Drunk driving can be very deadly. Yet many people drive while under the influence everyday. Drivers who are drunk are blamed for the loss of as many as twentyfive thousand lives in highway crashes…
In an article called from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration called, “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts” it states, “Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $59 billion” (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1). The fact that so many people die every day in the United States from alcohol related accidents is absolutely ridiculous. The stories are endless. In Steve Schmadeke’s article, “Man gets 15 years in DUI accident that killed mother, son” He talks about the terrible tragedy that ended two innocent lives. Schmadeke states, “A speeding, unlicensed driver who crashed into another car on the Northwest Side, killing a mother and her teenage son and injuring three other children, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison” (Schmadeke 1). Because 37 year old, Richard Strum decided to drive while intoxicated, he took two innocent lives and injured three others. He not only took a mother, but he also took a daughter, sister, and wife. He not only took a son, but he also took a brother, cousin, best friend, student, and ultimately someone who didn’t even have a chance at real life before it was taken away. Drunken driving accidents are far too…
Three in every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in his/her life (NHTSA, 2006).…
All to often do you hear about car accidents that happened due to an individual drinking alcohol.…
Besides the cost, fatalities are a massive issue when it comes to driving under the influences. Young people seem to--often--be the ones making the poor decision to drive impaired. According to a study conducted in 2006, among drivers killed, 38.2% of 16-19 year old drivers and 45.4% of 20-25 year old drivers were drunk and/or on drugs. In 1999 to 2008, there was a total of 12,100 impaired driving crashes causing death. Annually, that averages to 1,210 deaths per year. That means there are 1,210 families that lose a parent, child, or other relative every year in Canada.…
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics (2015). An average of ten teenagers die from car crashes every day. In the U.S., most states start the driving age as young as 14 to 16 years old. Although having a learner's permit requires a parent or adult guardian over a certain age to accompany the minor while driving, age 14-16 is too young to start driving and the age limit should be changed. There are three major factors that contributes to accidents among teen drivers and why the driving age should be changed. The lack of experience because they’re too young, distractions because they cannot yet multitask, and the lack of making positive decisions and responsibility while under the influence of alcohol.…
In conclusion, governments in many states has raised the drinking laws instead of chipping away at the right to drive, may have helped save more than thousands of lives. Therefore, in some states 16-year-old driver are getting into more accidents than 17-year-olds, and most common of all speeding…
An annual study conducted by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions/Students Against Driving Drunk) and Liberty Mutual Group finds that despite gains made during the past two decades in reducing alcohol-related crash deaths among 15- to 20-year-olds, drinking and driving remains a serious threat to the safety of teenagers. Furthermore, the study shows that teens are significantly more concerned about the serious threat of drinking and driving than are their parents.…
About half of the alcohol-related accident-related fatalities involved people driving with a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.16 or higher. In 2010 alone 10,228 people were killed and 350,000 were injured. On average, every 52 minutes someone is killed and every 90 seconds, someone is injured in a drunk driving accident. Approximately…
Drunk drivers cause more deaths, injuries, and destruction than all murderers, muggers, rapists, and robbers combined. Every six hours, someone is killed by an impaired driver. Every twenty minutes, someone somewhere in Canada becomes a victim to an impaired driver. Every year, more than 45% of all traffic fatalities involve alcohol. More than 1.700 Canadians die each year as the consequence of intoxicated drivers.…
Drinking age-laws affect teen’s accident rate. (The Science Teacher 82.5 (2015):20 Student Resources in Context. Web.16 Mar.2016). Drivers older than the legal drinking age have significantly more motor vehicle crashes than those immediately below the legal drinking age. They found that compared to those just under legal drinking age, drivers at or above the age had an abrupt increase of 6% in their number of…
Since the drinking age has been changed to 21, it has raised “tens of thousands of lives have been saved in traffic crashes alone” (Hanes). When adolescents and young adults consume alcohol and drive alcohol, it reduces their coordination and makes them more likely to take risks like driving while under the influence of alcohol. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “5,051 drivers ages 16-20 were involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes" (Hanes). A recent study done in New Zealand confirmed that lowering the drinking age increased the number of alcohol-related crashes. The study showed that the numbers of alcohol fatalities increased among teenagers increased 12% since the law change. The age for buying alcohol was lowered to 18, from 20, in 1999. Since then there has been a debate about whether this law was effective A higher minimum drinking age would reduce crashes in very young drivers. “Teens who mix drinking and driving are more than twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash than drivers twenty-one and older who drink” (ProQuest Staff, “At Issue: Underage Drinking”). Studies looked at the relationship between the minimum drinking age and traffic crashes. It was found that there was 58% fewer crashes associated with a higher minimum drinking age. Every time a teenager drinks, they are more likely to drink and drive resulting in traffic crashes and lowering the minimum…
The leading cause of deaths for teens in the United States is from car accidents; 38% of all teenage deaths come from them (Noyse). Nationwide in 1996, 10, 341 people ages 15 to 24 died in fatal motor vehicle crashes and 45% of those traffic deaths (4661) were alcohol-related” (Hingson 52). Young drivers comprise of only 7% of drivers, but make up 16% of the drivers involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes (Hall). Yet, somehow there are many people who believe that the drinking age should be lowered back to eighteen. Those in favor of lowering the drinking age argue that in the past thirty years drunk driving fatalities have decreased for all age groups in the United States, and in Canada, where the age is only eighteen or nineteen they have declined just as much, therefore the drinking age does not affect the number of drunk driving fatalities. ("Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?"). Opposers of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 claim that this drinking age has had little or no affect on traffic fatalities in states that have adopted an…
Injuries, especially from motor vehicle collisions, are the leading cause of death for individuals under age 44. The presence of alcohol is the factor most frequently associated with fatalities in vehicles, drownings, falls, and fire (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1987). In the first report to Congress on traffic safety and alcohol (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1968), it was concluded that more than 50 percent of fatal traffic collisions and 33 percent of serious injury traffic collisions were alcohol-related.…
Now, let's look at statistics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention talks about Motor Vehicle Safety and states, “ Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 53 minutes.1 The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $44…