---

December is Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month

21 November 1997

December is Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month

    SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 21 -- To help bring attention to the
dangers of drunk driving during the holiday season, the California Office of
Traffic Safety will head up the state's annual Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D)
Prevention Month Campaign this December.
    Special educational and anti-DUI activities will be held across the state
and this year's 3D Month efforts will include a special focus on teen drinking
and driving -- the dangers associated with it and ways in which teens and
adults can work together to prevent needless tragedy.
    The highlight event for this campaign will be "Lights on for Life," a
one-day observance when law enforcement officers drive with their headlights
on all day in a symbolic remembrance of those who have been killed or injured
by impaired drivers. "Lights on for Life" will be held on December 19.
    Last year in California, 103 teens died and another 4,054 were injured
because of impaired driving. A one-third increase in teen drivers, which is
predicted to happen during the next decade, could make those statistics even
worse.

SOURCE  California Office of Traffic Safety