Drinking and driving is an issue for teens as well as young adults.
The importance of being in a car with a sober driver cannot be emphasized enough. For young adults using a service such as Uber, Lift or taking a cab can be an easy way to stay safe.
Please welcome Charlotte Williams who shares statistics as well as tips on preventing drinking and driving
As parents, it’s no secret that we want the best for our children.
Often this involves keeping them safe as they grow.
From the time they were infants, we have been on the lookout for possible dangerous situations and hazards. We have baby proofed our homes, taught them how to cross a street, informed them of stranger dangers, and more.
Unfortunately, as our boys and girls age, we soon realize that we can’t always be there to ensure our teens are safe and making good decisions.
This feeling is often magnified when our kids become drivers and enjoy the freedom of hitting the open road. So, it’s no surprise that handing over the keys to a vehicle to a teen can cause many of us to worry.
We worry about the road conditions, flat tires, other drivers, speeding, and even our teens drinking and driving. Thankfully, a little awareness and honesty can go a long way to helping keep our teens safe behind the wheel, especially when it comes to preventing drinking and driving.
Drinking and Driving Statistics for Teens
When we think about drinking and driving teens, we often envision the worst case scenarios. Thankfully, research has found that the percentage of high school teens who drink and drive has been cut in half since the early 1990s.
While that is music to a parent’s ears, we need to consider the fact that data also shows by the time a child is age 15, 33 percent have had at least one drink. By the age of 18, the numbers have jumped to about 60 percent of teens who have had at least one drink.
Those numbers are eye-opening, but we really need to consider that 1 out of every 10 teens (high school students aged 16 and over) admits to drinking and driving in the last 30 days.
To make matters worse, according to the CDC, “teen drivers are three times more than likely than more experienced drivers to be in a fatal crash“. And, it’s common sense that drinking alcohol enhances this risk.
Just consider that in 2010 alone, 1 in 5 teen drivers that were involved in deadly crashes was found to have some alcohol in their systems, often at levels higher than the legal limit.
Preventing Teen Drinking and Driving
We know that drinking and driving is a real issue facing our teens. However, we can’t simply tell them to “just say no” and expect that to work. Listed below are 8 strategies that have been proven to reduce teen drinking and driving:
- Enforcement of the minimum legal drinking age.
- Zero tolerance laws and enforcement.
- Graduated driver licenses that allow teens to get more experiences and privileges over time.
- Education about the dangers of drinking and driving.
- Creating a parent-teen driving agreement that strictly outlines no drinking or driving.
- Parents who lead by a good example.
- Parental involvement in establishing and enforcing driving rules and monitoring a teen’s privileges.
- Screening teens for risky behaviors, such as alcohol or drug use, driving while intoxicated, and riding with a driver who has used drugs or alcohol.
Screening Teens for Risky Behaviors
One way we can keep on top of our son’s and daughter’s risky behaviors is by following them on social media and periodically check their online activity. Our teens readily post their comings, goings, and personal information online with their friends.
This can help us stay up to date on a child’s activity or risk factors while keeping an eye on their tendencies for distracted driving, such as texting and driving.
According to the Department of Transportation’s National Highway, Traffic Safety Administration found that over 10 thousand people were killed by distracted driving, which is surpassing the number of deaths caused by alcohol.
For more information about ways we can screen our sons and daughters for risky behaviors, please check out the resources from the safety-minded folks at TeenSafe.
Charlotte Williams is a journalist and freelance writer. This Connecticut native currently resides in Minneapolis, MN. She completed her Ph.D. in education from Minneapolis State University and focused her talents on helping parents successfully navigate the child-rearing years. When she’s not hard at work around the house or spending quality time with her daughter, she loves to go on hikes and read romance novels.
All good pointers. I worry about this even with my young adult sons.I like the tip to follow them on social media. ( I find that helpful when my kids don’t text me back for a long time, too!)
These tips can be for young adults as well, Debbie. The technology does help us track our kids these days which does help.
It’s encouraging to hear that drunk driving on the part of teens has declined since the 90’s. That seems to indicate that education is powerful. Posts like these are so important.
Hi Sandra,
It is good news that the teen drunk driving has declined. It is critical that teens get the message about the dangers of drinking and driving. No guarantees, of course, but hopefully this problem will be less prevalent.
I think sharing posts like this is a truly helpful way to get the message out there to our young people.
I feel so much more hopeful knowing that teen drunk driving is on the decline.
We need to do everything we can to keep our young people safe.
I agree, Elle. It is great news that teen drunk driving is on the decline. I’m hoping that spreading awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving has encouraged more teens to consider other options than getting behind the wheel after drinking.
As you know what every parent wants is to have their teens stay safe!
This is all good info for our family as our oldest will start driving next year. So much to think about as our kids get older and more independent.
Hi Paige, It is quite a transition when our kids start driving. Sometimes it can make things more convenient for the family to have one more driver. Many teens and young adults are responsible drivers. Keeping the conversation going about safe driving, drinking and driving and other issues around the use of the car is crucial. What we all want is for teens to move through this period of their life without any mishaps.
There is truly no way to “prevent” your kids from drinking and driving short of disallowing them to drive altogether and even that isn’t full proof as they can drive friends cars. Having a community of parents is helpful. Word gets around and it’s important for parents of friends to keep in touch if they want to know what’s going on in a circle of friends. If my son was a teen now I would put a tracker on his car and let him know it’s there especially if I’m subsidising driving in any way.
These are good points Darris. As long as teens are proving to be responsible drivers, parents can use their best judgment and allow the use of the car. The issue is when a teen is making poor choices, getting involved in drinking or drugs etc. Driving, in my opinion, is a privilege that teens earn. For the safety of their child, their child’s friends and others on the road, parents need to be vigilant about when and if they allow their child to drive.
I like your tracker idea and also keeping in touch with other parents. Thank you for stopping by.
My daughter has only just entered her tween stage and I’m already wondering how I will ever let her go anywhere independently! Slow and steady I suppose. This information here helps so much. We parents need to be so abreast with everything, to make sure are kids are safe.
xoxo, Z~
The tween years are that time when our kids want to test their wings, and they should. It is just the idea of how to keep them safe in this ever-changing world. I’m sure you will do well in guiding your daughter, Zeenat.