December Is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month in the City of Columbus, RADD Ohio Raises Awareness to Reduce Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driving Among Young Adults Ages 18-25

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year, the 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.

This year, RADD Ohio reached more of its target audience through the use of music, video, event activations and positive messaging about the importance of making a plan to get home safely if using alcohol or marijuana.

RADD's mission has taken new urgency this holiday season. According to a new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study "50% of seriously or fatally injured road users tested positive for alcohol or some type of impairing substance, with cannabis (25%) being the most prevalent."

RADD thanks and commends its funders from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, along with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Columbus City Council and local law enforcement agencies for effecting a dramatic reduction in substance-related crash fatalities: Between January 1 and November 30, 2022, there have been 1,073 crashes due to a driver's impairment from alcohol or other drugs within Franklin County, down from nearly 1,300 during the same period last year. 

"Preventing impaired driving is an important component of our Vision Zero Columbus Action Plan," states Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla who chairs Columbus City Council's Public Service & Transportation Committee. "RADD Ohio's efforts to encourage young adults to make a plan to get home safely complements Vision Zero's work to eliminate fatal and serious crashes on Columbus streets."

During the past year, RADD Ohio connected with its audience at the Classic for Columbus basketball game in April, concert activations at multiple venues in Columbus through a growing partnership with AEG/Promowest, and at WonderBus music festival in Columbus with more than 15,000 attendees, where RADD Ohio was a stage sponsor.

"2022 was a year of significant growth for RADD Ohio," said Erin Meluso, President of RADD. "I'm proud of the work we've accomplished this year and encouraged that the number of alcohol and drug-impaired crashes is trending downward in Franklin County, despite a rising trend nationally. We still have work to do, however, and I look forward to continued work with our partners to meet young adults where they live, work, and play in 2023."

In addition, RADD Ohio expanded its reach to Cleveland with concert activations at the House of Blues and as a stage sponsor at WonderStruck music festival in the Cleveland area.

RADD Ohio partners with Ohio universities and concert venues in the form of music event activations that provide RADD team members an opportunity to engage 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 proudly 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/). 

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, plus partnerships with entertainment venues through AEG/PromoWest and Ohio universities statewide to educate young adults on the importance of making a plan before they go out to get everyone home safely. To learn more, please visit www.raddohio.org.

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. As a proud member of the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) and the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID), 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 2023. To learn more, please visit www.radd.org and www.raddohio.org.

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/

The Biden Administration has formally recognized December 2022 as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/11/30/a-proclamation-on-national-impaired-driving-prevention-month-2022/#:~:text=BIDEN%20JR.%2C%20President%20of%20the,National%20Impaired%20Driving%20Prevention%20Month.

SOURCE RADD