As of February 1998, all but 4 states had passed zero tolerance laws. These laws make it illegal per se (in and of itself) for people under 21 to drive with any measurable blood alcohol content (BAC) in their blood. A Federal law adopted in 1995 requires all states to pass zero tolerance laws before October 1, 1998 or risk the loss of a percentage of their highway safety funds. The Federal zero tolerance law gained strong support from the Clinton Administration and Congress, in addition to many young people and grassroots groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) because of concern about the extent of underage drinking and impaired driving.

Statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) confirm that each year more than 32 percent of the deaths among 15- to 20-year-olds result from motor vehicle crashes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration�s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), young drivers between 15 and 20 years old accounted for 6.7 percent of all licensed drivers in 1995 but represented 14 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes (this number includes surviving drivers as well as driver fatalities). Looking just at fatalities, nearly 37 percent of the traffic deaths among these young people involved alcohol in 1996.

Zero tolerance laws are important because they can help protect young lives from crash involvement. One study showed that states with zero tolerance laws reduced the number of single vehicle nighttime fatal crashes involving young drivers by 16 percent, compared to a 1 percent increase in such crashes in states without zero tolerance. States with a .02 or lower BAC limit were found to have greater and more significant reductions than those with higher limits.

The laws need more than just passage by legislators to be fully successful in protecting young lives. Other necessary factors are public information and education and attention from the media. After Maryland implemented its .02 BAC law in 1989, the number of under-21-year-old drivers involved in alcohol-related crashes declined 11 percent. A year after the law went into effect, a public information and education campaign was carried out in six counties to inform young drivers of the statute and the consequences of violating it. The 6 counties experienced a 50 percent decrease in youthful, crash-involved impaired drivers. The results of the study made it clear that the impact of the law was much greater after public information and education efforts had increased youth�s awareness of the law and its consequences. The impact was significantly greater in counties carrying out the publicity effort compared to those that did not.

For a zero tolerance law to qualify under Federal guidelines to prevent loss of the state�s highway safety funds, it must meet several criteria:

• Must apply to all drivers under age 21
• Must set a BAC limit of .02 or less
• Must be per se, that is, evidence in itself that the under-21 driver was committing an offense
• Must allow for primary enforcement
• Should provide that license suspension is authorized as a sanction

Beyond these requirements under implementation regulations, it is critical that young people know the law is in place and the consequences for violating the law.

Effective Information Campaigns

Maryland�s program provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate how important public information and education are in maximizing the positive impact of a new law, particularly one designed to affect young people. The study not only compared awareness of the law in the experimental communities to awareness levels in the control cities, but it also compared the pre-publicity data with the post-campaign data.

However, states shouldn�t wait until the law is implemented to begin the publicity effort. One state program example follows, and more will be compiled soon.

You Can�t Win Zero Tolerance Campaign � Iowa

Program Overview

• Program Characteristics: Targets hard-to-reach or at risk population; high media visibility
• Project Areas: Youth programs; alcohol and other drugs
• Type of Jurisdiction: State
• Targeted Population(s): Motorists under age 21
• Jurisdiction Size: 2,829,252
• Funding: Section 402, $85,000
• Contact:

  State Program Administrator

  Governor�s Traffic Safety Bureau

  307 East 7th Street

  Des Moines, IA 50319

  Phone: (515) 281-8348

Problem Identification

In 1995, the Iowa General Assembly enacted a zero tolerance law as a response to the high incidence of motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol and youth under the age of 21. This law permitted Iowa law enforcement officers to apprehend, cite, and confiscate driver�s licenses of those motorists under age 21 with a BAC of .02 or greater. However, most people (and particularly young drivers under the age of 21) were largely unaware of the new law and the penalties for violation.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the You Can�t Win campaign was to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related crashes, fatalities, and injuries in youth under age 21, through the following objectives:

• Creating general, widespread awareness about the new zero tolerance law
• Targeting education on the new zero tolerance law to Iowa youth under age 21
• Developing a positive public awareness campaign that featured not only penalties for violation of the new law, but also highlighted support for the offender

Strategies and Activities

The You Can�t Win program to promote the Iowa zero tolerance law was developed and implemented in 1995 by the Iowa Governor�s Traffic Safety Bureau and featured several strategies and activities:

• An award-winning public relations firm was retained to develop a positive public education campaign to promote the program.
• A video was produced and distributed to high schools throughout the state for use in driver education classes. The video, which was distributed before the end of the school year in 1995, contained information about the new zero tolerance law and other substance abuse information.
• Public service announcements were produced and aired on local radio, public service ads were placed in newspapers, and collateral print material was developed and disseminated to young drivers outside the public school system.

Results

During the first full year of enforcement of the Iowa zero tolerance law (June 1995 to June 1996), nearly 2,000 licenses of drivers under age 21 were revoked. Law enforcement officials agreed that the effort had been instrumental in raising awareness and effecting positive change.