention director at the Kern
County Department of Public Health.

"Breath analyzers only test alcohol, nothing else, so the cover up stuff
like gum or breath sprays doesn't work to hide it," Wimbish said.

Say that the teen-ager is driving around and has unopened alcohol in his or
her car and is pulled over. Bing. They lose their license for one year.

"If you are under the age of 21 and are found with alcohol, it's the same as
possessing heroin or cocaine. It's Illegal," Wimbish said.

"You don't even have to be in a car to lose your license. Say you are at a
park and have a beer in your hand and you are under 21:you lose your
license," Wimbish said.

"A lot of the young ladies might have these macho boyfriends who like to
drink and drive. If they get pulled over, the boyfriend might shove the beer
at the girlfriend, who has not been drinking and doesn't have a license,
telling her to hide the beer under her seat. 'You don't have anything to
lose if you don't have one, he says.' But not only will the driver lose his
license for one year, the unlicensed girlfriend won't be able to get her
license at 16 because of this incident. She will have to wait until she is
18," Wimbish said.

More than 32 percent of all deaths of 15 through 20 year olds result from
motor vehicle crashes. In 1996, 36.6 percent of the 6,319 traffic fatalities
of 15 through 20 year olds were alcohol-related, according to the NHTSA.

"We look at this situation from an insurance perspective," said Michelle
Neils, assistant public affairs manager for State Farm Insurance.

"We need to do a better job of educating our teens on the responsibilities
of driving a car. We see the statistics. It's important for the parents to
talk to their teens about obeying the rules," Neils said.

And whether parents realize it or not, teens learn by example.

"Parents need to set a good example. They need to be role models for their
children and don't drink and drive, or be very conscious about their
decision to drive. Teens are influenced by their parents' actions," Futrell
said.

Zero tolerance laws appear to be working. A recent study compared fatal
crashes in 12 states that enacted zero tolerance laws for some young drivers
to crashes in 12 nearby states without those laws.

In the 12 zero tolerance states, single vehicle nightime fatal crashes
involving young drivers dropped 16 percent, while in the comparison states
they rose one percent.

Making any amount of alcohol in the body of an underage person an offense
makes the enforcement effort easier, according to the NHTSA.

I'm not saying that all teen-agers are irresponsible and drink and drive.
Not all do. There are some truly responsible, wonderful teen-agers out there
who would never think about drinking and driving. Or even drinking at all.
Let's face it, drinking is highly overrated.

Unfortuantely, there are teen-agers out there who will be stupid and think
they can get away with it. That's where the zero tolerance law steps in and
helps the teens see the erros of their ways.

"Teens must understand that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that
failure to observe the rules of safe driving can have serious financial
consequences for mom, dad and the young driver," Neils said.

Financial issues aren't the only part of the picture. It's hard for the
underage driver to understand since they are new to driving, that a car can
destroy property and kill or maim people. Parents need to get through to
their teen-agers how important the responsibility of driving is and it's not
just mom or dad being a worrywart or even worse, a "wet blanket." This is
reality. Ground rules should be set by the parents and discussed with the
teen. Setting limitations is not treating your teen like a child; it's
providing an opportunity to demonstrate maturity by showing he or she can
accept the responsibility. The following are some basic driving rules,
courtesy of State Farm, that parents might want to consider:

- - Insist that your teen control speed. High speeds cut down on reaction time
and increase the severity of crashes. A crash at 78 miles per hour is twice
as violent as one at 55 MPH, according to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety.

- - Require your teen to observe curfews. This is going to be one of your
biggest challenges. However, it may be a life saver, 58 percent of all
teenager motor vehicle deaths occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Half of
these occur on Saturday. Half of all these accidents occur between 9 p.m.
and 6 a.m.

- - Prohibit your teen from drinking and driving. Nearly 50 percent of traffic
deaths are alcohol related. More than half of alcohol-related deaths involve
16 to 20 year olds, according to the National Safety Council.

- - Know your teen-ager's friends and their driving habits. Discourage your
teen-ager from loaning his or her vehicle to friends and from "joyriding."
Newly licensed drivers should not have other teenage passengers. More than
40 percent of all the deaths of 16 to 19 year olds result from motor vehicle
crash injuries. Most teenage passenger deaths occur in crashes in which
another teenager is driving, according to the National Safety Council.

- - Radio/cassette/disc players can be tremendous distractions. Request that
your teen keep the volume low. Other distractions include eating while
driving, combing their hair or applying make-up, etc. They MUST keep both
eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. Another tough one, but
important.

- - Teach your teen to use seat belts. They reduce accident fatalities by 40
to 50 percent.

For more information regarding the zero tolerance law, the U.S. Department
of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a
Website you or your teen can visit on the Internet. The address is
http://www.NHTSA.dot.gov.

There is a lot of great information available here and worth checking out.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"