WHEREAS, education and enforcement offer the most promise for the future in deterring and eliminating underage sale, consumption, impaired driving and

WHEREAS, young drivers are inexperienced, do drink and drive and when impaired /intoxicated do not wear their seat belts, and

WHEREAS, underage drivers comprise 7% of all licensed drivers but account for 15% of the drivers involved in fatal crashes, and

WHEREAS, historically, over 2,200 youths die annually in alcohol related crashes, which was 35% of their total traffic fatalities, and

WHEREAS, one out of three high school students, approximately 4.6 million youths, experience problems with alcohol before leaving high school, and

WHEREAS, recent studies indicate that 40% of college students have driven after drinking, and that 40% of the students knowingly rode with a driver who had too much to drink, and:

WHEREAS, alcohol is the major cause of all fatal and non-fatal crashes involving teenage drivers, and;

WHEREAS, almost half of all youth weekend fatalities were alcohol related, now, therefore, be it,

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police urges all law enforcement agencies to evaluate their programs which deal with underage drinking, develop interagency and inter-disciplinary consortiums to attack this epidemic problem of underage drinking and driving through education of the underage population, and coordinate diversified specific enforcement efforts to combat underage drinking and driving