Statistics and Consequences of Teenage Drunk Driving

• One teenager is killed every hour due to drunken driving in the US
• At least 70% of teenagers have consumed alcohol before they are 21years of age
• Teenage drunk driving takes place mostly during night times and when two of them drive the vehicle.
• 75% of teenage drivers involved in a drunken driving accident did not wear their seat belts.
• 1/4th of motor vehicle accidents are caused due to teenage drunk driving. The dangerous drunk driving statistics are alarming for anyone who care of himself & other people’s well being.
•  Among the overall alcohol consumption, underage drinking accounts for close to 20% of the drinking population.
• Males are more involved in teenage drinking and driving than females, while the percentage of female driving is also on the rise.

• Close to 14% of fatal vehicle accidents is due to teenage driving after consumption.
• Among the total drinking population close to 10 million of them are individuals below the legal drinking age of 21 years.
• A leading cause for deaths between the age group of 15 to 20 years is due to drunk driving.
• Of the total US population teenagers between the age group of 15 to 20 years constitute 7% of the total population.
• Loss accounting for 53 billion dollars is incurred due to teenage drinking and driving and underage drinking.

Remedial measures to curb increase in Teenage Drunk Drivers

A presentation of statistics pertaining to teenage drinking and driving entails the immediate need for curbing the rise in teenage drunk drivers and its consequences. The remedial measures involve positive measures from every side.

Teenagers tend to pose greater risk to both themselves and others.

• Parental concern is the first of all measures which will help in curbing teenage Drunk Driving. Their guidance and involvement exhibited by parents in bringing up their loved ones plays a vital role in making youngsters understand the hazards of drinking and driving.
• States have started imposing harsh penalties on teenagers who involve in drinking and driving.

• Legal drinking age is announced as 21 years of age which means drinking below 21 is a crime. Such regulations put a check on drinking habits if teenagers.
• Zero Tolerance law has been introduced in all states. According to this law individuals below the age of 21 are expected to drive a vehicle without consuming any amount of alcohol. Any amount of alcohol found in their body at the time of accident or even while driving, they are booked under DWI offense and subjected DWI conviction.
• DWI laws of the states have become very strict when it comes to dealing with teenagers who drive the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Parents are also subject to conviction in cases where parents furnish alcohol to their teenage children, leading to a vehicle mishap.
• Strict laws have been enforced in order to control alcohol abuse among youngsters or minors who are found drinking, possessing or even trying to buy alcoholic drinks.
• The punishments imposed on underage drinking and driving cases involves suspension of driving license, huge fines and jail term. It also requires compulsory attendance of alcohol treatment programs in certain cases.

If you have an experience to share Teenage Drunk Driving please write to us. Sharing your experience might help in preventing many more of such incidence.

Drunk Driving – DWI Offense – Innocent Victims

Lives of those who met with drunk drivers were cut short, leaving behind loved ones who suffer for life. Drunk driving has been a continuing menace for years now swallowing thousands of lives every year. Irresponsible drinking habits of certain individual’s inspite of repeated warnings and DWI laws in place have done irreparable damages to the lives of innocent victims, changing the entire face of the victim’s lives.

DWI Tragedies

Alcohol related tragedies have become an everyday affair. It is indeed heartening to see a column dedicated to DWI tragedies which only indicates the frequency of drunken driving accidents. Over 10 years close to 250,000 people have lost lives due to DWI related accidents.

Victims of DWI accidents those who are alive and those who lost their near and dear ones publish memorials in newspapers in which they express their painful departure and that one incident which had deprived them of a happy family life. Not a single day passes without a death or damage caused due to drinking and driving.

Reading through some of those memorials is certainly painful. That is the reason why DWI convicts are made to face the victims of drunken driving accidents in person and make them share their painful experiences, which will help the offenders learn the seriousness of their mistake, which will help them not to repeat the same in future.

Some of those memorials for your reading

• In memory Of Peggy Caldwell-Heichel’s husband and three daughters killed by a drunk driver – The Caldwell Memorial
• Grandpa had reached the panhandle of Florida, when a drunk driver entered the Interstate going the wrong way – J. “Jake” Penton
• Brian stopped his dirt bike and was sitting there, waiting on Wayne. When Wayne came, he hit him head-on and killed him instantly – Brian Logan Phillips
• When he realized that he was going to die, he asked his Mother “Please take care of my babies. Keep them together as a family!” That was 40 years ago – Bill and Jeanette Brand

DWI Regulations

In order to control the drinking and driving menace, many laws, regulations and their enforcements are put in place. Legally accepted level of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .08 has been established in order to control impaired driving and consequent vehicle mishaps. While BAC level has been imposed for adults, all individuals below the legal drinking age of 21 years are treated at Zero Tolerance BAC. Any amount of alcohol content in the body of individuals (Zero Tolerance) they are convicted under DWI offense and subjected to suspension of license, fines and jail term.