In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the major cause of death for teens. Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population.
Near 3000 teenagers died everyday because of accidents triggered by drunk driving. For 16-19 year-olds, the fatal crash rate per mile driven is almost 3 times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over.
Each day in the United States, approximately 3 people under the age of 21 die in drunk driving crashes.
Among persons under 21, the number killed in drunk driving crashes decreased 76% from the record high of 5,215 in 1982 to a record low 1,228 in 2010, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Nevertheless, a new analysis of four years of government data shows uncovered some disturbing trends.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that about 709.000 young people ages 12 to 14 currently drink alcohol.
A press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows also that most underage youth get alcohol from home.
In fact, about 93.4 percent underage youth received their alcohol for free the last time they drank. It is shown that 44.8 percent got the alcohol for free at home and that 15.7 percent got alcohol by their parents or guardians.
Nowadays, underage drinking educational resources and underage drinking programs are distributed to local government agencies and schools.
Sources:
Samhsa.gov, Centurycouncil.org, Nhtsa.gov
