National Impaired Driving Prevention Month | 3 Things You Can Do
Annually, the President of the United States issues a Proclamation declaring December as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. In the past, it’s also been known as National Drunk Driving Prevention Month and National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.
This year, President Obama issued his 2014 Proclamation, from which I quote:
“Reducing impaired driving and keeping our roadways safe is everyone’s responsibility. Parents and other caring adults can play an important role in educating young Americans about the dangers of impaired driving; adults can model good practices while driving and can help new drivers develop safe habits. This holiday season, all Americans can drive responsibly and encourage their loved ones to do the same, including by designating a sober driver or making alternative transportation arrangements. For more information, please visitwww.NHTSA.gov/DriveSober, www.WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP/DruggedDriving.
And as the President points out in his Proclamation – impaired driving is not just about drunk driving:
“Illegal drugs, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, can be just as deadly on the road as alcohol, and preventing drugged driving is a public health imperative. As part of our 2014 National Drug Control Strategy, we are working to support the data collection that underlies evidence-based policy making, strengthening the protections that keep drugged drivers off the road, and helping bolster law enforcement officials’ ability to identify drug-impaired drivers.”
3 Things You Can Do to Help Prevent Alcohol Impaired Driving
So why is it that after a night of partying a person can think they are OK to drive?
Beyond the obvious admonition, “Don’t drink and drive,” here are three suggestions to help prevent drunk driving:
1. Familiarize yourself with the definition of a standard drink of each of the various alcoholic beverages, as well as the numbers of standard drinks per cocktail or drink container. This can help you decide when to intervene on a friend’s behalf, for example. It can also be a point of conversation leading up to a celebratory night on the town.
2. Understand how they body processes alcohol and why staying within low-risk drinking limits is so important. Knowing these limits can further help you decide when to intervene on a friend’s behalf.
3. Know that most people who drive while impaired are NOT alcoholics. To learn how it’s possible for a person to drink and “choose” to drive, check out this 10 minute video, “DUI – Is It a Choice or an Accident?”
For more about drinking patterns and tips for cutting down, check out NIAAA’s website, Rethinking Drinking.
Specific to Drug Impaired Driving
As the President stated in his Proclamation, “Illegal drugs, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, can be just as deadly on the road as alcohol.”
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports, “After alcohol, THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana, is the substance most commonly found in the blood of impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims. Studies in several localities have found that approximately 4 to 14 percent of drivers who sustained injury or died in traffic accidents tested positive for THC.”
For more on various drugs of abuse and how each effects the brain and body and thus a person’s ability to drive safely, check out NIDA’s Drugs of Abuse.
Help Spread the Word – December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month
Lisa Frederiksen
Latest posts by Lisa Frederiksen (see all)
- Does a Loved One Have to Hit Bottom? - November 20, 2022
- Resources for Parents of Children with Substance Use and Mental Disorders - October 18, 2022
- 4 Things to Support Brain Health and Function for Recovery - August 30, 2022