“It is a behavioral thing and is not easily resolved,” she added.
Asked if parents can help, Camacho said: “We wish we could say it’s the parents job, but it’s not only them.”
She said as a parent herself, she understands that sometimes, teenagers do things that are out of control “because of peer pressure.”
But she said it is the mission of the Department of Public Safety to reduce the number of DUI incidents.
If [we] could reduce the number even to just one per year, then that would be something for us,” she said.
According to Camacho, DPS has been doing outreach programs and collaborating with public high schools in its campaign against drunk driving.
Students of Saipan Southern High School, Marianas High School and Northern Marianas College interviewed by this reporter admitted that they had operated vehicles while under the influence of alcohol.
“It’s okay,” said one of the students who requested anonymity. “As long as you drive well and drive safely while on the road then the police won’t catch you.”
A foreign student, for her part, said she, too, had been driving under the influence of alcohol with friends, “but we have never been caught even once.”
“I’m still alive,” she said.
DPS said eventually, the law will catch up on those who violate it.
