Statement of the Problem
Alcohol related traffic collisions are the leading cause of
death of young drivers between the ages of 16 and 18.
Young people's lack of driving
experience renders them less likely than more experienced
drivers to cope successfully with hazardous traffic situations.
A penchant for risk-taking behavior such as speeding and
overestimating their driving skill can be dangerous. When
combined with a tendency to underestimate the dangerous
consequences of such behaviors these practices can contribute to
the high crash rate among young drivers.
The combination of the lack of
experience as drivers and the use of alcohol when operating a
vehicle has caused DUI related vehicle collisions to be the
number one cause of death among teens between 16 and 18 years of
age. In 2004, 78 teens between the ages of 16 and 18 were
killed and 747 were seriously injured in Los Angeles County due
to DUI related vehicle crashes.
Young drivers make up only
6.7% of total driving populations, but these same young drivers
constitute 20% of all alcohol/drug related crashes.
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Drinking alcohol is particularly dangerous for young people
because their bodies are still developing.
When the physical
effects of alcohol are coupled with emotional immaturity and
inexperience, the effects on young drinkers can be devastating.
Alcohol can be a depressant and is a neurotoxin. Alcohol alters
and kills brain cells and can adversely affect an individual’s
ability to form new memories. This can be especially significant
for young people who are in school and should be assimilating
new information daily.
Females take
special risks when they drink because they lack a stomach enzyme
that males possess and because they have a lower total body
water content. As a result of these physiological differences,
females are affected more quickly and more strongly than males
who ingest the same amount of alcohol.
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Alcohol impairs physical and mental coordination.
When impairment is linked with
the risky activities young people sometimes undertake when they
are drinking, such as driving, walking on balcony railings, or
swimming, tragedy often results. Sometimes, intoxicated youth
injure or kill themselves in fires, falls, boating accidents, or
other tragedies that might have been avoided if they were sober.
Not only is judgment impaired, but “blackouts” can occur, where
the person is not responsible at the time and remembers nothing
later when they are sober.
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Many young people do not realize that ingesting too much alcohol
can be fatal.
Binge drinking (consuming five
or more drinks on one occasion) is a particularly dangerous form
of drinking. According to the 1999 Monitoring the Future study
of substance use, conducted on behalf of the National Institute
on Drug Abuse (NIDA), more than 30% of U.S. high school seniors
report they are binge drinkers. Binge drinking is a widely
recognized problem on college campuses. These young people
ingest large amounts of alcohol at one time and drink very
rapidly. This can create dangerous overdoses of alcohol and lead
to death.
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Underage drinking can impede one of the most critical tasks of
adolescence — the development of coping skills.
As they grow older, young
people must learn how to deal with the ordinary stresses of
everyday life and with occasional crises. The teenage years are
recognized to be especially stressful and can feel overwhelming
to young people. Alcohol can cause dangerous depressive effects.
In addition, if young people substitute the sedative effects of
alcohol (or any other mind-altering drug) for the development of
coping skills, they can actually impair their emotional
development.
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Alcohol alters
behavior and reactions.
Drinking can cause
individuals to lose their inhibitions and be willing to engage
in behavior they might not embrace if they were sober. When
young people begin to drink illegally, they often keep that
behavior a secret from their parents and other adults. Experts
believe that engaging in covert behavior may contribute to young
people being more willing to break other “taboos”.
Underage drinking
is linked to reckless sexual behavior, including date rape and
unprotected sex. These practices can lead to pregnancy and the
spread of sexually transmitted diseases including Herpes and
HIV.
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The earlier young people start drinking, the greater the chances
of developing alcohol dependence.
Research released
by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA)
in 1998 shows that young people who drink before they reach age
15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence
(alcoholism) than those who begin drinking at age 21. The
likelihood of such young drinkers later becoming alcohol abusers
(which repeatedly causes life problems, but without addiction)
is doubled.
Today, many young
people are drinking heavily in middle school, long before they
reach age 15. According to the 1999 NIDA Monitoring the Future
Study, 24% of 8th graders report using alcohol and 9.4% have
been impaired in the past thirty days. Some of those young
people are experiencing serious problems with alcohol by the
time they enter high school. Preventing young people from
drinking as minors may keep them from becoming adult problem
drinkers whose alcohol-related behavior could affect their
workplaces, families, and adult driving. Preventing underage
drinking by minors today may also help to reduce long-term
health care costs and criminal justice costs to society by
reducing the crimes, injuries, and crashes.
The expanding
science of prevention seeks to stop the tragedies associated
with underage drinking before they occur by creating a climate
in which young people do not drink alcohol before they attain
the minimum drinking age of 21. With so many lives at stake, the
effort devoted to prevention is clearly worthwhile.
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Proposed Countermeasure
In the
past, programs designed to prevent minors from drinking often
focused primarily on short term goals, such as preventing high
school students from driving impaired during prom and graduation
season. Recent research has expanded links between underage
drinking, adult alcoholism, and problem drinking. We now know
that preventing young people from drinking may save them from
harm in their youth, including death and injury to themselves
and others in alcohol related vehicle crashes. In addition,
early prevention may save many of these young people them from
embarking on a
lifetime of
alcohol and drug use and its related problems. There are many
different reasons in addition to vehicle crashes to prevent the
epidemic of underage drinking.
