COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
REGION: AMERICAS
Implementer: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Partners: West Virginia’s Governor’s Highway Safety Program; West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration
Program Overview: The college community campaign is a program of intensive enforcement of minimum drinking age law and drinking and driving laws in a college community.
Program Design: This comprehensive program focuses on underage drinking and drinking and driving among 16- to 24-year-olds and involves a community approach. Local, university, and state enforcement agencies increase enforcement of drinking and driving laws through sobriety check-points and patrols. The state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration increases enforcement of the minimum drinking age law as well.
Enforcement is publicized through a multimedia campaign, including print and broadcast media, posters and articles throughout campus, alcohol education programs on campus, and additional individual and group counseling sessions for students cited for underage drinking or other alcohol-related problems.
Evaluation: This program was implemented in Huntington as the experimental college community and Morgantown as the comparison college community during 2006 and 2007. The effects on driving at various BACs were evaluated, particularly for drivers ages 16-24 targeted by the program, using nighttime roadside surveys before and during the program in both college communities.
Key findings: Relative to the comparison community, consistent reductions in driving at various BAC levels were achieved in the experimental community.
Reductions were greatest for 16- to 20-year-olds, followed by 21- to 24-year olds and drivers 25 and older.
References:
McCartt, A.T., Hellinga, L.A., & Wells, J.K. (2009). Effects of a college community campaign on drinking and driving with a strong enforcement component. Traffic Injury Prevention, 10(2), 141-147.
Target Audience: High school (15-18 years old), University/young adults (18-21 years)
Issues: Drinking and Driving
Setting: Licensed premises, Local government/ law enforcement departments, Media (including social media), Schools, University
Approach: Community or Environmental
