Solutions to Lower Accidents Caused by Teenage Drinking and Driving

Teenage drinking and driving has gotten out of control over the years. More should be done to stop more accidents from taking place. I believe that reaching out to teenagers by better laws and organizations may be the most effective way to stop teenagers from getting behind the wheel after drinking. Before 1982, the drinking age in the United States was eighteen. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to raise the drinking age to twenty one in every state. Even though twelve thousand lives have been saved since the drinking age has been made, many lives are still lost every day.

Drunk driving, especially by young people, is one of the most avoidable threats to public health in America.1 In the year 1994, young drivers got behind the wheel after drinking and twenty two hundred people were killed. An example of this happening is an article written on two girls, Carla Wagner who was seventeen years old and her friend Claudia Valdes who was eighteen years old.

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The two friends bought a bottle of alcohol with a fake ID and decided to drink and drive. During there drive, Carla swerved and ended up hitting and killing sixteen year old Helen Marie Witty. Police officers are doing their best to prevent teenagers from drinking and driving. Police officers use the blood-alcohol level to decide if a person is legally drunk.

2 In order to decide the blood-alcohol level, police use a detector called the Breathalyzer. While taking the Breathalyzer, if a person has a reading of 10 or higher the driver is legally drunk. One way states are seeing a decrease in drinking and driving is by lowering the blood alcohol polices for drivers under the age of twenty one.

Organizations are another way to lower the number of accidents due to teenage drinking and driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, have been preaching anti-alcohol messages in high schools since 1980. Lately, MADD has been taking aim at binge drinking on college campuses. Were trying to save lives and make a better environment for those college students who want to be safe says Millie Webb who is College campuses are where most drinking and driving incidents occur. Drinking is apart of college students culture and mixing that with the fact that they are young and irresponsible can cause a bad mixture. Since many students own cars on campuses, administrators should take a more aggressive approach to end drinking and driving. But since administrators are afraid to put a stop to social houses and fraternities because they are re afraid that their alumni donations will decrease. Driving while intoxicated is still a major cause of accidents in the United States. Thanks to organizations like MADD and stricter laws being forced and passed, drinking