When it comes to drinking and driving, and especially in teens, it’s important to acknowledge the statistics, and not to pretend that it doesn’t exist. Especially as a parent, you should know some facts about drinking and driving as a teenager.
- 70% of all teenagers will admit to drinking alcohol.
- One in 10 teens in high school drinks and drives.
- Teens are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood-alcohol level of .08% or more.
- Every 15 minutes, a teenager dies due to drunk driving.
- 60% of all teen deaths from car accidents involve alcohol.
These statistics are horrifying, but drinking and driving among teenagers have decreased by 54% in the last two decades. While this is excellent news, we need to continue to educate ourselves and our children on the dangers of drinking and driving.
Here are some facts about drunk driving that every teen and parent should know.
Why Do Teens Drink and Drive?
One of the significant reasons teens will drink and drive may be due to peer pressure or thinking that they will be able to handle some alcohol in their system.
Typically teens have a low alcohol tolerance because they have never drunk before, which could lead to teens getting drunk faster even if they didn’t mean to.
Preventing Teens from Drinking and Driving
You have a lot of ways to solve this potential issue from happening. Simultaneously, one of the best ways to do this starts years before taking their first pro-driving lesson.
It starts from learning at a young age. Teenagers will form their opinions on things they experienced in their lives at a young age. So, if they see or experience that people around them are drinking and driving, they will start to normalize this behavior.
Instead, teach them at a young age that this behavior is not acceptable and will put their lives and the lives of others at risk.
All you need is a drink or two to impair your judgment.
You can also enroll them in a driving training course to educate themselves on drinking and driving while also working on their driving skills.
Educating Teens on Not Falling for Peer Pressure
As mentioned, one of the reasons why some teenagers may drink is because they are in the environment of drinking and might feel pressured to drink.
It’s hard to say no to your friends when they keep on badgering you on drinking. They might say one won’t hurt you, or you’ll be fine. You won’t get drunk.
It should be normalized to say no and not fall into peer pressure, and it starts with educating teens about the risk of drinking and driving even if they had a drink or two.
