Malvern, Pa. - Cruisin' Not Boozin', an award-winning program designed to prevent injuries among teenagers and young adults from alcohol and drug-related automobile accidents, is now scheduling presentations for the 2007-2008 academic year.  Volunteer drivers are also needed to transport speakers with brain and spinal cord injuries to schools throughout the Delaware Valley.

Sponsored by Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, the innovative program brings teenagers face to face with survivors of drinking and driving crashes who have received life-changing injuries.  Speakers recount their accidents and their long journey back from debilitating injuries that have limited them physically, mentally, and socially.  Some were drivers; others were passengers and still others were involved in tragic accidents where lives were lost.

A Mission to Prevent Injuries
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital's mission is not only to treat catastrophic injuries but to prevent them, and Cruisin' Not Boozin' is the hospital's primary injury-prevention program.  As such, the program recently received the 2007 Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (PARF) recognition award and the 2006 Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) achievement award, both for outstanding community outreach.

Community funding for the program remains strong with more than $100,000 in grant support from the Allstate Foundation over the years.  In addition, the program has received a $5,000 grant from the Boeing Employees Community Fund (Pennsylvania region) and a $5,000 grant renewal from Subaru of America Inc.  Other sponsors include Wal-Mart Foundation, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, and $8,400 from the Phoenixville Health Community Foundation to fund 24 school presentations in the Phoenixville area.

The Cruisin' Not Boozin' program, which has reached out to more than 300,000 students since it began in 1989, is offered at middle schools, high schools, colleges and adult community programs.  "As young people make new friends at school and begin to drive, it is important to remind them of the life-altering and often deadly consequences drinking and driving can have," says Carole Flounders, who coordinated 102 Cruisin' Not Boozin' presentations last year.

Teens at High Risk
More than 300,000 American teen passengers and drivers, ages 16-20, are injured and 6,000 die as a result of vehicle crashes each year (Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2002). About 36 percent of all teen driving deaths are alcohol related (CDC, 2000).  In response to these startling statistics, Cruisin' Not Boozin's peer-to-peer approach has proven effective in changing attitudes of teenagers and young adults, according to follow-up surveys.

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, which is affiliated with Main Line Health, is a pioneer and leader in physical medicine and rehabilitation.  The wide range of illnesses and injuries treated at this 148-bed hospital - the largest rehabilitation hospital in the region - includes brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and orthopedic injuries.

If you have a school, community organization or parent group you would like the Cruisin' Not Boozin' program to visit, please contact Flounders at 610-251-5465, e-mail cnb@mlhs.org or click onto our web-site at www.mainlinehealth.org/cnb.

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Note to Editors:  High-resolution digital photo available upon request.

Caption:  The Cruisin' Not Boozin' Program, sponsored by Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, is assembling this year's team of speakers and volunteers.  Carole Flounders, foreground, poses with last year's team for the award-winning injury-prevention program, which was responsible for 102 school presentations to more than 23,000 young people.  Call 610-251-5465 to schedule a presentation at your school or to volunteer as a driver.

Published:6-27-2008

Cynthia Atwood

Public Relations Coordinator

610-251-5710

atwoodc@mlhs.org