Victoria Kondor
Northern Light freelance reporter

As students celebrate the end of the semester and the beginning of the holidays, they should remember two important things in the midst of all their good cheer: being prudent about drinking alcohol and selecting a designated driver. These things are just as important as passing exams, giving the right Christmas gift or finding a knock-out outfit.

         Alcohol is among the leading causes of death for 15 to 24-year-olds, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). As a result of MADD's lobbying efforts, President Clinton signed a bill Oct. 23 that lowered the alcohol limit for drinking and driving from 0.10 to 0.08 percent. Alaska has not yet adopted the 0.08 limit.

         UAA alumnus Charlotte Phelps lost her son to drunken driving on June 16, 1996. John-David Stuart, 23, died along with his friends George W. Crawford, 22, and Carrie E. Warriner, 19, after being ejected from the back seat of the designated driver's car. Their designated driver decided to drink, then ran a flashing red light, and collided with another vehicle that did not slow down for a flashing yellow light. Both drivers were charged with drunken driving.

          As a condition of probation, the court orders first-time DUI offenders to attend a Victim Impact Panel class. Phelps represents MADD as a speaker on the Victim Impact Panel, which cautions first-time DUI offenders about the hazards and sometimes-fatal consequences of their behavior, and shares the loss of her son with the audience.

          An Anchorage Police Department officer woke Phelps at 5:30 a.m. the morning of the accident. Phelps knew it was about her son and asked the officer to just tell her whether J-D was hurt or dead. “My life changed forever in the time it took me to ask that question,” Phelps said.

         Saying good-bye to her son after his funeral and before he was cremated was the hardest thing Phelps has ever done. She kissed him for the last time, held him in her arms and sang him a lullaby. Then she placed his bass guitar inside the casket because he loved it so much. Phelps watched the casket's lid being closed and had kept her composure until then. “That's when it was real,” she said. “There's a hole inside of me that's never going to be filled. I'm going to hurt the rest of my life,” Phelps said.

         Police officers just don't look for drivers who are swerving all over the road or who speed up and slow down the highway, said APD Officer Don Mann, who teaches new recruits about drunken driving and serves as an expert witness in drunken driving cases. Sometimes officers stop drivers for minor violations, such as having a taillight or headlight out. If a driver is stopped and the officer observes him or her slurring words or smells alcohol on the driver's breath, the officer performs a field sobriety test. If the driver fails, he or she is placed under arrest and taken into custody for further processing. The driver is required by law to take a Breathalyzer test. If it is failed, the driver is read his or her Miranda rights. The magistrate is then contacted to make a determination whether to release the driver on his or her own recognizance, to set bail or to incarcerate.

         “Next time you're out, think about your loved ones and how they're going to feel when they have to plan your funeral. Have a plan before you start drinking. I'm not saying don't drink. Just don't drink and drive,” Phelps said.

MADD's “Responsible Alaskan Party Plan”

• Serve snacks so guests do not drink on an empty stomach. Raw vegetables, dips, cheese and meat are ideal.
• Make attractive, tasty nonalcoholic drinks available.
• Space drinks one per hour.
• Measure drinks and avoid the open-bar approach.
• Use non-carbonated mixers, such as juice, because the body absorbs alcohol faster when mixed with carbonated beverages.
• Encourage guests to stop drinking alcohol about two hours before the party is over.
• If guests might be alcoholic impaired, talk to them and don't let them drive drunk. Offer them a ride home, call a cab or urge them to spend the night.
• Time is the only thing that will sober up a guest. Do not serve coffee or offer a cold shower.

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