UGA experts offer commentary on Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
November 30, 2011
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Mickey Montevideo
Mickey Montevideo
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- Mickey Y. Montevideo
Mickey Montevideo
Public Relations Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs
Hodgson Oil Building
286 Oconee Street
Athens, GAEmail: mickeym@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. - University of Georgia experts are available to provide commentary during Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, which is recognized in December.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight the effects of alcohol and drug use, especially as it relates to driving.
Last year, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for almost one-third (32 percent) of all traffic-related deaths in the U.S.
U.S. adults drank beyond the legal limit and got behind the wheel approximately 112 million times last year.
More than 40 percent of all automobile crashes are alcohol and drug related.
More than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths. These drugs are often used in combination with alcohol.
The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes exceeds $51 billion.
In an effort to increase community awareness regarding this societal and community health concern, President Ronald Reagan established National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month in 1982.
UGA's experts on this subject, their contact information and their specific areas of expertise are listed below. For more information, contact UGA News Service at 706/542-8083 or news@uga.edu.
Carol Cotton, Faculty
Department of Health Promotion and Behavior
College of Public Health
Phone: 706/542-2804
Email: cpcotton@uga.edu
Cotton teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in program development, implementation and evaluation, and international health. In addition, she teaches study abroad programs in Croatia. Currently, she is the principal investigator for the Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group funded by the Georgia Governor's Office on Highway Safety. Cotton has authored more than 30 government traffic safety reports, and she continues to research traffic safety issues, including drunk and impaired driving, motorcycle safety, scooter safety and safety belt use.
Andrew Turnage, Public Information Manager
Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute
College of Family and Consumer Sciences
Phone: 678/413-4283
Email: turnage@uga.edu
Turnage is chief spokesperson for the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute and its program for parents of new teen drivers, Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error, or PRIDE. GTIPI is a UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences program funded by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
In 2002, the state of Georgia passed a law requiring teens to complete either 40 hours of supervised driving experience or 20 hours if a driver-education course is completed. In order to promote these requirements, the GTIPI offers PRIDE, a free, two-hour course for parents and their new teen drivers, which is offered throughout the state. Among the topics parents are encouraged to discuss with their teens is Georgia's "zero-tolerance" policy when teenagers are arrested for drunk or drugged driving.
Gloria Varley, Associate Director and Manager
Department of Health Promotion
John Fontaine, Jr. Center for Alcohol Awareness and Education
University Health Center
Phone: 706/542-8690
Email: gvarley@uhs.uga.edu
As the manager of health prevention education at the University Health Center, Varley oversees the John Fontaine, Jr. Center for Alcohol Awareness and Education. The Fontaine Center estimates that approximately two in five college students drink in a high-risk manner, affecting students who drink, students who choose not to drink and the university community at large. In an effort to combat these problems, the family of John Fontaine, Jr. enabled UGA to create a center for alcohol awareness and education. The goal of the center is to provide a comprehensive range of evidence-based alcohol prevention, intervention and counseling services to the campus community. For statistics on drunk and drugged driving as it relates to college students, see http://www.uhs.uga.edu/aod/drinking_and_driving.html. For more information about the Fontaine Center, see http://www.uhs.uga.edu/aod/index.html.
Sergeant Lance Tipton, Manager
Traffic Enforcement Unit
UGA Police Services
Phone: 706/542-5813
Email: ltipton@police.uga.edu
A 10-year veteran of the UGA police force, Tipton oversees and evaluates all traffic enforcement issues on campus, including those involving drunk, drugged and impaired driving.
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