Healthy You Article – November 30, 2007

Underage Drinking – It’s a Crime
By Mary Perkins – Wellness Center Manager
As the holiday season marches on the roadways are busier than ever.  The onset of winter has made for some pretty nasty driving in some areas.  Most young drivers are not experienced with the change in road conditions and are quite vulnerable at this time of the year.  If underage drinking is added to the mix, it could make for a very volatile situation both for the driver and for innocent victims.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.dot.gov) has compiled the following facts:

Traffic Crashes Are the Number One Killer of Teens –
Nearly One-Third Are Alcohol-Related

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-to-20-year-olds in America.

• Young drivers between 15 and 20 years old, account for less than seven percent of America's licensed drivers, yet are responsible for just over 20 percent of the nation's annual traffic crash fatalities.

• In 2003, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 7,884 drivers, ages 15-20 years old, were involved in fatal traffic crashes across the nation – killing a total of 8,666 persons.

• 3,657 of these young drivers were killed themselves. Another 2,384 passengers in the drivers' vehicles were killed. 2,625 passengers in other vehicles or non-passengers such as pedestrians who were involved in the crashes were also killed.

• Young drivers between 15 and 20 years old are more often involved in alcohol-related crashes than any comparable age group.

• While all states and the District of Columbia now have 21-year old minimum drinking age laws, more than 20 percent of young people below the legal drinking age reported driving under the influence of alcohol, other drugs, or both, in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

• In fact, nearly a third (31 percent) of the 15-20-year-old drivers who were killed in fatal crashes in 2003 had been drinking. Twenty-five percent of the drivers had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.08 percent and above.

• The fatality rate in these crashes is compounded because young drivers and their passengers are much less likely to wear their safety belts after drinking. Sixty-five percent of 15-20-year-old drivers killed in all fatal crashes in 2003 were unrestrained. But 74 percent of the young drivers killed after drinking were not buckled up.

• A recent survey commissioned by The Century Council, a national non-profit dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking, revealed that 65 percent of underage youth say they get alcohol from family and friends, meaning they get it from their parents, their friends' parents, older siblings or friends, with or without their permission.

• Some parents can be tempted to host parties for their minor-aged kids and their friends – sometimes with alcohol – with the mistaken belief that it is a safer option for their kids to drink at home than to drink somewhere else.

• Some parents think back to their teens when the legal drinking age in many states was 18 and consider alcohol use just a normal part of growing up. But the legal drinking age in America is now 21. Underage drinking is illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

• If your underage teen drinks and drives, you may be legally liable for any damage, injury or death caused by your child. This is especially true if you provided the alcohol. Adult-supervised parties in which alcohol is served to minors are neither legal nor responsible.

• The consumption or possession of alcohol by your kids and their friends that is provided by you is all the evidence needed for you to be criminally prosecuted or civilly sued.

• Specific laws vary state by state, but parents who break these laws could be forced to pay all medical bills and property damages in the case of a crash, and could also be sued for emotional pain and suffering when there is severe injury or death.

• In some states, the parents can even subject themselves to criminal prosecution. In one case in Pennsylvania, a parent was sentenced to 1-4 year prison term for involuntary manslaughter after three teens died in a drunk-driving crash following a party the parent hosted. In that case, the parent did not buy the alcohol consumed at the party, but knowingly permitted the teens to drink the alcohol that was brought in by others.

• You may also want to think about the added risks of leaving your teens home alone if you go away for a weekend or on vacation. Parents may be held responsible even if they are not home when underage drinking occurs on their property.

• For more information on the dangers of driving impaired, please visit www.stopimpaireddriving.org.

Help this holiday season be a joyous one by knowing where your teen is and what he/she is doing.  Don’t be afraid to be the “bad guy” and say “NO” when it comes to underage drinking...it could save a life.

"HEALTHY YOU” is a weekly column prepared by health care providers and staff at North Country Hospital and Health System. For information or to suggest a topic for this column, please call Mary Perkins, Wellness Center Manager, 334-3226, or email mperkins@nchsi.org.