Teenage Drunk Driving

Car accidents involving alcohol are the leading cause of death among teenagers. In 2003, 30 percent of teenagers surveyed reported that at some point during the previous month, they had ridden in a car driven by someone who had been drinking. Even worse, one out of eight teenagers surveyed reported that within the previous month, they had driven a car after having consumed alcohol.

In 2003, 29 percent of children aged 15-20 who were killed in automobile accidents had been drinking alcohol. More than 6,000 teenagers are killed in motor accidents across the United States every year. More than 2,000 of those accidents were caused by the presence of alcohol. In terms of differences between males and females, statistics shows that of those teenagers involved in car accidents, 26 percent of males and 12 percent of females had been drinking.

It may come as no surprise that the weekend yields the highest number of car accidents caused by the presence of alcohol. According to data collected in 2000, teenagers were involved in over 2,700 fatal car accidents on weekends. Of those 2,700 car accidents, 1,300 were related to alcohol. During the weekdays of that year, there were more than 3,600 car accidents involving teenagers. Of those weekday accidents, about 1,000 were related to the use of alcohol while driving.

Many states are working to lower the rate of death caused by teenage drunk driving. Since the 1970s, states have worked to curb the use of alcohol by minors. It is estimated that since 1975, 20,000 lives have been saved by the minimum age drinking laws.