(Radio Iowa) – It’s prom season for Iowa high school students, and law enforcement officers across the state are working to keep a closer eye out for young drivers who may be impaired. Iowa State Patrol public resource officer Paul Gardner, who’s based in Fort Dodge, has some advice for teens who are planning for the big night. “Stay sober. Don’t go out drinking. Don’t go to parties that are serving alcohol or that will have drugs present. These activities can certainly get a young person into a lot of trouble,” Gardner says. “If a teenage driver is caught behind the wheel with just about any amount of alcohol or narcotics in their system, they can get cited for an underage possession or processed for an OWI.”

Gardner says the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving has compiled some figures about the dangers. “In 2021, 31% of all fatal crashes in Iowa involved a younger person between the ages of 15 to 20 years old,” he says. “That’s an alarming statistic. That’s almost one-third of the traffic crashes that involved younger drivers.” Just one drink, or even part of a drink, may land a teen driver in deep legal trouble.

“Iowa has a zero tolerance law, which limits the blood-alcohol content in a teenage driver to .02, which can just take a small amount of alcohol to reach that point,” Gardner says. “Once that driver is tested for being over that .02 level, they can lose their driver’s license for 90 days or more, and that will certainly impact their getting an adult license.”

A recent national survey found the average high school student and their families will spend between 900 and a-thousand dollars on prom.