Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Young advocates to hold DUI prevention rally

Group met last week to create signs for July 2 event

FALLBROOK – Some local students plan to hold a pre-Fourth of July rally to remind area residents that it is dangerous and illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or other impairing substances.

Members of the Fallbrook Youth Advocacy Coalition met last week to paint eye-catching signs and banners for the rally, set for July 2 at the intersection of South Mission Road and West Clemmens Lane in Fallbrook.

The coalition is comprised of 27 middle and high school students aged 12 to 18. The group planned the rally after a June 4 crash that saw a suspected drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 15 hitting another man's vehicle. The second driver was injured.

The incident was the latest in a series of drunk- or drugged-driving crashes that have occurred in the Fallbrook area in the last two years.

"These DUI crashes are totally preventable," said Yareli Albino, the coalition's president-elect. "And we really just want everyone to know that keeping our community safe keeps our residents safe, and then we'll all have a better time during this (Fourth of July) celebration."

The California Office of Traffic Safety's 2019 Traffic Safety Score Card shows that alcohol-impaired driving fatalities declined slightly from 2018 to 2019. The percentage of drivers killed who tested positive for legal and/or illegal drugs went up 8% during the same one-year period, however (https://tinyurl.com/s86db595).

Albino said the upcoming rally will urge people to do three things that will help make Fallbrook safer:

· Avoid getting behind the wheel while under the influence of an impairing substance

· Call 911 and report suspected DUI drivers

· Support local Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers' efforts to enforce DUI laws.

Mental Health System's North Inland Substance Use Prevention program sponsors the Fallbrook Youth Advocacy Coalition. Call 858-248-5717 for information about the group or to sign up to participate in the rally.

Submitted by North Inland Substance Use Prevention program.

 

Reader Comments(0)