Teenager Drunk Driving (Essay Sample)

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Teenager Drunk Driving
Introduction
Statistics indicate that young people commit most of the accidents related to drunk driving. In recent past, data indicate that persons between the ages of 16 and 24 got involved in 28 percent of alcohol-related accidents although young people constitutes only 14 percent of the U.S population. Studies also show that teenagers driving with moderate levels of alcohol in their blood are more likely to cause accidents than older drivers with similar amount of alcohol in their blood (Center for Disease Control para. 2). Some of the reasons that make teenagers to cause more accidents while drunk include; inexperience in driving, inexperience in alcohol consumption, use of illegal drugs, and a false sense of immortality and invincibility (Center for Disease Control para. 3). This paper is going to examine the prevalence and consequences of teenage drunk driving in the U.S.
Current Problems of Modern Society: Social, Ethical Factors
Some of the teenage problems in the modern society include school shootings, teenage violence, internet addition, cyberbullying, teenage suicide, and television violence. It is common for adolescents in the developed world to over use online technology because they were born in the digital era. Violence on television and other media has the effect of desensitizing teenagers to the negative consequences of violence, and make it appear normal and legitimate. Cyberbullying is one of the digital crimes that are rapidly growing, and in most cases teenagers are the victims of cyberbullying. Teenage suicide is a major problem in the American society, and will continue to increase if urgent measures are not taken to curb it.
Ethics in mainly concerned with what is wrong or right; when we engage in behavior that cause harm to others or let others harm themselves as we watch, it can be said that our conduct is unethical. Hence, society has an ethical responsibility to address the problems that teenagers face and prevent self-harm.
The Problem of Drunk Driving In Teenagers
From the colonial days, alcohol consumption has been part of the America culture, and its consumption among young people has been generally accepted as part of growing up. Towards the end of 1960s and early 1970s, most states in the U.S reduced their legal drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen years. After this change, the number of deaths caused by drunk driving among young people went up (Fessler para. 1). As a response to the grave consequence, from 1980s most states increased their legal drinking age from 18 to 21 years. In 1984, congress enacted a legislation that would deny federal highway construction funds to any state that had not adjusted its minimum drinking age to 21. This made all states to change their legal drinking age to 21 by 1988, and as a consequence, alcohol related fatalities among young drivers dropped (Fessler para. 2).
Increasing the legal drinking age in the U.S also led to the decline in binge drinking, daily alcohol consumption and underage drinking. But many young people in the U.S continued to drink and they did so heavily. It is difficult to obtain global statistics on drunk driving among teenagers because most studies that have been conducted on teenage drunk driving have been done in the U.S and the UK (Ahlström and Österberg 262). Highest abstinence from alcohol use among teenagers was found in Europe. Iceland had an abstinence of 36 percent, while Sweden, Norway and Finland had an abstinence of 20 percent among teenagers between the ages of 15 to 16 years. These adolescents had not consumed alcohol in the previous twelve months when the study was being conducted (Ahlström and Österberg 262).
In the U.S statistics indicate that the percentage of teenagers in high school who drink and drive has decreased by more than half since 1991. One in ten high school students who drink also drive. Young drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 are 17 times more likely to lose their lives in car accidents when their blood alcohol concentration is at 0.8 percent. In 2011, it was estimated that almost one million teenagers drunk and drove (Ahlström and Österberg 262).
Statistics indicate that motor vehicle accidents are the number one killer of teenagers in the U.S. The chances of teenagers dying or injured in a car crush is four times higher than that of older drivers, and this has been attributed to drunk driving (Hanson para. 4). For instance, in 2003, statistics indicate that teenagers were responsible for 13 percent of all fatal crushes that took place in the U.S, and males are twice more likely to be injured or killed in a car crush as a result of drunk driving (Hanson para. 4).
Drinking and Driving In Terms Of Highway Code and Legal Issues
There are several legal issues that are normally associated with drunk driving. These include drinking under influence of alcohol; criminal charges for underage drinking; increase in car insurance rates; and fines. Some colleges may also refuse to admit teenagers who have a record of drunk driving; drunk driving charges can also interferes with the chances of a teenager being employed in future; and teenagers can be put on probation due to drunk driving; their licenses could be revoked; and they could also be made to pay fines (Ahlström and Österberg 264).
Drinking While Driving In Terms Of Healthcare and Personal Safety
A teenager’s brain is undergoing major development, and exposing it to alcohol can have a long-term negative impact on the development process, and cause death of brain cells. People who start drinking as teenagers also have high chances of becoming alcoholics later in life. Use of alcohol by teenagers who are suffering from mental disorders like stress and depression increase their chances of committing suicide, and statistics indicates that 300 teenagers in the U.S commit suicide as a result of depression and alcohol use (Ahlström and Österberg 268).
Ethics and Teenage Drunk Driving
Drunk driving by teenagers is unethical act because it not only put their life in danger, but also the lives of other drivers. Most drunk-driving accidents involve teenagers who lose their life in the process and also kill other people.
Community Reaction towards the Problem
Communities in the U.S strongly condemn teenage drunk driving and urge parents to advise their children not to engage in this vice. Communities in the U.S have also reacted by pressuring teenagers not to engage in drunk driving and this is one of the effective methods of discouraging teenage drunk driving. Communities also generally condemn any intoxicative behaviors among teenagers. The main government concern about teenage drunk driving is the overrepresentation of teenagers in car accidents that involve drunk driving. Most frequent drunk drivers are male teenagers (Komro and Toomey para. 12).
Effective solutions to the problem of teenage drunk driving are those that target teenagers. For example, teenagers should be strongly advised never to drink and drive. Adolescents should also refuse to ride in cars that are driven by teenage driver that is under the influence of alcohol. Teenagers should also be educated on state laws and rules of the road, and encouraged to follow them (Komro and Toomey para. 15). Additional solutions to the problem of teenage drunk driving should involve states, communities and healthcare experts. States and communities can increase awareness about existing laws and enhance the implementation of existing policies like the minimum drinking age. Health professionals like pediatricians can play a role in reducing teenage drunk driving by screening teenagers for drug abuse and educate teenagers and their parents on the dangers of drunken driving (Komro and Toomey para. 18).
Parents can play a role in minimize incidents of drunk driving...