Drinking and Driving: Will Your Child Become a Statistic?
Just two days ago, another 15-year old child was added to the overwhelming statistics of drunk-driving, related deaths. One minute, he’s full of vitality and attending our local high school, the next his unsuspecting parents are identifying him in a local morgue. The harsh reality of this brutal scenerio is sometimes very difficult to comprehend.
“Where did I go wrong?” “Didn’t I talk enough with my child?” “I thought he knew better…” “I assumed he was just at a friend’s house…”
These, and various other queries, are all similar questions parents tend to ask themselves after an incident or accident involving DUI or DWI (Driving Under the Influence, or Driving While Intoxicated).
According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), NHTSA (National Toluca Lake homes Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and the NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), Nikon Coolpix S52
- Parents’ drinking behavior and favorable attitudes about drinking have been positively associated with adolescents’ initiating and continued drinking. (NIAAA, 1997)
- Youth who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. (NIAAA, 1997)
- Underage drinkers are responsible for between 10 and 20 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States. (NAS, 2003)
- In 2002, 29 percent of 15 to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking. Twenty-four percent were intoxicated.
- Research continues to show that young drivers between 15 and 20 years old are more often involved in alcohol-related crashes than any other comparable age group. Alcohol-crash involvement rates, share of the alcohol-crash problem and alcohol-crash risk all reach their peaks with young drivers, with the peaks for fatal crashes occurring at age 21. (NHTSA, 2001)
- Based on the latest mortality data available, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people from 15 to 20 years old. (NHTSA, 2003)
Of course, statistically speaking, the list could go on and on. All too often, we as parents get caught up in the daily grind of work, household chores, and other engagements. Sometimes we forget how to prioritize our committments. Ironically though, it is our teenage children who suffer from our own strategies on making their lives more comfortable.
John J. Berrio wrote a shocking but enlightening, infamous piece on teenage vehicular-related death based on a friend’s son:
Only 17
Agony claws my mind. I am a statistic. When I first got here I felt Украинцы very much alone. I was overwhelmed by grief, and I expected to find sympathy.
I found no sympathy. I saw only thousands of others whose bodies were as badly mangled as mine. I was given a number and placed in a category. The category was called “Traffic Fatalities.”
The day I died was an ordinary school day. How I wish I had taken the bus! But I was too cool for the bus. I remember how I wheedled the car out of Mom. “Special favor,” I pleaded. “All the kids drive.” When the 2:50 p.m. bell rang, I threw my books in the locker … free until tomorrow morning! I ran to the parking lot, excited at the thought of driving a car and being my Samsung SGH-F310 own boss.
It doesn’t matter how the accident happened. I was goofing off — going too fast, taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last thing I remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard a crash and felt a terrific jolt. Glass and steel flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream.
Suddenly,
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