Since 1987, the Health and Safety Department, St.Cloud State University, Minnesota, has been involved with changing the attitudes and behaviours of Minnesota's young through education. Young people have been overrepresented among alcohol impaired drivers. Nationally, drivers under 21 account for 25% of all alcohol-related fatalities, although they constitute only 10% of US drivers. Data from Minnesota confirms that drivers under 25 are more likely to have alcohol concentrations during late night and early morning hours, and are more likely to be killed in alcohol-related accidents than drivers of other age groups. An important route to reach young people is through education. Particularly effective are programmes such as the Driving Under the Influence Alcohol Analyser Demonstrations. The intent of DUI demonstrations is to reduce the incidence of alcohol-impaired driving. The primary audience of these demonstrations are persons in the age group 16-19, with demonstrations occurring in secondary (high) schools. While the impact of the programme cannot be measured, it has strong state funding, is continuously invited back by high schools, news media are interested, and the programme is being expanded to universities and corporations.
Samenvatting