Almost 32% of accidents happen with intoxicated drivers. Last year 9,878 people died from drunk
“Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 51 minutes,” ("Impaired Driving: Get the Facts | Motor Vehicle Safety | CDC Injury Center"). Drunk driving is the act of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Drunk driving takes over 10,000 lives annually. It is an exceedingly serious and perilous issue that we face here in the United States, and it should not be taken lightly by the government or the public.
Distracted driving is a very big problem that causes pain to many people. In this century distracted driving is a very big problem. Distracted driving is very dangerous because, a study shows that nearly 1.6 million crashes happen each year and 330,000 injuries are
Penalties for Drunk Driving Drunk driving causes plenty of deaths every year. Most people who drink and drive don’t even realize they are causing any harm. Being drunk impairs our vision and motor skills. Drinking can also effect the choses you make, just like getting into your car and trying to drive. Not everyone who gets busted for drunk driving are in that bad of condition but according the law if your blood alcohol level is .08 or above you are drunk.
The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration(NHSA). Many industrialized countries in Europe and elsewhere have a driving age of 17 or 18.” This is saying that 16 year old drivers are almost 10 times more likely to be in fatal car crashes the drivers around the age 30-59. Europe has the age set to 17-18 and many other places. The NHSA is saying that teens are involved in more crashes than adults. There can be many reasons why, but the main one is that the teens are new drivers on the open road with little to no experience whilst adults have years behind the wheel and on the road.
“The NHTSA reports that in 2015, 10 percent of crashes involving injuries, and 14 percent of all crashes reported by police were directly or indirectly caused by driver distraction. That year, 3,477 people were killed and approximately 391,000 people were injured on American roads as a result of distracted driving” (“Distracted Driving”
Everyone can see the evidence that distracted driving exists, specifically texting and driving. The people need to recognize it. Texting and driving has caused many deaths among teens and others, and many families grieve every day, wishing that the worst action anyone can do while driving to become illegal. In the year 2009, 5,500 people died in texting and driving related accidents (Johnson, 2012). From then the numbers only go up because of the growth of technology.
Yes, I know teen drivers who are downright awful, but I also a lot of great teen drivers who take every precaution. Statistics, however, never lie or fail to end debates. 16-year-olds are the most likely to be in an accident than any other age group. They only represent 2% of the drivers in America, but account for 11% of all motor vehicle crashes. Not to mention that teens are twice as likely to crash at night than during the day.
But take a look at these statistics. 50% to 75% of people who have been convicted of drunk driving still drive with an expired license. (Johnston) When we think about drunk driving, we think about teens. Teens are not the only ones who drink and drive but they are mostly the ones who make the wrong choices when it comes to drinking. One reason why teens drink and drive is because of peer pressure.
Therefore someone will always fail to abide by the rules. Punishing all of the American citizens by the MLDA being raised to 21 is not the right way to go about and promote safe driving. The United States is not the worst place for drunk driving incidents; in fact, it is one of the lowest. According to Niall McCarthy there are more dangerous roads than that of the U.S., “58% on South Africa’s roads can be attributed to alcohol consumption… In the United States, 31% of all road accidents… In the United Kingdom and Germany, road deaths involving alcohol consumption are rarer at 16 % and 9 % respectively,” (McCarthy). South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries to drive in due to traffic fatalities encouraged by alcohol.