No DUI Larimer Launches New Campaign

We are pleased to announce that our important work at No DUI Larimer through Partners will be funded for two more years.  

As before, No DUI Larimer is committed to preventing driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances by increasing community responsibility for safe, sober driving in northern Colorado. This project is a joint effort between law enforcement, government agencies, alcohol and cannabis retailers, local nonprofits, and community members, working together to encourage the public to “Make the Call” to end impaired driving. 

More than ever, we want to focus on the young people in our community. Our new campaign will be directed at 16-24-year-olds and their guardians. We are also increasing our focus on cannabis-impaired driving. Together with our local partners, we are targeting teens who are learning to drive, high school grads going off to college, and college students navigating spring break and off-campus parties.
 

• Eighty-five percent of teens in high school who reported drinking also reported binge drinking, meaning that they consumed five or more drinks during a short period of time. (https://www.bactrack.com/blogs/expert-center/35040645-dui-statistics)  

• With a population of about 344,000, Larimer County has over 4.5 times as many fatal accidents as Boulder, even though they have similar populations.  

• Impaired driving has a big impact on teen drivers. In 2019, 24% of young drivers ages 15-20 who died in car crashes had blood alcohol concentrations of .01 or higher.  

• Drunk driving deaths in 2019 represented 30% of all traffic fatalities (https://madd.org/statistic_type/drunk-driving/) 

• Ninety-five percent of the 14 million people who are alcohol dependent began drinking before the legal age of 21 (https://madd.org/statistic_type/under-21/) 

• Over 40% of all 10th graders drink alcohol (https://madd.org/statistic_type/under-21/) 

• About one in seven teens binge drinks, yet only 1 in 100 parents believe his or her teen binge drinks (https://madd.org/statistic_type/under-21/) 

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, affects areas of the brain that control the body’s movements, balance, coordination, memory and judgment — skills needed to drive safely (https://online.flippingbook.com/view/454750/4/) 

• Studies have shown that, of seriously injured drivers admitted to trauma centers, more than 1 out of 4 tested positive for marijuana (https://online.flippingbook.com/view/454750/4/) 

•  About 6% of teens surveyed in the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey said they drove while drinking within the past 30 days. That included 7% of males. Nearly 17% of teens surveyed admitted to driving in a car while a driver who had been drinking. (https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/drunk-driving-statistics/) 

• Almost 18% of marijuana users in a Colorado study reported driving 2-3 hours after consumption. This statistic is alarming, given that a new study conducted by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California San Diego found that participants did not fully recover until 4.5 hours after consumption – and differences in driving scores were still seen at 3.5 hours post-consumption.  

No DUI Larimer is focusing on prevention efforts – education, tools, and messaging for groups and individuals who tend to risk driving impaired regularly and who are involved in a higher number of impaired driving crashes. The goal of this arm of the No DUI campaign is to reduce the number of DUI/DWI related crashes with youth and young adults at the wheel.  

Follow No DUI Larimer on Facebook and Instagram for more ways you can combat impaired driving in our community.  

 

[Alt text: A group of young adults holding SOLO cups are pictured in an alley in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado. The text reads, “Someone wants you to make it home safely…Make the Call.”]