National News

Volume 4, Number 1 - Winter 2000/2001

• Lifesavers 2000, which will be held March 25-27, 2001, in Denver, Colorado, will feature approximately 10 sessions focusing on Safe Communities. Tentative topics include the latest trends in community assessment, strategic planning, coalition-building, and garnering resources; diversity; social marketing strategies; data and evaluation methods; partnerships; and self-sufficiency. For information, contact Lifesavers, P.O. Box 30045, Alexandria, VA 22310-0045. Fax: (703) 922-7780; WWW: www.lifesaversconference.org/. Safe Communities programs interested in opportunities to network with their peers at Lifesavers should contact Jack Oates at NHTSA by telephone at (202) 366-2730 or e-mail at jack.oates@nhtsa.dot.gov.

• .08 Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) gained additional standing as the uniform definition of drunk driving on October 23, 2000, with the signing of the Federal Transportation Appropriation Bill. Starting on October 1, 2003, states without a .08 BAC per se law will lose a percentage of their Federal highway construction funds. The percentage of funds lost will increase each fiscal year (although states can reclaim some of the funding if they come into compliance). Such per se laws make it illegal for a person with a BAC of .08 or above to operate a motor vehicle. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia currently comply with the .08 standard. A nationwide .08 BAC standard would save 500 lives a year.

• Scott Berns, MD, founder of the Providence Safe Communities Partnership, was selected as 1 of 15 White House Fellows for 2000-2001. Dr. Berns will serve as a special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), where he will work with DOT and NHTSA staff on pediatric injury prevention. Dr. Berns hopes to bring his experience in Providence to this position and further the cause of community-based traffic safety programs.

• Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW), held September 11-15, 2000, reached close to 2.5 million employees (from 2,500 participating organizations), making it the most successful DSWW campaign yet. DSWW represents an important opportunity for Safe Communities coalitions to work with local businesses to ensure that employees are driving safely on the job, as well as during their commute to and from the workplace. The next DSWW will be September 10-14, 2001. For information on DSWW, contact the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, 1900 L Street, SW, Suite 705, Washington, DC 20036. Telephone: (888) 221-0045; e-mail: nets@trafficsafety.org; WWW: www.trafficsafety.org.

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