During the last
fifteen years, theories and practices in prevention have evolved
dramatically. Effective prevention programs no longer focus only
on providing knowledge about alcohol and drugs. Newer efforts
emphasize programs and policies that shape knowledge, beliefs
and behavior with non-traditional education programs. These are
programs that teens can relate to in addition to providing
necessary information.
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“Wheel Smartz” An Innovative Awareness Program for Teens
Many communities are working
to shape a response to the problem of underage drinking. Of
particular concern is the number of teens who drive while under
the influence alcohol and other drugs. Educational programs
implemented in schools often yield encouraging, but limited
results. Many teen offenders are undeterred by ineffective or
nonexistent enforcements. They are apparently unfazed by the
potential life threatening and legal consequences of their
actions.
Research shows that
conventional forms of education are not effective in educating
teens. Studies show that lecturing teens on the dangers of
driving under the influence does not impact their behavior or
their choices. Teens need to experience the situations, the
consequences and the emotional impact in order to change their
behaviors. An opportunity to experience a situation can provide
teens with the motivation to change their behavior and a make a
safer choice.
“Wheel Smartz” is a theatrical
program providing a venue for teens to explore their own
behaviors and choices about the issue of driving under the
influence. “Wheel Smartz” includes workshops for students grade
and plays produced by the school drama departments for schools
in the community.
The goal of “Wheel Smartz” is
to make youth a part of the solution and not just the problem.
“Wheel Smartz” will use theater to not only change lives, but
to save lives.
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BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ON Safe Moves
Pat
Hines, a graduate of University of Miami Medical
school and former Vice President of RKO Radio, founded Safe Moves in 1983 as a tribute to her friend Sue Latham who was hit
by a car while they were training for the 1984 Olympics in
bicycling. Ms. Hines speaks throughout the world on traffic
safety issues as it pertains to children. She is author of many
books and articles on children’s safety and was recognized by
President Bill Clinton as a leader in the area of traffic safety
education for children.
Safe Moves, a non-profit organization, is now recognized as the
leading authority in traffic safety education in the country.
Safe Moves has not only been credited with saving thousands of
children’s lives through education, but also through
legislation.
Safe Moves has been featured in local and national news
including
”The Today Show”, “Good Morning, America”, “20/20”, “Dateline”
and “Oprah” as well as in the Los Angeles Times, The New York
Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated.
Safe Moves has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors
for its work in the field of traffic and bicycle safety. A
sample of these awards includes:
1996-2004
United States Department
of Transportation “Safety Program of the Year”
1996-2004
United States Department
of Health Services “Prevention Program of the Year”
2000-2003
"Helen Putnam Award for
Excellence" from the California League of Cities
1993-2004
Selected as the most effective bicycle and pedestrian
programs by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and the Association of
Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals for national "A Best
Practices Report" prepared for the Federal Highway
Administration
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WHAT THE
EXPERTS SAY ABOUT “Safe Moves”
Ms.
Hines’ reputation for providing high quality programming into to
schools speaks for itself. Read what educators have to say
about Safe Moves:
“Traffic collisions are one of the leading causes of death for
children and Safe Moves is the most effective program existing
that addresses this issue and has the ability to affect change
in the behaviors of children.”
Richard
Scheider
Program Coordinator
Center for Disease Control – Atlanta, GA
“Traffic in California is more dangerous than ever before for
children. Safe Moves has saved thousands of lives among our
youngest citizens in schools throughout California.”
Jack Champlin
Director – California
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
“Safe Moves has been an integral part of our efforts to improve
the safety of children in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.”
Chief William Bratton
Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles, California
“With over 400,000 elementary school children in the Los Angeles
Unified School District, we need innovative programs to reach
these kids. Safe Moves fits the bill each and every year with
their traffic safety program.”
Carol Takaki
Student Traffic Safety Coordinator
Los Angeles Unified School District
“The kids love it, the teachers love it and it works.
Safe Moves knows how teach traffic safety in a fun, effective and
entertaining way.”
David Tokofsky
Los Angeles Unified School District
Board Member
“We have had a relationship with Safe Moves for over 10 years.
They have been crucial to generating community awareness of our
services”
Merry Banks
Education Coordinator
Automobile Club of California
“Behavior changes are only made by effective programs. Safe Moves is the best I have ever seen at improving the skills and
awareness of kids when they are in traffic.”
Nick Carr
Coordinator of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs,
City of San Francisco
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The
crash sites are replicated in “Safe Moves City” which is
miniature city featuring traffic signs, traffic signals,
railroad crossings, streets, sidewalks, intersections,
crosswalks, a residential area and a business district. 
the
day of the week and the time of day. Law enforcement officers
describe what happens to the drivers and the victims. The teens
must review the information, review the crash site, interview
the witnesses and complete the report with details on how the
crash happened and why. 
