In 2008, nearly 12,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. A significant percentage of those deaths involved teen drivers, and the risk increases with each teenage year. Regardless of the blood alcohol concentration level, teen drivers are at greater risk of an alcohol-related crash than older adults.
At best, teen drivers are at excess risk for all crash types. Immaturity and inexperienced, underdeveloped driving skills contribute to poor driving performance. Even for mature adults, alcohol interferes with their ability to make correct decisions, and it would require blissful denial to disregard alcohol's greater impairing effect on developmentally immature teen judgment.
The CDC concludes that teens who drink and drive are more likely to hurt themselves and others than are adults. In general, teens are four times more likely than an older adult to be involved in an automobile accident. Add peer pressure to the mix and you have a problem. Add alcohol, and you have a mixture for youthful disaster. Accident research concludes that teen passengers pose the greatest risk of accident, and each additional passenger results in an additional increase of crash risk.
As an aside, a study released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine finds child passengers, ages 12 to 16, are more likely to die in car crashes than younger children. As children grow into adolescence, they are more likely to ride with drivers other than parents, such as classmates or siblings. For parents, the challenge is determining which rides are safe and which are off-limits. If alcohol is involved, there is no safe ride for any teen.
Teens are under extraordinary pressure to adapt to societal standards, with peer pressure forcing teens to make difficult daily choices. Providing only limited assistance to ease this stress, research finds that many parents find it hard to admit, or even question whether or not their teen may have alcohol issues.
In the U.S., 12.8 percent of all fatal traffic crashes are alcohol-related, and 40 percent of them involve teens driving after consuming alcohol. Though most alcohol-related teen deaths result from other causes, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause in the U.S. Adding to that risk, most teens don't wear seat belts as passengers.
A University of Michigan study finds alcohol incidents involving teens, including peer alcohol use, parental permissiveness toward teen alcohol use, susceptibility to peer pressure, and alcohol misuse are all predictors of crash involvement for teen drivers.
A positive parenting role model and constant vigilance can help parents keep their teen from becoming another heartbreaking news story. By setting clear standards, expectations and limits, supported by concrete information about teen drinking and driving, parents can make the difference in whether their teen reaches adulthood, safely, alive and without a criminal record.
Ronald E. Bogle is a retired Superior Court judge and works with the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers.
