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Health & Fitness

Putting an End to Drunk Driving

Parents can learn a lot from their teens who are far less likely to drink and drive

The holidays are here ushering in one of the deadliest time periods on our state and nation’s roadways. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, it’s estimated that as many as 900 people could lose their lives in drunk driving crashes nationwide.   

Despite the work of organizations like MADD, strict drunk driving laws and an overwhelming belief among Americans that driving after drinking is unacceptable, impaired driving remains a problem. Last year, alcohol-impaired driving claimed 10,322 lives, a third of all deaths nationwide and an increase of 4.6 percent over 2011. What’s even more alarming is that the majority of those crashes involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration or BAC of .15 or higher. hat’s nearly double the legal limit.

There is some good news. While fatalities from alcohol-impaired driving increased from 2011 to 2012, fatalities from crashes involving young drivers and alcohol decreased by 15 percent nationwide (16 to 20-year-old drivers with a .01 or higher BAC). Among all states, New Jersey had the largest decrease in alcohol-related fatalities for all drivers, with 30 fewer lives lost in 2012. 

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Kudos to teens who recognize that drinking and driving don’t mix and to the Garden State for making gains in reducing alcohol-related traffic deaths through strong laws, strict enforcement and grassroots outreach. I’m not that naïve, however, to believe that underage drinking doesn’t occur in New Jersey.  But today’s teens are more likely than their parents to refrain from getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. What’s heartening is that teens will designate a driver, use mass transit or stay the night rather than drink and drive. The data confirms this; alcohol isn’t on the list of the top ten, twenty or even thirty crash causation factors for New Jersey teen drivers.

Perhaps it’s time for parents to learn from their children. It’s not enough to establish and reinforce a no drinking and driving rule with our teens. We have to be the role models and truly practice what we preach. That’s because every time we get behind the wheel and our children are in the car, we’re providing a visible example that they are likely to follow. As one researcher so aptly put it, always be the driver you want your teen to be.  

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Why not start today? Consider it an early Christmas present for your loved ones who are counting on you to be there this holiday season and for many more to come. It is possible to end drunk driving, but only if each of us commits to and refrains from engaging in and/or enabling this dangerous behavior.   

If you consume alcohol, make provisions in advance for someone else to do the driving. If you’re hosting a holiday gathering with family and/or friends, ask who will be drinking and what their plans are for getting home safely at the end of the night. Let them know their safety is not only your priority, but your responsibility under New Jersey’s social host laws. Keep a watchful eye on your guests and take the keys from those who over imbibe. They may put up a fight when you call them a cab or insist they spend the night, but they’ll thank you in the morning. 

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