Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving and Underage Drinking in Montomery County, April 3, 2001

• NCJ Number: 188091
• Author(s): Karen Orlansky; Sue Richards; Krista Baker-Hernandez; Jennifer Kimball
• Date Published: April 2001
• Length: 128 pages
• Corporate Author: Montgomery Cty, Office of Legislative Oversight
• Sale Source: Montgomery Cty, Office of Legislative Oversight
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents facts on alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking in Montgomery County (MD), summarizes the laws and programs currently in place to address these issues, and identifies nine crosscutting, interagency issues as candidates for further study.

Abstract

The analysis revealed that the percentage of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Montgomery County consistently has been less than the percentage reported for Maryland and for the United States. Law enforcement made more than 4,500 arrests for alcohol-impaired driving in Montgomery County in 1999, a 50 percent increase over 1994. The percentage of Montgomery County adolescents who report consuming alcohol is generally about equal to or less than the percentage reported statewide, However, a 1998 survey revealed that about 46 percent of 12th graders, 35 percent of 10th graders, 17 percent of 8th graders, and 4 percent of 6th graders in the county reported consuming beer within the past 30 days. Law enforcement officers issued more than 2,400 citations for underage possession of alcohol in 1999, an increase of almost 60 percent over 1997. Compliance checks during the 2000 holiday season revealed that licensed establishments sold alcohol to persons under age 21 about 25 percent of the time. Strategies used to reduce alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking included varied enforcement strategies, sanctions, and environmental strategies. Issues for further study include prevention activities, enforcement of laws regarding age of sale of alcohol, the need for a short-term detoxification facility, and issues related to diverting first time drunk-driving offenders into treatment. Additional topics include the balance of resources for enforcement and prosecution, trends in disposition and sentencing, the effectiveness of the State’s Administrative License Suspension program, vehicle-based sanctions, the State's Drinking Driver Monitor Program. Tables, footnotes, and appended background information