According to the latest statistics, the prospect of you or someone in your family being involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident is more than just very likely, it is a virtual certainty. In fact, in a family of five, the chances that someone in the family will find themselves in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash in their lifetime, is an outstanding 200 percent.
Imagine, a 200% chance that you or someone in your family will either cause, or be an innocent victim to, a drunk driving accident. It is a horrible statistic, to say the least. And perhaps, most alarming of all, a disproportionately high number of those deaths and accidents come in the 15 to 24 age group. A lot of young people are, in fact, dying way too early in tragic and meaningless deaths.
It is our responsibility as parents and mentors to educate our kids about the great dangers one encounters when drinking and driving, risking not only our lives, but the lives of others as well.
Drinking and driving is an issue that is affecting families all over the country and certainly our families here in Lake County. Her are some astonishing facts about drinking and driving:
*Every 22 minutes someone in the U.S. dies in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident.
*On any given weekend evening, one in ten drivers on America's roads has been drinking.
*One of out of 10 children ages 12-13 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% of all teenages drink alcohol.
*60%of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol related.
*The greatest influence on teenagers and their drinking habits is peer pressure because during this age it is crucial for them to "fit in."