| Title |
Zero Tolerance Laws For Youth: Four States' Experience |
| Record ID |
9360 |
Personal Name
Creator |
Lacey, John H.; Jones, Ralph K.; Wiliszowski, Connie H. |
Corporate
Contributor |
Mid-America Research Institute |
| Publisher |
United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
| Publication Date |
20000400 |
| Abstract |
This report summarizes a study of zero tolerance drinking driving laws for youth in four states. These laws prohibit driving by persons under 21 at a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) over .00, .01 or .02 (depending on the state) in contrast to the levels set for adults at .08 or .10. The states studied were Florida, Maine, Texas and Oregon. Two of the states, Maine and Oregon, adopted such laws in the early 1980s and modified them in the mid-1990s to make them more stringent. Texas and Florida adopted their zero tolerance laws in the late 1990s. A review of the process of implementing the laws indicates that administrative license suspension for zero tolerance violations can be handled fairly expeditiously through the mechanisms set up for administrative suspensions for adults. Barriers to aggressive enforcement of the law tend to be associated with lack of familiarity with the law which can be overcome through training and word of mouth among law enforcement officers. The laws seem to be most effective in the states which have had such laws for the longer periods of time. Nighttime single vehicle injury crashes were reduced by as much as 40% and 36% in Oregon and Maine about the time the laws were made more stringent to as little as 5% in Florida and not at all in Texas where the laws were more recently adopted and enforcement levels are still on the rise. References, appendix. This HTML document is navigated from hyperlinked Table of Contents |
| TRT Terms |
Drunk drivers  ; Teenage drivers ; Young adults ; State laws ; Zero tolerance ; Blood alcohol levels ; Accident rates |
| General Subjects |
Drivers under 21; Florida; Maine; Oregon; Texas; Underage drinkers |
| Classification |
NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Accidents;
NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Human Factors;
NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Highway Safety;
NTL - REFERENCES AND DIRECTORIES - Statistics;
NTL - LAWS AND REGULATIONS - State Laws and Regulations |
Geographical
Coverage |
Florida; Maine; Oregon; Texas |
TRIS Online
Accession No |
00795409 |
| Resource type |
Research Paper |
| URL |
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/zero/zerolaws/zerotolerance_index.html |
| Format |
HTML |
| Language: |
English |
| Database |
Other Transportation Web Sites |
