drinking/driving ad five Also, adds Dr. Rupp, "some medical examiners in these cases list manner of death on the death certificate as 'vehicle fatality' rather than 'accident' so that this information will be correctly recorded for statistical reporting and so that insurance companies will not be forced to pay unjustified double indemnity accident claims." Who is drinking and driving? All the studies show males most often involved in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. Cases involving women are less often recorded, but there are some in every state's report. Dr. Hudson in North Carolina reports that "the alcohol concentrations tend to be a little lower in the teenager, but one might wonder if this is not a less-experienced drinker-driver who is affected by less alcohol. I would certainly speculate that might be the case." Dr. Hudson further notes that drugs appear to be "an almost insignificant aspect" in motor vehicle accidents in North Carolina, "and those drivers in whom we have detected drugs -pot, quaaludes or whatever also had significant concentrations of alcohol." Dr. Berkelman reported similar findings in the Fulton County study. Now that there is little doubt that driving under the influence of alcohol is a national problem, what more can be done, particularly at the local level? Dr. Rupp would work toward stopping the driver who drinks at the driver's License renewal stage. convictions "Having a driver's license is not a right, it is a privilege," he says. "If, when a driver's license is up for renewal, someone would request that that person's driving record be reviewed for alcohol arrests — regardless of. by the medical review board of the State Department of Motor Vehicles or Transportation, that would be the place to cut these people off." Dr. Rupp suggests that volunteers with MADD, AAIM and other groups "have a couple of volunteers spend a morning or two each week in the local district attorney's office finding out who has been charged with drunken driving. Many of these people have long arrest records without convictions and go on driving for years and years. The volunteers could then write the motor vehicle license renewal bureau requesting that such records be examined and license renewals denied to persons with a history of drunk driving arrests. "The license renewal office is the place to get these people off the road. This idea is one I would like to see some of these volunteer groups think about implementing." In Atlanta, Dr. Stivers hopes the findings in his county, Dr. Nollet's in Minnesota, Dr. Hudson's in North Carolina and Dr. Rupp's in Texas "will encourage medical examiners and officials in other states to investigate and report their figures. I believe they will find they also have alcohol involved in more than 50 per cent of the motor vehicle accidents occurring there." Dr. Berkelman urges that "we continue to obtain BACS on all drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents in order to monitor the effectiveness of preventive strategies." Concludes Dr. Rupp, "We have collected enough data so that people are beginning to understand that the drunken driver is a serious problem. "Now we must do something about this problem." CARTA N. 811 Jefferson (509) 456-3800 or 456-2342 It is our understanding that October 19 is the date set for the second day of hearings on HR 3870, the bill which would make it illegal to sell alcoholic beverages in interstate commerce to any person under 21. Our group felt that your Subcommittee would be quite interested in why we so emphatically support HR 3870. Citizens Against Alcohol-Related Traffic Accidents (CARTA), is a broad-based citizens group which has gained the support of the Spokane community (evidenced by over 3,000 signatures collected in one week) for our efforts to end the needless tragedies caused too often by drivers who have been drinking. Our situation is directly affected by HR 3870. The legal drinking age in Idaho is 19; in Washington it is 21. The city of Spokane, Washington, is located just 20 miles from the Idaho border, allowing young people to have access to alcoholic beverages within a half-hour's drive. Just across the state line in Idaho are row after row of night clubs and dance halls attracting not only 19 to 21 year olds, but also young people under 19 and over 21. Spokane County has five colleges with a total enrollment of nearly 22,000 students, and a total population of approximately 14,000 19 and 20 year olds who are permanent residents. As you might imagine, the drive to Stateline, Idaho is a very popular one among students and young people. An But it is also a deadly drive. Over the three years, 1979 to 1981, 23 people have been killed in drinking driver accidents on Idaho to Spokane connecting routes. astounding 83% of the drinking drivers were under 25 years of age; and fully half of Not only have the drinking drivers who caused fatal accidents were under 20 years old. drinking youth caused fatalities, they have contributed significantly to the number of injuries and property damage happening within in our county. To quote a May 4, 1981, article entitled "Weekend Slaughter" printed in our local paper, the Spokane Chronicle: young "It's a problem that has been with Spokane a long time Rep. Florio