Being No. 1 is something that a lot of us strive for. The No. 1 football team. No. 1 on the record charts.
Here in Redding we’re No. 1, and it isn’t good. We have a drinking and driving problem. Redding is No. 5 out of 106 similar sized cities in California as far as alcohol-involved crashes are concerned. We are No. 1 as far as drivers who have been drinking under the age of 21.
This is not something that has just recently started.
Early in 2004 we had five high school aged kids killed in traffic collisions in the first five months of the year. I received several inquires from the media asking if this was unusual for this to occur. After just a little bit of research I learned that between 2000 and 2005, 38 Shasta County High School students died in traffic collisions in which alcohol was involved.
Through the combined efforts between Shasta County Public Health, Redding and Anderson Police Departments and the California Highway Patrol, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) funded a project titled, ‘It Was Not An Accident’. This video project highlighted the events surrounding many of our local youths that were killed in traffic collisions during that time period. All of the involved agencies promoted this video throughout all of the high schools and community groups. As a result, during the past four years, the number of Shasta County students killed in automobile crashes has dropped dramatically. The program works because this community cares.
During this summer’s three week mobilization/Labor Day campaign by the AVOID the SIX, multiple people were arrested for DUI every day.
The ages ranged from 16 to 66. Out of 116 arrestees, 22 were females and 94 were males. Eleven of these individuals were minors and are not legally allowed to consume alcohol, let alone drink and drive. Arrestee’s places of residence ranged from Mesa, Arizona, to Portland, Oregon, but the vast majority were from Redding and Anderson.
The point of this is that we had and do have a lot of people in our community who are drinking and driving and putting all of us at risk.
Shasta County Public Health, Injury Prevention Coalition of Shasta County and the AVOID the SIX have partnered up once again to produce and updated educational video addressing the problem of driving under the influence in our community. The project was funded by the Office of Traffic Safety.
“It’s About Time” is a film about Shasta County people and their real tragedies. Family members share personal heart-wrenching accounts of their experiences with driving under the influence.
As a group we sat down at the start of this project and realized that our DUI problem was not just teens and young adults, but rather every demographic that our county has to offer as indicated in this last AVOID campaign.
The title speaks to several concerns. “Time” refers to the time that a person loses due to an injury or death. The time that one will serve in a prison or jail. The time that we no longer will have to spend with someone we loved or cared about. The time for a change.
DUI has always been a concern in this community as it has in many others. This is Shasta County and I know with the support of the community we can make a commitment to reduce the number of DUI crashes and save the lives of our friends and family.
Monty Hight is a retired California Highway Patrol officer and Public Information Officer. He is the Northstate AVOID Campaign’s Public Information Officer. He lives in Redding. More information on AVOID can be found here.
