Earlier this month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there has been a 54 percent decrease in the past 20 years in the number of teens who drive after consuming alcohol. And while this is certainly encouraging news, the fact remains that still more needs to be done to get the message across to teen drivers that drinking and driving is dangerous and costs lives.
Going by the statistics released by the CDC, across the country -- including here in Louisiana -- teens still drank and drove 2.4 million times a month. This, combined with the fact that teens are 17 times more likely to die in a crash where alcohol has played a role, is a deadly combination.
But just what can be done to get this message across to young drivers?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving went about finding the answer. And while the group successfully advocated for graduated licenses and a zero tolerance policy when it came to underage drinking legal limits, it turns out that school assemblies educating kids on the dangers of drinking and driving are still not as powerful as teens talking with their peers and family and hearing personal stories. It's those personal stories that really seem to deter drunk driving.
This is why it's important for there to be conversations about the dangers of drunk driving. Even in cases where it feels awkward or when parents falsely believe they don't have as much influence on their children as other teens do, the truth is that having these conversations can go a long way in a teen's decision to not only not drink and drive, but to also not get in the car with a drunk driver.
Source: CNN, "What sways teens not to drink, drive? Stories, not stats," Jamie Gumbrecht, Oct. 10, 2012
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