From Deseret News archives:
Drunken driving targeted by feds
"Drinking and driving is the most serious threat to the American motoring public," said Col. Jim Champagne, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "People need to know it's no longer your God-given right to drink and drive."
Despite the spending of tens of millions of federal dollars on law enforcement, drunken driving remains a serious problem, especially among men ages 21 to 34, officials said. Of those in that age group involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes, 33 percent register a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above.
The campaign comes on the heels of an increase in alcohol-related traffic fatalities, up 1.1 percent to 16,885 in 2005, the first rise in more than a decade. Those fatalities represent 39 percent of all traffic deaths. Deadly crashes in which drivers had lower alcohol levels — of .07 Or less — increased 6 percent in 2005, according to data to be released Wednesday.
The 2005 increase is a setback for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and law enforcement officials, who had seen the alcohol-related fatality drop by nearly half since 1990, when about 22,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes.
"This hard-hitting enforcement crackdown coupled with a new nationwide advertising campaign, serves as a stern warning," Nicole Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety administrator, said in a press release posted on the campaign's Web site, stopimpaireddriving.org.
Although the campaign is being unveiled Wednesday, details were posted Tuesday on the Web site. More than 30 states already have adopted the campaign's new slogan: "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest," which replaces: "You Drink. You Drive. You Lose."
The new advertising campaign features a dramatic televiwion spot that will begin airing Friday.
The spot shows two drivers in cars filled with beer. A car door opens to release gallons of red-tinged beer — a metaphor for blood and the risks of drunken driving. The ad will run on ESPN's "SportsCenter," late-night TV and other shows geared toward young men.
Radio spots feature electric guitars, slamming jail cell doors and the nervous heartbeats of a drunk driver pulled over — ads aimed squarely at 21- to 34-year-old men who listen to NASCAR, sports talk radio and college football.
"Can you guess what that sound is. Let me help you out: it's a jail cell getting slammed shut after you've been booked,for DUI," the radio spot says.
