Century Council Blog
Looking for a ride home?
The holidays are a time for celebration, joviality and warmth. Unfortunately, they’re also a time when too many drink and drive. 1,243 Americans were killed in alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities last holiday season. For this reason, many municipalities and private organizations are providing free taxis during the holiday season. We here at The Century Council have assembled a list of such services. It's in no way comprehensive; if you don’t see your city on our list, check with your local officials. And most importantly, if you plan on drinking, make sure you have a plan to get home safely.
Washington DC – SoberRide, provided by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP,) offers cab rides of up to a $50 value from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day any night from 10PM to 6AM, anywhere in the D.C. Metro area. The Century Council has been a supporter of WRAP’s work for years, and we’ll happily encourage everyone to take advantage of this fantastic program. Call 1-800-200-TAXI or visit http://www.wrap.org/soberride/ for details.
Los Angeles – Some good can emerge from even the worst of tragedies. Following the tragic death of Daniel Levian as the result of a drunk-driving crash, his family and friends united to help ensure that others would not have to go through the pain that they did. To help keep Los Angeles safe, The Daniel Levian Foundation is offering free $10 taxi vouchers for the month of December. Visit http://www.thelevfoundation.org for more information.
Chicago – From 11PM on New Year’s Eve until 4AM in the morning, select neighborhoods in Chicago will be offering free taxi rides back home. Call 800-752-5400 for more information.
Big Island, Hawaii – County officials have released 500 taxi coupons, to be distributed at participating bars and restaurants. Each coupon is good for a four mile trip. Check here for more information
Pittsburgh – The Pear Transportation Co., while not free nor holiday-focused, is great example of a group of people joining together to make their communities safer. It’s a designated-driving service, where someone will come to you and drive your car home with you in it, obviating the need for a trip back the next morning. And as this article points out, it often beats a round-trip cab.
Phoenix – AAA has offered a ‘Tipsy Tow’ to Phoenix residents through to New Year’s Eve. Good for a 10-mile trip, it’s given free to anyone, regardless of AAA membership. Call 1-800-AAA-HELP
Troy, NY – The Netter’s Fund, started by a man whose wife and parents-in-law were killed by a drunk driver. 21 participating bars and restaurants in Troy, Albany County and Rensselaer participate in the program. Visit http://netters.us for more information.
The Century Council presents - Holiday Hop!
At The Century Council, we always try to let people know the danger created by drunk drivers over the holidays. Last year, 1231 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, and 171 of the drivers involved were under-21. We’re particularly concerned that 70% of these fatalities involved a driver with a BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) of .15 or higher.
But this time, we tried something a little different to get the message across. Working with Actual Size Creative, we created a short web-based game to illustrate the dangers presented by drunk drivers. The game consists of one simple but surprisingly difficult challenge: Can you get the gingerbread family across the street to the holiday party?
Click the image below to play!
We hope you enjoy it, and that you have a safe and merry holiday season!
Dr. Wolf: Cranky teen this holiday? It'll get better
Your once loving child is now a rude, snarly teenager. This too will pass, if you wait long enough. At least, it usually does
It was Christmas Eve.
"Nathan, how many times do I have to tell you to bring in your dishes from the TV room?"
"Why do you always nag me? That's all you do: nag, nag, nag. I'd do stuff if you didn't nag me so much."
"You know that's not true," Nathan's mother objected. "You never do anything."
"You never do anything except nag."
Nathan's mother didn't know what to do. Her teenage son's lack of respect and refusal to help were driving her crazy. She was ready to give up.
Alcohol continues slow, but gradual decline among U.S. teens
The 2009 Monitoring the Future Study continues to reflect longer-term, gradual decline in underage drinking among American youth. From 2004 to 2009 decreases were noted in lifetime, past year, past month, and binge drinking prevalence rates of alcohol consumption among all three grade levels. Perceived availability of alcohol continues to trend downward, reaching record low levels in 2009 among teens. The declines in alcohol consumption may be a reflection of the decline in the reported availability of alcohol. Reported availability of alcohol among 8th graders declined significantly from 2008 to 2009 – down more than two percent to 62%.
The latest edition of the survey reveals a statistically significant decline in the annual rate of alcohol consumption among 8th graders from 2008 to 2009, reaching a historic low level of 30%. Among 10th and 12th graders annual consumption remains relatively unchanged (53% and 66%, respectively). Monthly consumption rates and occasions of being drunk in the past 30-days in 2009 also remain unchanged among all students; however, 8th graders did show a slight decline in 30-day consumption. While reaching record low levels, the proportion of students reporting they had been drunk in the past month remains the same from 2008 to 2009 across all three grade levels. According to the 2009 Study incidents of binge drinking, that is having five or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks, declined and reached a record new low level among 8th graders – less than one in ten (8%) of 8th graders reports binge drinking, 18% of 10th graders, and 25% of 12th graders.
It goes without saying that we'd all like the numbers to be zero for every category. We are pleased that The Century Council's point of sale programs such as the '65% Campaign' and the recent 'We Don't Serve Teens' initiative, as well as our continuing focus on middle school kids and their parents through our Ask Listen Learn program, are having a positive impact. We will continue to do more and encourage others to as well. Say 'yes' to a healthy lifestyle and 'no' to underage drinking.
The Century Council applauds NHTSA Nomination
We'd like to congratulate David Strickland's nomination to be the new Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. David Strickland has been a leader in the fight against underage drinking and drunk driving, and we're very glad to see his achievements recognized.
Read our press release.
Rockville High School hosts Girl Talk event
This Monday, The Century Council headed up to Rockville, MD to facilitate a Girl Talk event at Rockville High School. Girl Talk is a program that encourages peer-to-peer mentoring between high school and middle school girls. The program’s goal is to ultimately help middle school girls build self-esteem, and networks of mutual support. This will help them avoid dangerous behaviors such as underage drinking and to lead more positive, healthy lives.
The girls at Rockville High School were great to work with! We want to thank them for their enthusiasm and their commitment to making the right choices
Thanks again to everyone at Rockville High School for a great event!