Mothers Against Drunk Driving Essay Example for Free

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Essay Drunk driving is a problem especially for teens, because of peer pressure and some people feel that it is a funny scenario when they let a drunk driver take control of a vehicle, but they dont realize the danger they are getting into. Many teenagers drink because they think it makes them cooler and not all are aware of the affects of drunk driving. Some teenagers also think they have the ability of being invincible when it comes to getting behind the wheel and they dont realize they are drunk because of teen invincibility, they do not realize they are not only putting themselves in danger, but others as well. It is very dangerous when someone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle under the influence. The pressures of being a teenager and trying to be popular or cool plays a large role on why drunk driving is a problem especially for teens. Part One: Identifying the Issue Statistics from research regarding teen crash rates: One out of 10 children ages 12 and 13 uses alcohol at least once a month. In a single year, 522 children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, (113 of them were under 10 years old). 70 percent of all teenagers drink alcohol. 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related. Every 22 minutes someone dies in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident. †¢ Car crashes are the number one cause of teen deaths in the U. S. †¢ Drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely to die in a crash than drivers between the ages of 25 and 69. Teens have the highest chance of having a fatal crash within the first six months of getting their driver’s license. †¢ 2,739 teenagers died in car accidents in the United States during 2008. †¢ Teen drivers were involved in 12% of all fatal crashes reported to the police. †¢ Males are twice as likely as females to be killed in a crash while they’re teenagers. †¢ 37% of male drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 were speeding at the time of a fatal crash. †¢ 55% of teens killed in car crashes were not using their seat belts. †¢ 31% of teens drivers were drinking alcohol at the time of their death. †¢ Teen drivers were involved in 63% of teen passenger deaths and 19% of passenger deaths of all ages in fatal accidents. †¢ 53% of teen deaths in fatal accidents occurred on the weekends and 41% occurred between 9 pm and 6 am. 5,864 fatal accidents involved teen drivers in 2008. This number is higher than the previous one because the teen driver often has to live with the guilt of causing someone else’s death. How is one organization or group trying to solve this problem? One organization trying to solve this problem is S. A. D. D. S. A. D. D. is an organization trying to solve the drunk driving problem by having presentations to inform students why they should not drink and how to resist peer pressure. They try to inform teens to try to stay away from alcohol and try to keep other teens aware as well. Another organization working to solve this issue is MADD (Mothers against drunk driving). Support high-visibility law enforcement to catch drunk drivers and discourage others from driving drunk, they also wanted to require all drunk drivers to take a breathalyzer before they even start their engine of their car, they also support the development of technology to determine automatically whether or not the driver is above the legal limit of .08 and failing to operate if the driver is drunk. They are trying to eliminate drunk driving as a whole. Web Sites I found this information: http://drivesteady. com/teen-driving-statistics http://www. alcoholalert. com/students-against-drunk-driving. html http://www. firsteagle. com/tdd. htm http://www. madd. org/drunk-driving/campaign/ Part 2: Solutions for the Issue Something else that should be done to help solve or curb the problem. There are many things that could be done to help solve or curb drunk driving, but a lot is already being done. I think another thing that could help curb or solve the problem would be to put up more billboards and have police officials come and talk to teenagers and children in the schools, I think they could also make television shows or commercials to help inform people to help curb this issue. I think this would be a easy way to reach out to teenagers especially about this issue and possibly help solve it and also to make sure that everyone is aware of this problem. What can I personally do to make others aware of this issue? What can I do to make others aware of the issue? There are several things I am capable of doing to make others aware of this issue. To start of I would like to put signs around my school stating statistics about the affects drunk driving has on teens. I would also make an announcement on our school news to help get people aware of what the issue at hand. I would spread the word by telling friends and doing anything I can to help stop drunk driving, especially for underage drinking.