Dave Gets Excited About Alcohol Statistics

"I’m okay to drive." Sound familiar? It does to me. I've heard it many times from friends, family, and acquaintances after a few or more drinks.

We've all heard the saying "friends don't let friends drive drunk." But most of us are guilty of letting someone we know drive home after putting alcohol in their systems.

In high school, at least among my friends, this wasn’t that big of an issue. But I saw this happen a lot in college.

Now that I’m working here and learning a lot more about the statistical atmosphere surrounding driver education, it bothers me to discover how many adolescent drivers are dying alcohol-related deaths.

We all know alcohol can impair your judgment, and by acting on this knowledge, these deaths can be avoided. While it may not seem like a big deal to drive a few miles home, the risk of drunk driving can change your life in one tragic and dark moment.

Some stats:

• In 2001, 46,000 high school seniors nationwide suffered a crash while under the influence of alcohol
• Someone dies in an alcohol-related car accident every half hour
• 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents somehow involve alcohol

And here's more:

• According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 17,013 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2003
• In a single year, 522 children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, 113 under 10 years old. This is crazy! No one under the age of 16 should be driving, let alone 10! Worst of all they're intoxicated!
• Also in 2003, 25 percent of 15- to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking; 19 percent were drunk

Is the risk of becoming one of these statistics worth your life? This is rhetorical, but let me go ahead and answer it – I don’t think so!

Of course not everyone is aware of these statistics, and even if everyone were, it’s not like we’d remember them after getting drunk. But even when we have been drinking, we do have the common sense to know – somewhere in the back of our minds – that we’re taking a risk every time we nod toward a friend's concerned face and go, “I’m okay to drive.”

We often fail to realize how big the risk really is, and how ill-prepared we are for what could happen behind the wheel when we’ve been drinking.

So what's being done?

In 1995 Congress passed a zero-tolerance law that all states adopted by 1999. This regulation restricts drivers under 21 from having any amount of alcohol in their bodies while driving, and this law is strictly enforced.

While the law permits those 21 and over to have a 0.08 percent Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), for teens, any blood alcohol level beyond 0.01 percent is STRICTLY illegal. If caught, you’ll be treated like an adult with a 0.08 percent BAC.

Have you ever talked to somebody who got a DUI? That situation sucks. You’re looking at a long miserable night in jail, 12 hours of traffic school (online traffic school won’t help there), a massive fine (a few thousand dollars, usually) and an indefinitely suspended license. The law is not friendly toward drunk drivers, and when you think about how many lives they put to risk, they really shouldn’t be anyway.

There are other consequences to consider when you drink and drive. Besides getting your car towed and license suspended, not to mention the mental pressures put on you and your family, your insurance rates skyrocket. I hate to be superficial but getting caught driving drunk, even if you don’t injure anybody, can be a huge financial disaster.

So when you’re out with friends and having drinks, listen for the famous “I’m okay to drive” line. If you hear it, step up and say, "I'll get you a cab" or "You can sleep on the couch" - anything to prevent that person from driving.

It's not so easy in practice, especially when you're dealing with somebody who’s fully confident in his or her ability to get behind the wheel. But make the effort anyway – take their keys or call a cab before they even think about walking out the door.

You could save a life!

For more information on drunk driving or to read stories from teens who've been there, check out DriversEd.com's I Am Not a Statistic Campaign. For a free campaign wristband, turn in your own story or artwork.

Written by Dave Arizabal