Teenage Drunk Driving

Teenage drunk driving is a serious concern in today’s society. Underage drinking has been a popular topic amongst scholars for many years. A teenager driving drunk is against the law, has many consequences, and is a continuous problem. In order to understand how underage drinking goes against the law, it is important to first know who it is effecting teens. In 1984, a law was passed stating that alcohol cannot be consumed if under the age of 21. Anyone under the age 21 must have a blood alcohol content of zero. Yet one out of five teenagers that drive while drunk have a blood alcohol content of 81% , higher than the legal limit for adults In effort to stop this problem at the source, there are strict laws in place to stop teenagers from accessing alcohol. The two most effective ones are the minimal drinking age and the zero tolerance law Consequences of drunk driving are vast. The worst of them being killing of the innocent. Teenage drunk drivers put themselves and every other person on the road in danger. A teenager’s body is not usually immune to alcohol as well as adults. While intoxicated, teens take less risk and are much less cautious. In order to drive safely, the driver must be alert, quick, and capable to make decisions all the while executing them. Alcohol leads to loss of coordination, poor judgment, slow reflexes, and blurred vision. All of these things are required for driving safely. Teenagers jump behind the wheel of a vehicle without thinking. There are even cases in which best friends have killed each other due to driving drunk. On May 25, 2006 Jessica Rashdall, an eighteen year old, killed her best friend. The two were on their way home from a nightclub where they had been drinking. Within the next hour Laura Gorman was dead on a Florida highway. Rashdall served four years in prison even though it was an accident. Rashdall once shared a strong bond with her best friend’s family; now the Gorman’s blame Jessica for the loss of their loved one. Jessica now goes around her rural area telling kids, young and old, how she wishes she was the one in the passenger seat and how she would do anything to bring her best friend from kindergarten back. Laura lost her life in the blink of an eye due to drunk driving. Teenage drunk driving is a dangerous thing with horrible consequences. Every twenty-two minutes another teenager is killed, due to drunk driving, a senseless, avoidable act.
Fewer teenagers are drinking and driving, but the risky behavior still continues Teenage drunk driving has decreased by 54 % since 1991. Even though it has decreased by over half of its previous amount, it’s still a continuing problem. The percentage of teens in high school that drank alcohol and then drove is crazy. Teenage drivers are three times more likely than experienced drivers to be in a fatal crash. A survey conducted from 15-20 year olds, said they had driven a vehicle at least once in the last 30 days. More than half of the high school teenagers that drive drunk say they usually binge drink. Binge drinking is when someone has five or more alcoholic drinks within a few hours. One in five teenage drivers involved in fatal crashes had alcohol in their system in. Most of them had higher blood alcohol contents than the legal limit for adults. Although teenage drunk driving in decreasing, there are still continuing behaviors. One out of every three teenagers is peer pressured into drinking. Society says drinking is “cool,” and many teenagers, therefore, feel the need to drink. They will quickly accept a drink because they are fearful of being called “lame.” Adults who supply teenagers with alcohol face jail time. Even parents who give alcohol to their children can pay consequences, especially when teenage drunk driving is involved. Society has done a lot to help reduce the amount of teenage drunk drivers but they cannot completely stop it.