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Show 20 Nov. 24, 1993 Hilltop Times E)eadf ly m iiiitfiyj ire d gwo ong snklh)ll by Evelyn D. Harris American Forces Information Service Every year, traffic accidents kill more American between the ages of 6 and 33 than any other cause and almost half these deaths involve alcohol. To highlight the problem, the Department of Defense and national safety officials designated December as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. The theme for the month is: "Let's Take a Stand: Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk." The percentage of DOD motor vehi- needing rides. cle fatalities involving alcohol Army Maj. Joel Oswalt, provost tinues to decline, said John Lemke, marshal at Fort Belvoir, Va., said he'll DOD assistant director for occupa- place the remains of a car demolished tional safety and occupational health in an alcohol-relate- d accident in a straon policy. post. tegic place "This is mainly to get the attention During the first three quarters of who can benefit from 1993, traffic fatalities took the lives of of teen-ager316 military members. Of these, 65, or shock value," he said. "We'll also have 19.2 percent, stemmed from alcohol-relate- d electronic signboards reinforcing the accidents, said Lemke. For the messages put out by local police and first three quarters of 1992, alcohol national safety organizations. They'll was a factor in 55, or 19.6 percent, of remind people to wear seat belts, use the 280 military highway deaths. a designated driver and not let friends Lemke said the continued decline is drive drunk." due to DOD prevention efforts as well Oswalt said fighting drunk driving d as a change in society's attitude is a effort involving edutoward impaired driving. DOD will cation, prevention and enforcement. "I continue to emphasize the designated prefer the first two, because enforcedriver program. ment is unpleasant for everyone, but "It's a good idea for friends to buy we will step up enforcement during the the designated driver's soft drinks and holiday season," he said. "We'll have food," he said. "Also, some clubs on checkpoints, and I can guarantee that base and outside restaurants offer dis- people who drink and drive on our counted sodas for the designated posts will be caught and punished. driver." In addition, many installa"I urge everyone not to take that tions sponsor programs for people first drink if they are going to drive," s, three-pronge- added Oswalt. "You may think you can drive well after one or two drinks, but your judgment is impaired. It's not pleasant for me, for the doctors who try to put someone back together after they've been in an accident or for the family to deal with the loss or injury of a loved one." Nationally, drivers and pedestrians impaired by alcohol accounted for 17,700 deaths last year, or about 45 percent of the nation's 39,235 traffic fatalities, according to Tarry Hess, a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As bad as these figures appear, they are an improvement from 1972, when 54,589 died on U.S. highways, half in alcohol-relate- d crashes. The proportion of teen-ag- e drivers involved in fatal crashes while intoxicated has dropped significantly, from 31 percent in 982 to 17.1 percent in 1992. Still, said Hess, 2,452 youths aged 15 to 22 died in alcohol-relate- d crashes last year, about eight every day. "That is a lot of parents who will never see their children again," she said. She said surveys show fewer eighth graders today believe underage drinking is bad than in a similar survey in 1989. "This means that without prevention efforts, we may see more teen-ag- e fatalities in the near future." The safety administration is urging states to adopt a policy for youthful drinking, Hess said. As of July 1993, a total of 16 states had levels established lower blood-alcohfor youth to be declared legally drunk. Young drivers caught driving with even these smaller amounts of alcohol in their blood would lose their licenses under a policy. A coalition of public and private organizations sponsors the month. 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