NCJ Number
187375
Date Published
1999
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This guide provides information on two of the key strategies for reducing impaired driving among youth: "zero tolerance" laws that prohibit drivers under 21 years old from driving with even small amounts of alcohol in their systems and graduated licensing systems that ease youth into full driving privileges more gradually.
Abstract
The first section of the guide examines trends in impaired driving, as it considers the magnitude of the problems caused by impaired driving and what works to prevent impaired driving among youth. The latter discussion concludes that "zero tolerance" laws, which establish very low blood alcohol limits for drivers under 21 years old, have been found to reduce alcohol-related crashes involving youth by between 17 and 50 percent. Further, graduated licensing has yielded reduction in both alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related crashes that involve young drivers. Following the introductory section, this paper discusses the nature and effectiveness of "zero tolerance" in detail. It notes that zero tolerance laws have now been adopted by most States, and substantial crash reductions have been documented, particularly in those jurisdictions where the law has been well publicized. Challenges that remain include finding more effective strategies for zero-tolerance enforcement and related publicity. The concluding section of this paper examines graduated licensing. It notes that the goal of graduated licensing is to phase in exposure of youth to increasingly complex driving tasks and environments as they mature and develop their driving skills. During this process, alcohol is subject to a zero-tolerance restriction. Also restricted is unsupervised night driving. 3 figures, 2 tables, and 33 references