On Thursday, youth organization TeamAlert started the “Drug Free” campaign again, to tackle driving under the influence of drugs among young people. With this campaign, TeamAlert wants to convey the message that driving under the influence of drugs is really not okay.
Drug use in traffic is a major problem among young people. They regularly drive under the influence of a pill or line to a party or return home under the influence. In recent years, more arrests have been made for driving under the influence of drugs and research by TeamAlert shows that in corona time, without festivals and large parties, many young people still get behind the wheel under the influence.
“Plan your trip, drive drug-free”
To tackle this problem, youth organization TeamAlert is today launching the annual “Drug Free Driving” campaign. The aim of this campaign is to enable young people who use drugs to make safe choices in traffic. “Drug Free Driving” encourages young people to make the right choice for transport prior to an evening at home, a (house) party or festival. Instead of driving under the influence of drugs, they arrange for a sober driver, alternative transport (such as a taxi or public transport) or wait until they are allowed to drive again. TeamAlert launched the campaign in 2018, which returns annually to combat drug use in traffic.
“In recent years, we have seen an increase in the use of drugs by young people behind the wheel. It is a serious problem for road safety in the Netherlands. With this annual campaign, TeamAlert contributes to tackling the risk behavior of young people and to ensure that they make smart choices in traffic and are safe on the road.”
Campaign Toolkit
In order to reach the young people as best as possible, TeamAlert puts “Drive Drug Free” online via social media with a campaign video and other material. As of today, this material can be found in a special campaign toolkit on the website www.rijdrugsvrij.nl/campaigntoolkit. Municipalities, provinces and other organizations are free to share the material to help spread the campaign message.
Photo above: TeamAlert image bank.
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