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Dr. Harper, Executive Director

Executive Director of the ALERT Laboratories, Former Dean of Social Sciences at GVSU, Professor of Organizational and Health Communication (ret.),

harpern@gvsu.edu

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Alert Labs Blog - Teen Driving Fatalities Linked to Alcohol Ads - A Few Good Regulations Could Change That....

posted on Feb 9th 2010 at 12:00pm by Dr. Harper

New research suggests a ban on alcohol ads aimed at minors reduces drunk driving among teens. http://www.miller-mccune.com/media/teen-driving-fatalities-linked-to-alcohol-ads-3459/

ALERT Labs reports on the ineffectiveness — or, worse, counterproductive nature — of public-service announcements aimed at discouraging youngsters from smokingor using illegal drugs by trying to SCARE THEM about the risks. ALERT Labs instead tells teens that they can BE THE NORM by NOT smoking, drinking, using marijuana and other drugs just like the MAJORITY of their PEERS.

A new study supports that approach, encouraging the use of advertising techniques to spread the truth about youth AOD use in order to lower teenage substance use and thereby reduce drunk driving. (REMEMBER, 93% of teens who drink alcohol also either drive or ride with a driver under the influence; and traffic crashes are the number one cause of teen deaths.)

The key, it appears, isn’t creating slickly produced WARNINGS, but rather ensuring that teens are NOT exposed to advertisements that entice them to imbibe. [NLH - and making sure they ARE EXPOSED to "ads" that encourage them to stay sober like most of their peers! See ALERT Lab's SCHOOL POSTERS under MEDIA at this site: www.alertlabs.org/media.php]

Teen Driving Fatalities Linked to Alcohol Ads by Tom Jacobs| September 22, 2009 | 00:05 AM (PDT)

In a paper just published in the Journal of Safety Research, Ryan C. Smith and E. Scott Geller of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University examine the impact of state laws prohibiting alcohol advertising that targets minors ... they found such statutes make a huge difference.

States with these laws reported 32.9 percent fewer alcohol-related, single-vehicle traffic fatalities — nearly one-third fewer than those without such prohibitions. In contrast, the number of non-alcohol related traffic fatalities was not significantly different in the two sets of states. This suggests the statutes did decrease teenage alcohol consumption — [thus] drinking and driving.

Smith and Geller estimate that if such [regulations were] enforced nationwide, an estimated 400 lives of young drivers could be saved every year. What, exactly, are the other states waiting for?

http://www.miller-mccune.com/media/teen-driving-fatalities-linked-to-alcohol-ads-3459/

NOTE: What are these regulations? New Mexico is investigating adopting laws like those that have been adopted in many other states: laws placing "restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship in state publications and on state-owned and state-leased lands, including state universities, college campuses, state parks, public buildings and state-sponsored civic events" and on ads in publications with large youth readership and on billboard advertising within a certain distance from elementary, middle, and high schools and colleges. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/final/HJM064.pdf

P.S. DID YOU KNOW that most (~65%+) undergraduate college students are under the age of 21? The Alcohol Industry justifies advertising on college campuses by claiming that "most" readers of College Newspapers, for instance, are over age 21. They base that claim on an "average" that includes faculty, staff, and graduate students as part of the "college population!"