Campaign Targets Latinos Who Drink and Drive

An unprecedented statewide program designed to combat a growing problem of drunk driving among Latinos was launched Friday by Gov. Pete Wilson, law enforcement officials and a nonprofit educational group.

Dubbed “Si Toma, No Maneje . . . If You Drink, Don’t Drive,” the campaign by the Century Council will place “culturally sensitive,” Spanish-language posters, calendars, wall-hangings and other items at stores, taverns and other liquor outlets in Latino communities, said John Gavin, the Los Angeles-based organization’s chairman.

At a news conference attended by Wilson, representatives of the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department and the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, Gavin said the effort is needed to “stop the slaughter” caused by drunk drivers.

Statistics on drunk driving arrests show that the “message is not getting across” to the Latino community, said Gavin, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Some of the campaign’s messages are intentionally harsh, said advertising executive Anita Santiago, who designed them. One, intended to be hung next to a telephone in a bar, shows a prison cell and hints that someone who drinks too much may end up making his next call from jail.

“Our goal is to make the abuse of alcohol products unacceptable in our society and our country,” Gavin said.

Latinos made up about 26% of the state’s population in 1991, but they accounted for 40% of adult arrests and 45% of juvenile arrests for driving under the influence, according to state officials.

Social service agencies say alcohol abuse is a significant problem in Latino communities, but some also note that the figures on arrests may be misleading. Discriminatory police practices that single out Latinos could affect the statistics, said Xavier Flores, executive director of Pueblo y Salud (Community and Health), a social service agency in San Fernando.

Flores also said drunk driving and consumption of alcohol by Latino minors is not surprising because the group is “disproportionately targeted” by alcoholic beverage advertising.

“As the (alcoholic beverage) market has decreased, the industry has gone aggressively after the Latino market, especially the Latino youth market, because these companies want product loyalty at an early age,” Flores said. “And now, they have that product loyalty by age 21.”