These norms are not only life-threatening to the driver and his or her passengers, but also to others sharing the road. In fact, many studies show that a person talking on the cell phone is just as likely to crash as a person who has a blood alcohol concentration of .08% (Moser). Even worse, a person who is texting and driving is 60 times more likely to crash (Moser). Too many people put their lives and the lives of others at risk when they make the careless decision to text or drink and drive. Approximately 18,000 people in the United States die as a result of drunk driving (Moser). Drinking and driving is also not just a one-time offense in most cases. Of those arrested for drunk driving, one third will be arrested again for the same offense, proving that this action is a habitual crime (Moser).
Four lives. One crash. One mistake can change everything. In 2013 in Cutchogue, New York around 5 p.m. eight friends were traveling in a limo after a weekend trip. In the limo on the way home, a red pickup collided with the limo and splitting it almost in half instantly killing three of the women, and another dying later at the hospital. Every single year millions of lives are lost to drinking and driving, and as a nation this is a very well respected law with high consequences. In 2014 over 1.1 million people were arrested or convicted of driving under the influence (DUI). In recent studies done by Transport Research Laboratory, the reaction time of a drunk driver is decreased by 12%, and over the past 15 years, accidents have decreased dramatically since 2000 when congress adopted a .08 Blood
“Every year 500,000 teens are injured in a car wreck. Every year 5,000 teens die in a car wreck meaning an average of 14 teens die a day. Car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens in the U.S. Even more than alcohol and drug abuse, violence and suicide”. Teens are always excited to earn their license and drive out on the road for the first time, but not every time will be a success, it might also be their last. I believe that teen’s cause more car crashes because they’re new to driving and don’t know the full responsibilities to the rules of the road. There are many different scenarios that lead to car wrecks, injuries and even deaths, such as texting while operating a vehicle, under the influence, and general lack of knowledge.
Central Idea: Drinking and driving is extremely dangerous: you are at risk of hurting yourself, become a threat to others around you, you can get into some legal issues if you are stopped by a police officer.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about 1 in 10 teens in high school drink and drive. This is a lot. The CDC also states that young drivers are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood alcohol level of .08 or above compared to when they haven’t been drinking; however, there is still some good news. Teen drinking
Drunk driving is a serious problem that continues to take thousands of deaths each year. Too many innocent lives been lost to drunk driving. A death from drunk driving does not only affect the victim but it affects everyone around them such as family and friends. One night, one drink, one mistake is all it takes for drunk driving to take its toll. There are many solutions to prevent drunk driving, but they will only work if we put them into play.
Drinking while driving not only affects the driver himself, his family and also passengers that may be riding with him and this person's family as well. And not to mention the other people and pedestrians that are on the road. When a person becomes a fatality they are not just a victim, their families suffer
This essay represents an effective piece of argumentation. The author states her purpose by saying teens are not mature enough to handle a lower age to legally drink alcohol. Tag? Joyce Alcantara tries to convince the readers that the age to legally drink should not be altered and assumes that the audience agrees that “Our youths today are the leaders of tomorrow” (468). With that, we must protect our years ahead. Alcantara addresses her audience as if they seem uninformed, she addresses various points on why teens younger than twenty-one should not consume alcohol. Tag? The opposing audience of this argument often say if eighteen-year-olds can serve in the Army, vote, drive, and marry, why can they not legally consume
Kelly, Stark and Bert (2010) found that 7% of teenagers drank alcohol and then drove. In another study, Gamble and Clark found that 85% of all automobile accidents involving teenagers also involved alcohol. Based on these studies Kelly, Stark, and Bert concluded that programs must be developed to address the problem of teenagers who drink and drive.
