Thoughts on Drinking and Driving

By Diane Eckert


Since last month the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County (UPC) has been out in the community and online asking 18- to 24-year-olds to take an anonymous survey on youth and young adult drinking and driving prevention.

The survey, which takes but three minutes to complete, closes on Saturday, Nov. 15. If you are in this age group or know those who are, please take time to take this survey or send the link—http://healthy.gmu.edu/Survey.aspx?surveyId=1132. The survey also is on UPC’s website at www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org. Survey takers can be college students attending school outside Fairfax County, as long as their primary residence is their home in Fairfax County (and their Fairfax County zip code should be listed on the survey).

The survey aims to help understand attitudes and perceptions surrounding youth and young adult decisions and behavior regarding alcohol consumption and driving. The survey is administered under the direction of Dr. David Anderson, director of George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Public Health.

The results will be used by the Commonwealth of Virginia to measure outcomes of the statewide Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant. The Unified Prevention Coalition represents one of many jurisdictions in the state conducting the survey. Local analysis will help the coalition develop strategies to reduce drinking and driving in Fairfax County involving alcohol-impaired drivers ages 18 to 24.

In addition to offering the survey online, UPC trained interviewers also have administered the survey in person at various locations. Today (Thursday, Nov. 13) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) in Annandale is the last opportunity for those 18 to 24 to take the survey in person (a special $5 gift card will be offered for this in-person interview).

Special thanks to other places that allowed UPC to conduct the surveys on-site, including Buffalo Wing University (Fairfax), Cox Farms, Glory Days (Burke), Hard Times Café (Springfield), Jammin’ Java and Vienna Inn, as well as the Clifton Haunted Trail, Fairfax Corner Goblin Gallop, Azucar dance class and local businesses Cvent and DLT Solutions.

Over the last 18 months, the coalition has developed a “Don’t Drink and Drive” advertising campaign and partnered with local law enforcement, restaurants, cab companies, NVCC, George Mason University, Focused Image advertising agency, and the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. New 2013 statistics show that the number of alcohol-related crashes involving 18- to 24-year-old drivers dropped to 243, down from 249 in 2012 in that age group, a 2.4 percent drop.

(Pictured above are two young adults who took the survey at Buffalo Wing University in Fairfax.)

Diane Eckert is the deputy executive director of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County.

The Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County is a nonprofit organization with more than 60 community partners working together to keep youth and young adults safe and drug-free. Visit www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org and www.facebook.com/unifiedpreventioncoalition. Follow the group on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keepyouthsafe.