Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk
Make the right play to save your life and others.
January 21, 2009 [Cincinnati, West Chester, Ohio] -- [Driver Ed Academy.com] announced today that they are joining forces with the National Football League (NFL), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and other State and local highway safety and law enforcement officials to remind everyone to act responsibly by designating a sober driver if they plan on drinking alcohol on Super Bowl Sunday.
“We want to pass our safety message to everyone who will be drinking this weekend, real Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk,” said Driver Ed Academy.com. “Please call the right play for the big game and pass your keys to a designated driver before the Super Bowl party begins. Getting caught driving while impaired will earn you a costly penalty from local law enforcement and may even result in a turnover of your driving privileges.”
Super Bowl Sunday is one of America’s biggest and most entertaining national sporting events as friends and families gather to socialize and watch the big game. Yet, it has also become one of the Nation’s most dangerous days on the roadways due to impaired driving.
In 2007, fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes accounted for 32 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities. On Super Bowl Sunday (12:01 a.m. Sunday to 5:59 a.m. Monday), 48 percent of the fatalities occurred in crashes where a driver or motorcycle rider had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher.
Designating a sober driver should be on the top of everyone’s Super Bowl party list.
If you are hosting a Super Bowl party:
- Remember, you can be held liable and prosecuted if someone you served ends up in an impaired-driving crash.
- Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange ride-sharing with other sober drivers.
- Serve lots of food and include lots of non-alcoholic beverages at the party.
- Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game and begin serving coffee and dessert.
- Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy, and take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving while impaired.
If you are attending a Super Bowl party or watching at a sports bar or restaurant:
- Designate your sober driver before the party begins and give that person your car keys.
- Avoid drinking too much alcohol too fast. Pace yourself—eat enough food, take breaks, and alternate with non-alcoholic drinks.
- If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; call a cab, friend, or family member to come and get you; or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
- Use your community’s Sober Rides program [Insert your local Sober Rides specifics here].
- Never let a friend leave your sight if you think they are about to drive while impaired. Remember, Fans Don’t Let Fans DriveDrunk.
- Always buckle up – it’s still your best defense against other impaired drivers.
For more information, please visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org.#
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2008 Contact: Lindsey Bohrer, BMV, (614) 752-6585 or Lt. Tony Bradshaw, OSHP, (614) 752-2792
ODPS TO CHANGE TEMPORARY PERMIT PROCEDURE
-Change affects temporary driving permits, Commercial Driver Licenses
and Motorcycle Endorsements-
COLUMBUS - Effective Dec. 15, 2008, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP), divisions of the Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS), are implementing new measures to increase efficiency and security when issuing temporary driving permits, commercial driver licenses and motorcycle endorsements. With the new procedure, customers will first visit an OSHP Driver Examination Station (DX) to take the knowledge test, rather than purchasing a temporary packet before taking the test. A temporary photo will also be taken at this time. Customers will be required to show two acceptable documents before taking the test. The acceptable documents list can be viewed online at: http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/driver_license/aid.htm.
Results of the knowledge test will be stored electronically and will be verified at a BMV Deputy Registrar (DR) before a temporary permit or endorsement is issued. Customers will be able to purchase the temporary permit from the DR only after successfully passing the knowledge test. The Digest of Motor Vehicle Laws is still available for pick up at DRs, DXs or by download on www.bmv.ohio.gov to study for the knowledge test. "This new procedure will not only reduce paper use and increase efficiency, but also ensure that the person taking the knowledge test, skills test, and the person receiving the license are the same, and is a great example of two divisions working together to improve service and security for customers," said ODPS Director Henry Guzmán.
Passing the knowledge test does not guarantee a license, temporary instruction permit or endorsement will be issued. Acceptable documents must be presented and verified at the DR, and a corresponding photo must be taken. The new temporary permit is an all inclusive plastic document. All documents presented, and the photo taken, at the OSHP DX are to establish a testing record only.
Customers should note that beginning with the statewide implementation date, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008, they will not be able to purchase temporary packets from DRs until they have passed the knowledge test at the DX. DX stations are closed on Mondays, making Tuesday, Dec. 16, the first day knowledge tests will be available at DX locations.
The new procedure is being implemented after successful pilot programs in the Columbus and Toledo areas were completed.
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Tuesday, March 28, 2000 When distractions are deadly
Teen crashes rise with riders present
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer Julie Dunn keeps a single dried gladiola blossom in her West Chester classroom. 
Driving instructor Julie Dunn says she emphasiizes the dangers of distractions from passengers.
(Dick Swaim photo)
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It fell from the casket of one of her former students, Jordan Walker, 16, who was killed last year along with passenger Troy Mullikin, 15, when Jordan lost control of his red Mustang on McClure Road in Mason. Another passenger, 17-year-old Kris Cathcart, was injured in the crash. An instructor for Top Driver-Bick's, a driving school with outlets throughout Greater Cincinnati, Mrs. Dunn uses the flower as a symbol of the permanent consequences of unsafe driving. “I try to emphasize (to teens) the danger of distraction while driving,” she said. “I tell them that when they are behind the wheel, "You are the designated boring person.'” She isn't surprised by the findings of a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that confirms what many parents and many driving instructors have long suspected: The chances of a serious car crash increase exponentially when other young people ride in an automobile driven by a teen. Using federal data from 1992 through 1997, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore found that 16-year-olds carrying one passenger were 39 percent more likely to get killed than those driving alone. That increased to 86 percent with two passengers and 182 percent with three or more. The rate for 17- year-olds was even higher: 48 percent, 158 percent and 207 percent, respectively, the study determined. Rates were as much as 21 times higher during early morning hours when passengers were present. According to 1998 figures, Ohio statisticians determined that drivers between ages 16 and 20 had a 1 in 5.8 chance of being involved in a car accident. “These are mind-boggling statistics,” said Mitch Wilson, a spokesman for the Ohio Insurance Institute, a trade association for insurance companies, based in Columbus. Break the numbers down by gender and they don't look any better. Males in this age group have a 1 in 5.1 chance, while females have a 1 in 6.7 chance, Mr. Wilson said. Researchers link the increase to “general foolishness and distractions” among drivers who are just getting to know the rules of the road, said Robert Foss of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. “Many people think alcohol is the problem. But for that age group, it's really not.” Teens make up 8 percent of Ohio's drivers but are involved in 16 percent of fatal accidents. In 1997, 290 Ohio teen-agers were killed in crashes. Law enforcement officials such as Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. John Born hope the newly instituted graduated licensing system will help curb serious accidents among teen drivers. In addition to more practice time and more education, the new law stipulates the time teens can drive. And requires seat belts be available and used by every passenger. If there are five seat belts, only five passengers should be in the vehicle, officials said. “The number of people killed in traffic crashes annually doubles the number of people killed as a result of homicide,” Lt. Born said. Mrs. Dunn teaches her teen pupils more than the rules of the road. She incorporates lessons on character in her regular predriving courses that are normally taught to teen-agers who have had their licenses revoked for speeding, drunk-driving or other infractions. “I talk about trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. And, I ask them how they can use all these principles while on the road,” she said. Ultimately, Mrs. Dunn said, it's up to parents to ensure that a young driver is responsible. She said she hopes the findings will spur more parents to take an active role in their teen-agers' driving experiences. “A lot of them are so eager to get their teens driving because it means they won't have to shuttle them around anymore,” she said. “But maybe parents need to start setting guidelines.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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