Teen drinking, driving tops national average

Jace Radke

Thursday, June 15, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Nevada ranks above the national average in teenagers driving drunk or riding with drunken friends according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nationally, about 33 percent of high school students admitted to riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, and 13.1 percent said they have climbed behind the wheel themselves after drinking.

According to the report, which polled communities across the country, 35.2 percent of Nevada's high school students have ridden with a drunken driver, and 17 percent have driven after they were drinking.

STOP DUI spokeswoman Sandy Heverly said she is not surprised by the report, saying it further identifies a problem in Nevada.

"It fits right in with the statistics we have that say we are about 5 percent over the national average in overall DUI's," Heverly said. "There are a lot of factors here that combine to put us over the average."

One of those factors is the easy availability of alcohol in Las Vegas, even for juveniles, Heverly said.

"Last year across the nation children spent $5.5 billion dollars on alcohol despite being underage," Heverly said.

Henderson Police routinely conduct checks of local convenience stores using underage people in their Explorer program to attempt to buy alcohol from the stores. Metro Police and North Las Vegas Police have also made similar efforts to make sure store clerks are asking for identification from those purchasing alcohol.

Las Vegas area authorities also work closely with school police in educating high school and younger students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

"We're always out there in the schools preaching about the dangers of drugs and alcohol," Officer Steve Meriwether, a Metro spokesman, said. "It's part of our DARE programs and community policing efforts."

The study, also known as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, includes national, state, territorial and local school-based surveys of high school students. The study was started in 1990 in 23 states encompassing nine large cities, but has since grown to 41 states and 17 large cities for a broader sample population.

Although over the national average in drunken driving by high school students, Nevada was not among the worst offenders in the survey. Wyoming, Wisconsin, Hawaii, South Dakota and North Dakota were all markedly higher with North Dakota racking up the worst numbers.

Forty-eight percent of North Dakota high school students have ridden with a drunken driver, and 31.4 percent have driven after drinking according to the study.

Heverly said that no matter the state, the problem of teens drinking and driving often comes down to a lack of supervision.

"A lot more attention has to be paid by everyone, and especially by the parents," Heverly said. "We've had cases of parents giving minors alcohol in their homes, thinking it's all right there, but then they are surprised when those same kids are found drinking in other places."

Heverly says STOP DUI, a nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping people from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, will be asking the state Legislature to get tougher on teen drivers this year.

"STOP DUI will be pushing for legislation that will allow minors to be charged as adults when facing a charge of driving under the influence causing serious bodily harm or death," Heverly said.