When the Minimum Legal Drinking Age changed to 21 years old in 1976, there was a decrease in fatal car accidents which saved approximately 21,887 lives (Alcohol Policy MD). Many lives were saved because there were less young drinkers and less people driving under the influence of alcohol. If it were possible to save lives, why wouldn’t you want to do that? An argument is made that if teenagers are allowed the responsibility to drive when they are 16 years old why can’t they drink at an earlier age? This is simply because Alcohol can put people in danger. Drunk driving seems to be a black spot of our civilization. An average of 17,000 individuals die each year in drunk driving related accidents, and drunk driving continues to be an enormously important public safety issue (MADD). With lowering this drinking age we can only expect more cases of drunk driving and more lives are put in danger. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that about 900 lives are saved annually due to fewer alcohol-related traffic crashes involving underage drivers. Surely, it should be a priority for the society to minimize the death toll from drunk driving. A higher Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among teenagers and youth. When the MLDA has been lowered, injury and death rates increase, and when the MLDA is increased, death and injury rates decline (Wagenaar, 1993). In addition, a common argument among opponents of a higher MLDA is that because many minors still drink and purchase alcohol, the policy isn't working on minors. The evidence shows, however, that although many youth still consume alcohol, they still drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related injuries and deaths (Wagenaar, 1993). There is also an argument comparing the European alcohol and drunk diving among the youth compared to the United
Americans know the dangers of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. When alcohol enters the human body it impairs your judgement. Your speech begins to slur, the overall control you have on your body vanish because your balance and flow are altered by the alcohol entering your bloodstream. But yet the court systems lets them off with a simple slap on the wrist , like a mother to a child. What happens when that “first time offender” , loses their sense of knowledge of how to drive a car. Swerves into the next lane and hits someone ? We need to crack down on the laws we have in place now, to do that we need zero tolerance from offenders under the influence . Affect harsher penalties, to send the message drunk driving is not ok. Lastly Get rid of the petty laws that let offenders off the hook and enforce the law we have now. Officials need to crack down more on sobriety check-ins, vehicle ignition –interlocks, and arrest and detainment of first time offenders. A typical person that is accused of drunk driving is convicted of a very small punishment a fine, short period time in jail or restriction use is the typical punishment. Which sends the message law officials have let drunk drivers get away with their crimes by the time of arrest they have already drove well over 80 while drunk
In fact, the law may increase the amount of eighteen to twenty year olds who do drink. It has been shown that, especially in college-age students, there is a tendency to not do what they are told, on the contrary, they will do the exact opposite. The problem with the drinking age being twenty-one is that some students drink purely out of defiance). The number of fatalities is down in all age groups, not just teenagers, and cars driven now are much safer than the cars that were being driven in the early 1980’s, and teenagers are much safer drivers, which can be attributed to the decreased amount of fatalities. Also, in other countries that have lower drinking ages, the number of fatalities has
Now, his wife and children had to feed him food through a tube, and his speech and brain function is completely off. It is not fair to the families that have to wake up to their loved one and have to accommodate to their loved ones’ needs. Also, parents that lose their children, in 2015, 209 children were killed, in which 103 of those died in Connecticut. No parent should have to get an unimaginable and apologetic news that their child is no longer here because of a drunk driving related crash. The victims impact panel was great to see and understand what MADD is and does for people. Now when I’m driving, the thought of someone driving drunk leaves a some fear and
However, “90% of drunk driving deaths in the United States were found in the over 21 age group” (Gruenewald). For this reason, drunk driving is not directly correlated with the drinking age. In addition, the percent of drunk driving deaths in the United States has reduced at a slower rate than European countries where they have their legal drinking age at eighteen. This suggest that if lowering the drinking age was a success in Europe, it may also be effective here in the United States to diminish the amount of drunk driving deaths. This is because people that become injured due to alcohol or alcohol poisoning are afraid to report their injuries to the hospital or authorities out of fear of illegal consequences for underage drinking. Therefore, lowering the legal drinking age encourages teenagers to assist others from the dangers of drinking and
One of the greatest death causes while driving for many years was because of individuals driving under the influence of alcohol. However, alcohol is no longer the only reason why so many deaths are being caused out in the streets while driving. Society is so consumed by this one thing that even while driving it cannot wait. Those who are driving do not understand the danger they put themselves and others in when they give their attention away from the road and everything around them. This small device in the hands of people while driving has caused many deaths in our world. People will always have arguments for either one side, saying that texting is more dangerous while driving or drinking. After reading the research that was made, those who are entrusted while driving might have a different insight of the impact they can cause around them if not being responsible.