Drunk Driving

Less than two months ago something left an everlasting impression on me. That Friday night hadn't seemed much different than any other, but to one man it was. My best friend's brother, who was just seventeen years old, critically injured himself in a drunk driving accident. He was the drunk driver. According to NBC 15, it was just after midnight when he drove the wrong way down the road and collided with another vehicle. The driver of the other car died on contact and the passenger received serious life threatening injuries; she was only 28 years old and her passenger is currently 33 years old ("Alleged Drunk Driving" 1). It took this one accident for me to realize the frequent occurrence of driving under the influence. For instance, two out of five people in the United States will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. In the U.S. over the past thirty years drunk driving has transformed into a serious crime. The CDC says, "Americans drink and drive an estimated 123 million times a year" (Koch 1-4). Young adults, both those that can legally drink and those whom cannot are a large reason why drunk driving has become a pandemic. In this paper I will explore the history of drunk driving, causes, effects and consequences, as well as possible solutions or alternatives.

Drunk driving has been around since the invention of cars. However, it wasn't until the 1980's when it became known as a large acknowledged problem across the United States. Betsy Carlson, who was hit by a drunk driver, reveals her thoughts on drunk driving before it became a well-known crime. "Remember it was the 1970's, and everybody laughed about drunk driving back then" (Koch 1-4). Since then, attitudes have changed. In the past thirty years, the surge of new, in addition to old media, has helped make the nation fully aware of this uprising offense. In 1989, President Bush proclaimed a Drunk Driving Awareness Week (Charles 14-24). Though drunk driving was addressed in the 1980's it didn't reduce drunk driving rates right away. Between 1980 and 1989, the number of arrests for DUI increased 22%, while the number of licensed drivers only increased 14%. Also, the number of DUI arrests per 100,000 licensed drivers rose nearly 7% from 982 to 1,049 (US Dept of Justice 2). These statistics alarmed state and federal governments and forced them to give out unforgiving sanctions to deter kids from drinking. First, in 1983, an attempt to lower these numbers was made. All states raised the minimum drinking age to 21. This, in fact, did significantly lower underage drinking and driving among kids under the age of 21. According to the US Department of Justice, between 1983 and 1989, arrest rates for age groups 21 or older declined at a slower pace than those for drivers 18 to 20 years old. DUI arrests for 18 to 20 year olds decreased by 33% between 1983 and 1989, while the number of licensed drivers in this group had declined by only 15%" (1-2). And a teenager who has had three drinks is 20 times more likely than an adult to have an accident (Clark 14-24). With the increased media attention as well as tougher punishments on offenders, the number of occurrences for drinking and driving has declined significantly.

The next thing that was taken into consideration was the BAC levels of drivers. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) refers to the number of grams of pure alcohol present in 100 milliliters of blood. BAC levels can be found through chemical breath analysis, saliva testing, blood testing, urinalysis, or chemical analysis of tissue samples (US Dept). The federal government pushed states to change BAC levels at which people could legally drive from .1 to .08. This seemingly small reduction is an important one. Mature drivers with a .08 to .09 level of intoxication are 11 times more likely to be in a fatal accident than non-drinkers. States adopting the new policy saw an average 6 to 8 percent drop in alcohol related deaths (Koch 1-4). In addition to these changes, the federal government made programs to educate young students about the effects of alcohol and its effect on driving. Laws regulating the mandatory use of seat belts have decreased the severity of injuries from drunk driving. When you don't wear your seat belt, you increase your chances of being ejected from the vehicle. Unbelted occupants are four times more likely to die if they are thrown from the car than if they remained inside ("Seat Belt Facts" 1). The reduction in the BAC levels makes it safer for innocent civilians to be on the roads.

There are an array of reasons as to why young adults drink and drive. Peer pressure is certainly one of the largest. Due to peer pressure, underage drinking, the determinant of driving drunk, has become immensely popular. Teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 regularly try to impress others. This can be demonstrated by the fact that those under 21 are drinking when the law disallows them to do so. "Kids drink for essentially the same reasons as adults, except that among teens there is the added pressure to emulate older kids, to taste the forbidden fruit and to impress one's peers" (Clark 14-24). When a group of young adults get together and drink, one might try to prove to the crowd that they're gifted enough to drive home, when they themselves know it's truly not safe. A study reported that over 2 million college students drove under the influence of alcohol in 1999 (Thompson and Richardson 1). Other age groups are not affected by peer pressure very much because the majority of older aged people have to support families and no longer care to try to" impress" others. Peer pressure plays a much larger role in teens compared to adults.

Staying out of trouble with parents is another cause of why young adults drink and drive. Some kids are given curfews. If they are not back home in time, their parents may ground them or take away important privileges to a teenager, such as a car or phone. Another reason that kids might drive home intoxicated is they may have to get up early. Many teenagers have jobs that they work at and oftentimes need to go to work early on the weekends. Teenagers risk driving drunk in order to keep a strong relationship with their parents and their bosses.

Inexperienced driving is another cause for drunken driving among young adults. Though most people in this group would disagree, the numbers explain a different story. Teenage drivers are involved in more crashes -- fatal and non-fatal -- than any other age group (Triplett 1). Also, for 15 to 20 year olds, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death, accounting for approximately one-third of all deaths for this age group. High crash rates are due to teen's lack of maturity