SOUTH POINT — This time of the year, many teenagers are celebrating proms, graduations and summer vacations.

Unfortunately, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reports that many of these teens celebrate by drinking alcohol and getting behind the wheel of their vehicle or other dangerous driving behaviors.

However, this spring and summer, the highway patrol is stepping up its efforts to get impaired teens off the roads.

“Troopers work year-round to modify poor driving behaviors before they result in crashes,” said Lt. Michael Gore, commander of the Ironton post of the highway patrol.

“With an aggressive stance on impaired driving enforcement, we can move even closer to achieving our highway safety goals during the spring and summer driving season.”

Gore said impaired driving continues to be a serious problems among teams. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for 16- to 25-year-olds.

Last year, of the 326 people age 16 to 25 who were killed in traffic crashes, almost 37 percent were involved in alcohol-related crashes.

Troopers are going into each Lawrence County school to teach students about dangerous driving through special presentations, mock crashes and speakers who have real-life experiences with impaired driving.

The post also will be collaborating with other local law enforcement agencies, state liquor agents and alcohol retailers to curtail the illegal purchase of alcohol and the use of fake IDs. The troopers also will be stepping up patrols in the area to look for impaired drivers, both teens and adults.