Impaired Driving Initiatives
(DRE/ ARIDE/ DITEP / DITTE)
The mission of the Impaired Driving Initiatives at Sam Houston State University is to save lives, prevent traffic injuries, and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs by promoting and administering the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DEC/DRE), the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) course, the Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professionals (DITEP) course, and the Drug Impairment Training for Texas Employers course (DITTE) in the State of Texas. The DRE, ARIDE, and DITEP courses use national curriculums. The DITTE course uses a state specific curriculum.
- Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DRE): is a National Transportation Safety Program focusing on the apprehension of impaired drivers. The course trains candidate law enforcement officers as Drug Recognition Expert (DREs) through a three-phase, 152 hour training curriculum that includes Drug Recognition Pre-School, Drug Recognition Expert School, and Drug Recognition Field Certification. Once trained and certified, DREs become highly effective officers skilled in the detection and identification of a person impaired or affected by drugs and/or alcohol.
- Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE): is a training option bridging the gap between SFST and the DEC/DRE courses, by providing officers with general knowledge related to drug impairment and by promoting the use of DREs in states that have the DEC Program. One of the more significant aspects of ARIDE is its review and required student demonstration of the SFST proficiency requirements. ARIDE is a 16-hour training course taught by DRE instructors. The training is conducted under the administration and approval of the DEC Program state coordinator. This training will not qualify the participant as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). The course can be used as a SFST Update course in the State of Texas.
- Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professionals (DITEP): is a training to enable secondary educational professionals to recognize the signs and symptoms of drug and/or alcohol impairment, in order to prevent an impaired student from driving away from campus and/or to serve as a treatment intervention tool to reduce future instances of DWI. It is hoped that this training will ultimately reduce the number of underage drug and/or alcohol related traffic fatalities. The information and procedures presented in this 8-hour course are for administrative purposes only. The subject matter presented touches upon some, but not all of, the factors a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) considers when examining a drug-impaired individual.
- Drug Impairment Training for Texas Employers (DITTE): This training is specific to the State of Texas. The primary goal of the Drug Impairment Training for Texas Employers (DITTE) program is to work with the support of the National Safety Council-Texas to educate Texas employers on traffic safety, specifically with driving impairment, and to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on Texas highways. The DITTE program is a 6-hour course. The end result will be safer Texas roadways.