Development of a court-based program to combat underage drinking and driving

A unique court-based program implemented by judges was created to decrease underage drinking and driving among teens in Virginia's courtrooms. Since judges have a major influence on teenagers, but little time to put together a program that includes alcohol prevention components, an advisory board consisting of program staff, judges, school personnel, and police worked together to create a user-friendly program tailored to local and judicial needs. The court-based aspects of the program included changes to the drivers' licensing ceremonies and traffic dockets conducted in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. A unique aspect of Virginia law is that every teen and their parent must appear before a judge in person to receive his or her drivers' license, providing an ideal opportunity to deliver alcohol prevention messaging. Important additions to the ceremonies and traffic dockets included (a) powerful 5-minute videos that gave testimonials of individuals who were involved in alcohol-related crashes (including victims and convicted drunk drivers); and (b) the use of technology (including electronic messaging boards and crash photo computer displays) to provide preventive messaging and information to families awaiting the beginning of the licensing ceremony or traffic docket. Following the judges' implementation of the program, evaluations were completed by 593 adolescents. Results indicated that 85% of teens felt every teen should view the presentation and 94% of teens stated they would be unlikely to operate a vehicle after consuming alcohol. The program is now packaged in an easily disseminated toolkit and ready for use by other districts.