Teenage Drinking And Driving
Teenagers are the most volatile and dangerous drivers on the road, and frankly teenagers, alcohol and driving just don’t mix. Many things factor into why there are more teenage drunk driving accidents than any others, including teenagers’ perceived invincibility, peer pressure, inexperience, and lack of restrictions and supervision.
The statistics on teenage drinking and driving are absolutely jaw-dropping, and the prevalence of alcohol use among teens is just as shocking. More than half of all high school students have reportedly been drunk at least once, and at least three million teens in America are considered alcoholics. In fact, Americans drink the most during their teenage and young adult years. Alcohol is the culprit in 60% of all teen car accidents that end tragically. Either they are driving while intoxicated, riding with someone who is intoxicated or hit by someone who is intoxicated.
Drunk driving accidents happen more often than not, and teen cases are the most prevalent. What’s worse is that the majority of teen drunk driving accidents end in fatalities rather than mere run-ins with law enforcement.
Lawmakers can’t help but notice this growing problem among our young people, which is why significant changes are being made in how teen drunk driving cases are handled and when and under what conditions teens are allowed to drive in the first place. Many states have raised the legal driving age to 18 instead of 16 and all states have raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, for example. The blood alcohol limit has also been raised from .10 to .08 in many states to discourage the amount of drinking even more.
Also, acquiring a license is not as easy as it once was. In some states, driving courses are no longer an option but a requirement. There are longer provisional periods while teens are learning how to drive, before they can actually get a standard license. Teens who are caught driving under the influence are sometimes required to face a panel of drunk driving victims’ families as part of their rehabilitation. Law enforcement is also cracking down on liquor establishments that encourage underaged drinking and allow underaged teens to purchase alcohol from them.
Teenage Drinking And Public Awareness
Lawmakers aren’t the only ones making an attempt to curb the problem of teen drinking and driving. Nonprofits and community groups have come together to give teens a safe outlet when they’ve been drinking. They provide a ride to safety from point A to point B, so drunk teens don’t get behind the wheel. Some parents and their teen children enter into mutual contracts in which teens agree to call their parents to pick them up when they’ve been drinking, which parents agree to do without judgment.
Technology companies have created breath-activation devices for cars of teen drivers, which require teens to breathe into machines in order to start the car’s ignition. If alcohol is detected on their breath, they are unable to drive the car. Even the TV and movie industries have begun incorporating more anti-drinking and driving messages into their storylines, which has proven to be very effective since pop culture greatly influences the young people of today. Reading addiction recovery interviews-click here from young ex-addicts is also helpful for teens.
Collective efforts of law and the community are working, as teen drunk driving incidents and accidents have gone down, but there’s still more work to be done and everyone can play a part by being an active participant in the lives of our young people. Since teen drinking can also lead to teenage alcoholism, this is something to be concerned about.