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here’s an “up” side and a “down” side to being an insurance agency in the great State of Texas. The “up” side is that we really enjoy helping our clients in Texas make sure that they are adequately educated, protected and "followed-up" with, the “down” side is that, as such, we see more than our share of “horror” stories.

Like Scary Statistics

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2007 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment – Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities report every 39 minutes nationwide, someone dies in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident with Texas being the Country's 4th largest contributor with 38.4% of the State's 3,363 auto fatalities resulting from Alcohol-related accidents in 2007!

Want Another One?

14% of all alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in 2007 can be attributed to teenagers, people ages 16 - 20 or younger.

Want One More?

According to the latest statistics, the prospect of you or someone in your family being involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident is more than just very likely... it’s a virtual certainty. In fact, in a family of five, the chance that someone in the family will find themselves in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash in their lifetime, is an astounding 200 percent. Imagine, a 200 percent chance that you or someone in your family will either cause, or be an innocent victim to, a drunk driving accident.

It's a Horrible Statistic

And perhaps, most horrible of all, as mentioned above, a disproportionately high number of those deaths and accidents come in the 15 to 24 age group. A lot of young people are, in fact, dying before they get old... dying tragic, meaningless deaths.

What's Going On Here?

Sign of the times... The pressures of growing up in modern society... Call it what you will. The fact is that studies have shown:

• One out of 10 children ages 12 and 13 uses alcohol at least once a month.
• In a single year, 522 children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, (113 of them were under 10 years old).
• 70 percent of all teenagers drink alcohol.
• 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related.

Why Such a High Number of Teenagers?

It’s hard to say. There are several explanations for the disproportionately high numbers of teenage alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents — explanations that range from the false notion on “teenage invincibility” to the increase in personal freedoms (i.e. reaching the legal ages for driving and later, for drinking). For some, letting or encouraging an intoxicated person to drive seems funny. And, of course, there’s the “I can handle it” syndrome, where the person figures they can “hold” their liquor or that they haven’t had enough to seriously impair them. Few people realize the effect a mere drink or two can have on their system.

For instance, teenage boys with a Blood- Alcohol level of .05-.10 (a figure below what most states consider the legally drunk limit) are a staggering 18 times more likely to suffer a single vehicle crash than their non-drinking counterparts. Teenage girls at the same levels are an incredible 54 times more likely to crash.

Perhaps the greatest influence on teenagers and their drinking and driving habits is . . . Peer Pressure.

Peer Pressure doesn’t have to be overt. It can be very subtle. And because it’s so important for teens to feel “in,” Peer Pressure, subtle or overt, is a very powerful force.

Why would there be pressure to drink and drive?

Certainly, almost no one pressures someone to drink and drive. It just . . . happens. A person who is driving gets “pulled in” by the overwhelming pressure to drink. Or, in some cases, the driver doesn’t realistically consider the consequences of his or her drinking and then getting behind the wheel (“teenage invincibility”). And, of course, as we said earlier, for some drivers, Peer Pressure causes them to mistakenly “minimize” the effect alcohol has on their driving abilities.

Either way, the results are all too often, lethal.

What’s Being Done?

Fortunately, plenty. Several states have lowered the legally drunk Blood Alcohol limit to .08 from .10. Also, in recent years, every state has raised the drinking age to 21 years old. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Report of 1995 showed that almost all recent studies proved that raising the drinking age reduced teen traffic accident statistics significantly, and brought about a 13 percent decrease in fatal traffic accidents for all ages. In addition, studies have indicated that denying alcohol to teenagers also causes a decrease in the consumption of other drugs. Apparently, there is a correlation between teen drinking (and cigarette smoking) and the use of “harder” drugs. It’s not a statistic popular with a lot of people, but nonetheless, it’s been proven.

In addition, more than 20 states now implement a program where first-time offenders (or those refusing to take a breathalyzer test) are forced to face a panel of drunken driving victim’s families.

They come face-to-face (literally) with the bereaved families of the victims. It’s an emotional lesson in the pain and loss suffered by the families.

Other programs include laws placing increased liability on bars, parents and others caught dispensing liquor to minors or continuing to dispense alcohol to those who have already had “enough.”

On weekends, volunteers wait for calls from teens, too intoxicated to drive, who need rides home. Here, teen drinking is not treated as a “moral” issue. It’s taken for the reality that it is, and as such, has been tremendously successful. In the same vein, Students Against Drunk Driving, S.A.D.D., has come up with the “Contract for Life.” The “Contract” is a document signed by parents and their children. The teens promise to call home if they or the person driving them has been drinking. In exchange, the parents promise to pick them up, no questions asked until later.  Here at Central Texas Insurance - A Mark Lyne Agency, we have provided our version of a simple one page teen and parent contract, it is very basic and is meant to open the lines of communication between parents and teens regarding what is acceptable behavior to ensure they continue to have permission to drive from the parents.

And finally, to combat Peer Pressure, Hollywood is getting into the act. A number of studios and production companies (and The Writer’s Guild of America) have encouraged Hollywood’s writers to include in their movie and television scripts, references to the desirability of staying sober or of at least using a “designated driver”(where one member of a group agrees to drive and stay sober for the night). It’s a well-recognized fact that the entertainment industry is a very prevalent socializing force in America. As our favorite movies and television shows constantly remind us of the dangers, stupidity, and social undesirability of drunk driving, this concept should become “second-nature” to the American viewing public. The idea, here, is that if Peer Pressure can cause people to drink and drive, it should also be able to prevent people from drinking and driving.

Finally

Most of the anti-drunk driving programs we’ve mentioned have only been in place for the past few years, but the results are conclusive... drunk driving accidents and fatalities are declining. The tide is turning. People are beginning to recognize the recklessness and sheer stupidity of driving after drinking, and that you don’t have to be “legally drunk” to be seriously impaired. While on the subject of “legally drunk,” here’s another statistic for you: As a drinking driver, you’re four times more likely to crash and be killed or injured than you are to be arrested for driving under the influence. So if you’re concerned about being caught driving drunk, think again... there’s an even better chance you might be caught dead.

There’s nothing cute or funny about an intoxicated person getting behind the wheel. Not when someone with a Blood Alcohol level of .15 (about four to seven drinks per hour for the average teen) is 380 times more likely to die in a single vehicle crash than a sober person. Fortunately, everyone is beginning to pitch in. To paraphrase the commercial, “Friends aren’t letting friends drive drunk.”

But there’s still more to do. Get involved. If there’s a “SafeRides” program in your area, participate and encourage your friends, children and parents to do likewise. If there isn’t a “SafeRides” program, organize one. Contact SADD for information about “The Contract for Life.” And if there isn’t a SADD chapter in your area, again, start one. All too often, these kind of programs get started only after a tragedy occurs.

Don’t wait! Prevent that tragedy now, before it’s too late. Only with everyone pitching in, can we truly put a stop to the senseless destruction that drinking and driving causes to lives and property.

At Central Texas Insurance, its an honor to help our clients and to have their trust. But with that trust comes responsibility; a responsibility not only to help “pick up the pieces” after a tragedy... but to do all we can to prevent one. We hope this article helps. Please, share it with your friends and loved ones.

This article contains generally accepted information regarding teenage drunk driving. Because every situation is different, the distributor of this article cannot be held responsible for the use of the information contained herein.

Look for us to add some additional teenage contract resources soon!