Good morning. I'm Gene Conti, Chief Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
It's a pleasure to stand with law enforcement officers from across North Carolina, who are here to kick off the fall "Booze It & Lose It" campaign.
We do this every year just before the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.
It may well be even more important this year than in the past, since recent national events have led many people to choose driving instead of flying.
You can count on the law enforcement officers you see here today - and hundreds more who are hard at work right now in their local communities - to be on the lookout for a wide range of dangerous behaviors on our roadways.
When we launched the summer "Booze It & Lose It" campaign in June with First Lady Mary Easley, we focused on the dangers associated with teens who drive after using alcohol or drugs.
The bright futures of this inexperienced group of young drivers are at grave risk.
Crash data shows that they represent a growing segment of motorists whose reckless actions lead to death and destruction.
Greensboro has seen its share of this growing crisis.
Just two weeks ago, an 18-year-old impaired driver crashed head-on into a telephone pole, then spun around and slammed into another pole 100 feet away.
He and a 24-year-old buddy had been drinking at a party.
The passenger, who wasn't driving because his own license had been suspended in August for a DWI conviction, was ejected and killed.
The driver, whose breath-alcohol content was .16 - twice the legal standard for impairment - has been charged with involuntary manslaughter second-degree murder.
Of course, underage drinking drivers aren't the only problem.
Beginning today and continuing through December 2, officers across the state will step up patrols and conduct checkpoints to identify all impaired drivers and remove them from our roadways.
While most people arrested for impaired driving offenses are adults, statistics clearly show that the number of under-age impaired offenses are on the rise.
Last year, nearly 4,000 people ages 16 to 20 were arrested for driving while impaired.
During the 2000 summer and fall "Booze It & Lose It" campaigns, more than 500 underage people were charged with DWIs.
While tough enforcement of North Carolina's impaired driving laws is vital to protecting our motorists from harm, we must do all we can to help young people understand that the risks associated with underage drinking outweigh the seeming thrill of doing it.
To that end, the Governor's Highway Safety Program is funding an important project with the Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement.
We are expanding a commitment that already includes many high school and college outreach programs -- notably "Drunk Busters on Wheels," in which students wear goggles that simulate impairment then drive a golf cart on a closed course.
The superficial humor of this task quickly fades to the grim reality that toppled safety cones could just as easily have been smashed cars and gravely injured victims.
Here to talk with us more about ALE is Joe Dugdale, Deputy Director of the Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement.
He is here to tell what ALE is doing to help more teens make safe and sober decisions about driving.
(JOE DUGDALE GIVES REMARKS.)
Thank you, Joe.
We appreciate all that you and your officers do to reduce the tragedy of impaired driving on North Carolina roadways.
I'd like to turn things over now to Barbara Alvarez Martin, Project Director of the North Carolina Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking.
Barbara was part of a large group of people who helped convince legislators to pass a bill making it more difficult for underage consumers to use fake identification to purchase alcoholic beverages.
This law, which becomes effective in just two weeks, also targets those who produce these deceptive products.
Barbara, please tell us more about it.
(BARBARA ALVAREZ MARTIN GIVES REMARKS.)
Thank you, Barbara.
We certainly appreciate the hard work of dedicated advocates that went into supporting and passing the bill.
Sadly, as important as this new law is, it won't prevent every minor from getting their hands on alcoholic beverages - or behind the wheels of motor vehicles.
Trooper Chris Wood of Reidsville investigated the first of two impaired driving crashes that occurred during a five-hour span one day in September.
Both crashes involved the same driver - a young man who had turned 19 just four days earlier.
When Trooper Wood asked the driver to present his license, the driver could not comply, as he carried no standard ID.
He did present what appeared to be a foreign driver's license, but when coded into a database system it revealed nothing more than a blank screen.
Trooper Wood, please tell us more about what happened.
(TROOPER WOOD GIVES REMARKS.)
Thank you, Trooper Wood.
I'm sure that terrible incident taught Reidsville motorists some very difficult lessons about impaired driving.
I thank you for your dedication, and I thank the State Highway Patrol, DMV Enforcement and all other law enforcement agencies across the state for all they do to support "Booze It & Lose It."
Before closing, I ask that all drivers accept their responsibility to be safe and sober.
With families and law enforcement working together, I believe we all can look forward to safer roads and happier holiday celebrations with our loved ones.
I thank all of you for joining us here today, and I encourage members of the media to join us later tonight to witness a DWI checkpoint in action.