ABC, DMV partnership event to be held in Forum

The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will team up on campus Monday, Sept. 22 to educate and offer services to students and members of the Richmond community. The “DMV 2 Go” and ABC’s field support vehicles will both be parked in the University Forum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of an education initiative on alcohol consumption safety and driving.

The DMV and ABC educational partnership follows a recent study conducted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which revealed that the rate of drunk driving is highest among 21- to 25-year-olds. In addition, there are approximately 88,000 deaths per year as a result of excessive alcohol consumption, and every two minutes a person is injured in a crash involving an intoxicated driver.

The DMV’s mobile customer service center has made trips to the University of Richmond campus in the past. ABC’s 45-foot mobile command center was launched May 2013 and will be visiting campus for the first time next week.

“We [the DMV] have made a couple of trips to the University of Richmond over the years, but we recently decided to partner with ABC for this event and other events like it at campuses in Virginia this Fall,” said Katy Lloyd, Virginia DMV representative. "It makes sense to bring partners from ABC this year as we target the same audiences, and hope to team up and spread the word about our causes.”

The “DMV 2 Go” field support vehicle will be offering standard DMV services at the event on campus, and additionally will provide the opportunity to obtain an E-ZPass transponder or a copy of a Virginia birth certificate thanks to the DMV’s alliances with other government agencies. ABC’s vehicle, originally designed as a command post to “support Virginia ABC’s efforts to enforce laws pertaining to alcohol consumption, and decrease incidents of dangerous behaviors including underage and binge drinking, public drunkenness and DUIs,” will provide educational resources for students.

“The initiative aspect of our FSV is new and we plan to use the FSV for educational outreach on campuses as we spread important information about alcohol safety, prevention and awareness,” said Kathleen Shaw, spokeswoman for ABC.

Tours of the ABC FSV will be offered, and representatives from ABC will be present to answer alcohol prevention-related questions, provide handout materials and orchestrate trivia games on the topic of alcohol consumption safety. An iPad will also be given away as part of a student raffle at the event.

“The fall is a great time to get DMV stuff taken care of, especially for students who are new to Virginia, so we hope the University of Richmond campus comes out to see what the DMV has to offer,” Lloyd said.

Contact reporter Katie Thomson at katie.thomson@richmond.edu