October 10, 1983 Page 2 When that procession begins, the 20-mile trip from State Line to Spokane is not safe, even for a driver who hasn't touched a drop of alcohol. Cars weave in and out of traffic, many times at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Accidents and injuries are frequent. Fatalities are routine. In describing just one of those fatal accidents, the paper reported the words of a Washington State trooper: "We figure the car was moving at a minimum of 110 miles an hour when it left the road. It bounced and flew into the air three different times before smashing into a fence post at the corner of the field." I arrived a couple of minutes after it happened. The driver and and were trying to help. There was pandemonium and everyone was They That accident took the lives of two Spokane women. One was 18, the other 19. were sisters. They had been drinking with friends at State Line, Idaho, and were on their way home when the accident occurred. The fact that one sister was just 18 and had been drinking in Idaho illustrates Idaho's permissive attitude which commonly allows even 15 and 16 year olds to drink without being checked for ID's. A similar concern for this Idaho 19 year old drinking age is shared by our sister communities to the south, Pullman and Clarkston, whose Idaho counterparts, Moscow and Lewiston, constantly lure Washington under-21-year-olds across the border. Despite strong public concern, Idaho has not yet accepted its responsibility to raise its legal drinking age. By its inaction, Idaho has sanctioned the disproportionate numbers of drinking-related accidents caused by youth, and has allowed our youth to keep on dying. We've seen far too much death, injury, and destruction on our highways. We urge the Subcommittee on Commerce, Transportation, and Tourism not only to support, but to champion HR 3870. It is your chance to help make our highways safer for all of us, and to protect the future of our youth! Sincerely, Don Griffithe f Don Griffiths, Chairperson for DG/ph Recently, public attitudes toward drunk driving have genuinely changed. A great deal of attention is being focused on the problems caused by alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers. A number of citizens' groups, consisting of people who are fed up with drunk driving, have formed and are gaining visibility and support for their cause One of the most noticeable of these is Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), which already has nearly 100 chapters nationwide, although it has been in existence less than three years. Federal, state and local governments are responding to the increased pressure. The President has appointed a commission on drunk driving to study the problem and recommend new legislation. Several states have already toughened their DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) laws, and bills are pending in a number of other states. Indeed, much of the activity directed at the problem concentrates on new laws or changes to existing laws Unfortunately, some of these fail to take into account the fairly large body of evidence now available about the effectiveness of drinking-driving laws There are three aspects of drunk-driving laws that influence their effectiveness 1. the amount and type of enforcement, Strikin af Drinking 2. the severity of the punishment, and Too often, legal efforts concentrate on the severity of the punishment for drunk driving, and place too little emphasis on the other two components. Of course, it is logical to assume that severe penalties will act as a deterrent to DWI, but evidence indicates that the reverse may actually happen. In some states that have severe penalties on the books, they haven't worked because judges are too reluctant to impose them the courts become congested; plea bargaining. probation and court supervision are abused; and police morale drops because so many guilty people get off. Only where severe penalties are accompanied by a public perception that there is a high probability of being caught and punished, have DWI laws really worked to reduce injuries and deaths. Unfortunately, this public perception is difficult to achieve and maintain it is estimated that there is Back The g Driver. only about one chance in 2.000 of being caught when driving while alcohol-impaired. Even if this could be doubled, the risk of being caught would still be small (two in 2,000) There are ways to increase the number of police apprehensions of alcohol-impaired drivers (and their fear of being arrested) without greatly increasing the resources devoted to enforcement. Some of them are: Require every driver who is involved in a moving traffic violation or in a collision to take a "breathalyzer or other chemical test for alcohol. Police should also have the authority to administer these tests to drivers whenever they have reasonable cause to suspect intoxication. This could substantially increase the number of drivers identified as DWI offenders and, if appropriately publicized, could increase the public's perception of the chances of being caught for DW!. Make a 0.1 percent Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) legal proof of intoxication, which will make it easier to prosecute and win DWI cases. (Today, a 0.1 percent BAC is only pre |