ALE hopes for more resources after deadly crashes involving underage drinking
About 500 teens are injured or killed every year in North Carolina from alcohol-related crashes. While local law enforcement agencies or the State Highway Patrol are the ones who typically investigate the crash itself, the Alcohol Law Enforcement division is also involved - trying to determine where the alcohol came from and if a bar or business broke any laws.
"It’s about preventing families from going through traumatic events where they lose a loved one," said Bryan House, Director of the state's ALE.
The ALE reached out to WRAL Investigates wanting to speak about their concerns regarding the prevalence of underage drinking and driving, and its devastating consequences. WRAL has covered multiple such crashes in the last year, including one that resulted in the death of UNC student Molly Rotunda. Ten people, many of them UNC students and three UNC football players, were charged in relation to the events of the evening.
The ALE found two bars were in violation for serving alcohol to minors.
Another was a crash that killed 17-year-old Jordan Humphrey and 18-year-old Isaac Bowen in Person County. The 18-year-old driver, Stephen Moore, was charged with DWI.
"Every day I think about him," Humphrey's mom, Tarsha Palmer, told WRAL. "It's just so quiet now."
House says while the need for ALE's investigations grows, they, like many other law enforcement agencies, are facing staffing challenges.
"What that does for us is makes us have to prioritize our cases," he explained. "So the cases with the most public safety risks are at the top of the list for us...Prioritizing our work does create gaps in the overall service that we would like to provide."
Fully staffed, the ALE would have 111 agents to oversee 20,000 establishments in the state, he said.
The most recent state data, from 2017 to 2022, shows more than six thousand crashes during that time involving teens also involved alcohol.
House says ALE finds about 800 total violations a year, many of those for serving to minors.
In North Carolina, people convicted of that face a minimum of mandatory fines and community service. State law means the businesses could be held financially responsible.
"We have a specific law that allows for civil, that creates civil liability for an individual as well as a business that sells alcohol to an underage person, if there is an injury as the result of a collision afterwards," House said.
Heading into graduation season, prom season and the summertime, Humphrey's mom hopes teens will be particularly careful.
"Please do not get behind the wheel," Palmer said. "In order to keep your life, call somebody. Let them know. I need a ride...Get back home to your parents safe."
