Columbus City Council Recognizes December as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month in the City of Columbus and Issues Resolution to RADD Ohio for Efforts to Reduce Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driving Among Young Adults Ages 18-25

COLUMBUS, OH, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, December 13th, Columbus City Council issued a Resolution declaring December as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month in the City of Columbus and commended RADD Ohio for its efforts to educate young adults ages 18-25 about the risks of impaired driving through the use of music, video, event activations and positive messaging.

"I'm honored to accept this Resolution from the Columbus City Council on behalf of RADD Ohio which is headquartered in the vibrant city of Columbus," said Erin Meluso, President of RADD. "Under the leadership of Councilwoman Shayla Favor, Public Service and Transportation Chair who helped to establish Vision Zero Columbus, the city has become a national model of identifying and improving myriad transportation projects including lifesaving improvements to its intersections and crosswalks."

RADD Ohio partners with Ohio universities and concert venues in the form of event activations that provide RADD team members an opportunity to engage young adult concertgoers with positive, proactive messages about the importance of making a plan to get home safely, using fun activities, games, ticket giveaways and other promotions. RADD Ohio also partners with Ohio-based musicians such as TrigNO, Hello Luna, Bird & Byron and many others to help communicate its messages (see: https://raddohio.org/radd-tv/). 

This year to date, there have been nearly 1,300 crashes due to a driver's impairment from alcohol or other drugs within Franklin County, 125 of which have led to serious injuries or fatalities; and in 2019, the highest percentage of alcohol-impaired drivers were young adults ages 21 to 24 and that impaired driving is a leading cause of alcohol-related death among college students.  

Nationally, the numbers are even more alarming.  "This is a crisis: 38,6680 deaths on our roadways last year! The most fatalities since 2007, these tragic numbers reverse three decades of gains in reducing injuries and deaths on America's roads. Locally and nationally, RADD Ohio and RADD are committed to expanding our efforts to reach out to the highest at-risk group in Ohio and across the country, RADD's 18-25 year old multicultural college audience," said Meluso.

About RADD OHIO

RADD Ohio is a collaborative effort between the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, RADD-Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving, and the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery at The Ohio State University, which partners with entertainment venues through AEG/PromoWest and Ohio universities statewide to educate young adults on the importance of making a plan to get home safely. To learn more, please visit www.raddohio.org.

About RADD

California-based RADD has been honored with three prestigious national awards, two National Highway Traffic Safety Association Lifesavers Awards and one Governors Highway Safety Association Award in acknowledgement of its outstanding DUI prevention work with teens, younger adults ages 18-34, and communities, inclusive of regional and national coalition-building. RADD's primary focus is creating lifestyle-oriented alcohol and drug driving prevention programming for college students. The RADD Ohio Project is the pilot for a national model that will be expanding to other states in 2022. To learn more, please visit www.radd.org and www.raddohio.org.

About the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery

An academic center at The Ohio State University, the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD) is a collaboration between the College of Social Work, College of Pharmacy and the Office of Student Life. It provides tools, training and technical assistance to campus professionals working to address collegiate substance misuse across the continuum. For more information on HECAOD, please visit https://hecaod.osu.edu/

About National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

The Biden Administration has formally recognized December 2021 as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/30/a-proclamation-on-national-impaired-driving-prevention-month-2021/

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Impaired Driving Month Launch Event, Tues, 12/14/21. Register at: https://usdot.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_NY8s7zxRSOWmKVWui8LQsw

SOURCE RADD