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Penalties For Teens That Drink and Drive About four years ago, I was on my way home from Fayetteville, when I saw a truck spin into oncoming traffic and hit another vehicle. The man in the truck immediately went straight through his front windshield. The next day, as I was reading the newspaper, I realized that the man driving the truck was drunk. Therefore, I continued to read on and discovered that there were also two innocent passengers in the car that was involved.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene. Without a doubt alcohol is the most popular drug in America. Alcohol is generally thought of as socially acceptable and relatively harmless. The laws for under aged drinking and driving that already exist should be enforced to ensure the safety of innocent drivers and passengers.
Alcoholic beverages are easy for teens to obtain. Since it is legal for adults, twenty-one years of age and older to drink alcohol, it can be purchased at the corner store. Almost every teen has an older sibling, friend or someone on the street to can purchase alcohol for them. Another way teens obtain is by a fake identification card.
Most clerks only ask because a security camera is watching them (Root). Surveys show that the average teenager, seventeen and older, spends four hundred and seventy-five dollars on liquor, "mostly beer a year; that is more than books, soda, coffee, juice and milk combined" (M. A. D. D. ). Today, almost ten million current drinkers are under twenty-one (Root).
After consuming alcohol teenage bodies undergo chemical changes. Sometimes alcohol can cause devastating effects. These effects can result in drowsiness, unconsciousness and possibly death depending on the amount of alcohol one consumes. Alcohol has an effect on everyone who drinks. There are many factors that affect the rate of intoxication and the metabolism of alcohol. No two people process alcohol at the same rate.
The presence of food in the stomach decreases the rate of absorption. Fasting (not eating) increases stomach emptying, thus increasing the rate of absorption. Alcohol mixed with water or fruit juice is absorbed slower, while alcohol mixed with a carbonated beverage is absorbed faster (Newman, 76). However, the effects are different for each person depending on things like height, weight, age and sex. Some physical effects that can occur from drinking are blurred vision and hearing, slower reaction time, and general clumsiness (M. A.
D. D. ). Because alcohol does slower your reaction time driving an automobile is risky. On the chart below, the BAC is estimated for a normal healthy teenager. Blood Alcohol Level Affect On Body 0. 06 Lowered inhibition, impaired judgement, decreased rational decision-making abilities. 0. 08 Legally drunk, deterioration of reaction time and control. 0. 15 Impaired balance, movement, and coordination. Difficulty standing, walking, talking. 0. 20 Decreased pain and sensation.
Erratic emotions. 0. 30 Diminished reflexes. Semi-consciousness. 0. 40 Loss of consciousness. Very limited reflexes. Anesthetic effects. BAC refers to either Blood Alcohol Concentration, as grams per deciliter or Breath Alcohol Concentration, as grams per two hundred and ten liters of breath. Death has been documented to occur at levels as low as 0. 35.
Also, the absence of symptoms does not guarantee safe or low blood alcohol levels. With regular drinking a person develops a tolerance to alcohol that will reduce the outward appearance of high blood alcohol levels. The popular thought is that drinking makes the driver feel confident. The driver believes that they are in control, even a little high, and they might get behind the wheel and go for a drive. One can not always determine the extent of their ability to drive. This causes great danger behind the wheel of an automobile.
Since alcohol effects the mind and body common sense would tell you do not drink and drive. In the United States, in 1997, more than thirty five percent of all sixteen to twenty year old deaths resulted from motor vehicle crashes, thirty seven percent were alcohol related (M. A. D. D). Many times, the driver walks away from the scene of an accident but another innocent person ends up dead.
Each day, eight teens die from alcohol related crashes (M. A. D. D). Minimum Drinking Age laws reduced traffic fatalities involving drivers sixteen to eighteen years old by thirteen percent.
It is estimated that the laws have saved eighteen thousand two hundred and twenty lived since 1980 (Claypool, 1). Why are the Minimum Drinking Age laws only enforced in certain states? The Minimum Drinking Age laws have had an enormous influence on the lowering of the BAC levels in the country. President Clinton gave a speech about the drinking and driving that has been going on with the teens in this country for decades. "We must continue to press forward in our fight to keep more drunk drivers off our roads by lowering the national drunk driving standard to. 08 " (Golden, 12). However, only twenty-three states have lowered their BAC level. In North Carolina, a person is legally considered drunk if their BAC is. 08 or more (NCSA).
There are already laws in effect for teens that drink and drive in North Carolina. Effective law enforcement is one of the keys to reduce alcohol sales to minors and building safe, healthy communities for youth (Root). Furthermore, a total of only four teens were placed in jail do to Driving While Impaired (DWI) of alcohol in 1998. "In Bladen County law enforcement officers will be out in full force during the July fourth holiday weekend and the December holiday period to raise public awareness of impaired drivers and to enforce existing impaired driving laws" (Root). Despite this comment, last forth of July holiday at one o'clock AM not a single traffic check was set up between Elizabethtown, White Lake or Dublin. EVENT CRIME CATEGORY AGE RANGE TOTAL Probation Exits Driving while impaired Under 20 1 Other traffic violations Under 20 3 Probation Entries Driving while impaired Under 20 4 Other traffic violations Under 20 3 Prob. Supervised Driving while impaired Under 20 3 Other traffic violations Under 20 2 The first offense for a teen caught drinking and driving is counseling in rehabilitation facilities.
The second time a minor is caught drinking and driving it is possible that they will have to pay a fine. The third offense, however, will consist of jail time, up to seventy-two hours. The Administrative Law Revocation is an organization that has been fighting for the past five years for drunk drivers to lose their license on the spot. So far, this law has been passed in thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia. There are also many organizations that promote abstinence from drinking and driving such as M. A.
D. D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and S. A. D. D. (Students Against Drunk Driving). These groups are formed to help teens understand the harmful and devastating effects of drinking.
They are also in the fight to start effective law enforcement. Making laws and the enforcement of these laws are required to eliminate drunk driving. A resent survey shows that the American public would like to see more check points on the roads and more enforcement of the D. W. I. and D.
U. I laws. Bibliography: Bibliography Claypool, Jane. Alcohol And You. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988. Newman, Susan.
Can You Say No To A Drink Or A Drug? New York: The Putnam Publishing Group, 1986. Schaefer, Dick. Choices and Consequences.
Minneapolis: Johnson Institute Book, 1987. "Drinking Under 21. " Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Dec. 1999. web. "DUI and DWI Penalties. " June 1999...
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Research essay sample on Penalties For Teens That Drink And Drive
