By West                                                S.C.R. No. 1

         75R899 SMC-D                           

                                CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, The incidence of underage drinking and driving

 1-2     afflicting this state and nation has become a problem of staggering

 1-3     magnitude; and

 1-4           WHEREAS, In Texas during 1995 alone, 10 percent of all

 1-5     persons driving while intoxicated who became involved in accidents

 1-6     were under the age of 21; nationwide in 1994, approximately one

 1-7     third of the nearly 3,500 underage drivers killed and 330,000

 1-8     injured in motor vehicle accidents had been drinking; and

 1-9           WHEREAS, To address this alarming trend, the Texas Education

1-10     Agency has developed a program of organized instruction in driver

1-11     education and traffic safety in an effort to educate teenagers

1-12     before they get behind the wheel; and

1-13           WHEREAS, The state-approved curriculum guide for driver

1-14     education instruction contains a list of essential elements to be

1-15     incorporated into a course of instruction, including a unit on the

1-16     effects of alcohol and other drugs on traffic safety; and

1-17           WHEREAS, The unit included in the state-approved curriculum

1-18     guide is designed to instill in the student an understanding of the

1-19     significant effects of alcohol and other drugs on driving

1-20     performance; the recommended time requirement for this unit is five

1-21     hours for the 32-hour noncredit course and 8 hours for the 56-hour

1-22     course; and

1-23           WHEREAS, Research on alcohol and drug abuse indicates that

1-24     alcohol awareness and education programs made available to

 2-1     individuals before problems develop is by far the least expensive

 2-2     and most effective approach for a long-term resolution of the

 2-3     crisis of underage drinking and driving; and

 2-4           WHEREAS, It is imperative that specific attention be paid to

 2-5     efforts to stem the spread of underage drinking and driving in this

 2-6     state and that particular consideration be given to driver

 2-7     education instruction that gives special emphasis to alcohol

 2-8     awareness education; now, therefore, be it

 2-9           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-10     hereby encourage public school superintendents to either use the

2-11     updated and state-approved curriculum guide for driver education

2-12     instruction or enhance their own driver education curriculum to

2-13     emphasize alcohol awareness education; and, be it further

2-14           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official

2-15     copy of this resolution to all public school superintendents in the

2-16     State of Texas.