DWI Deaths: Is it Murder? [1]

Last night Bob Simon of CBS's 60 Minutes ran a story called "DWI Deaths: Is it Murder?" [2].

Martin Heidgen, a drunk driver who ran into a limo carrying the Flynn family in July 2005, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. Seven-year-old Katie Flynn was brutally killed in the crash. Her grandfather, Chris Tangney, was injured so badly that he was given last rights by Monsignor William Costello. Ironically, six months later, that same priest was hit by a drunk driver named Karen Fisher, a repeat offender.

The Century Council has a name for drunk drivers such as Mr. Heidgen and Ms. Fisher: hardcore drunk drivers. We applaud Nassau County (NY) District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s efforts to prosecute drunk drivers to the fullest extent of the law in her continued efforts to stop drunk driving. The public, law enforcement, the judiciary, and legislators all have a role to play in the effort to keep our roads safe.

We invite you to learn more about hardcore drunk drivers [3], our work with prosecutors and judges across the country [4], and our efforts to fight drunk driving [5] by visiting our website - www.centurycouncil.org [6].

 

2008 Holiday eCard - The Making of Centuryville! [7]

Here at The Century Council we aim to use creativity to engage others in our important lifesaving messages about drunk driving and underage drinking. The latest example of this is our 2008 Holiday eCard [8]. We want to say a special thank you to Actual Size Creative [9] who put a lot of creative thought, time, and effort into making this card. Here are some still shots of the set and a short behind the scenes video. Check 'em out!

B4UDrink Awareness [10]

The statistics above are disturbing – to say the least. The Century Council, together with the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus, hosted its annual holiday event to address drunk driving and BAC awareness yesterday on Capitol Hill. With the help of B4UDrink’s Virtual Bar and some Fatal Vision Goggles, we helped our audience to better understand the ways that alcohol affects individuals.

B4UDrink Featured in WOW Webcast! [11]

B4UDrink.Mobi is one of the featured wireless safety applications in this month’s "Wonder of Wireless" (WOW) webcast, produced by CTIA-The Wireless Association(R).  The webcast shows viewers how easy it is to estimate your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) by using a cell phone to access B4UDrink.Mobi [12].  A special thank you to the Fairfax County Police Department [13] in Northern Virginia for being part of this webcast and encouraging drivers to use their wireless device to notify police of suspected drunk drivers. Check out the webcast below. To learn more about CTIA and other wireless safety initiatives, visit www.CTIA.org [14].

Female Athletes Promote Healthy and Active Lifestyles [15]

The Century Council recently teamed up with 3 influential female athletes to help promote healthy and active lifestyles among teenagers through radio public service announcements (PSA):

Misty May-Treanor, a professional beach volleyball player. Misty has won more tournaments than any other female player with 103 career wins. Misty was a gold medalist in beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. Misty and her teammate Kerri Walsh have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time."

Sue Bird, a professional women's basketball player. Sue is a two-time national champion with the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and she was the first player to be picked in the 2002 WNBA Draft. She currently plays for the WNBA's Seattle Storm, having won the national championship in 2004. She is also a member of the 2008 gold medal winning United States Women's Olympic basketball team.

Natasha Watley, a professional softball player. Natasha is currently with the USA Softball Women’s National Team. She plays the position of shortstop and first base, and helped her team to win the gold medal for softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and a silver metal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. 

To check out the PSAs head to our Media Center [16] and take a listen!

New Underage Drinking Research From SAMHSA [17]

SAMHSA has released a supplemental report from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) which looks at underage drinking by source and how the alcohol was obtained.

More than one in four youth ages 12 to 20 report they consumed alcohol in the past month, with 31% of these youth reporting they paid for the alcohol they last consumed and 69% reporting they got the last alcohol they consumed for free. Sources of alcohol vary by age, but among younger youth (12-14 year olds) the leading sources of alcohol is family, whereas a plurality of older youth (18-20 year olds) report their leading source of alcohol is a non-relative aged 21 or older.

Regardless of their source of alcohol, youth who paid for the last alcohol they consumed drink more, on average, than those who did not pay for the alcohol they consumed (6 drinks and 3.9 drinks, respectively.) Additional highlights from the report include paying for alcohol increases with increasing age and that females are less likely to pay for the alcohol they last consumed than their male peers (76% and 63%, respectively). The complete report can be viewed here [18].