Drunk Driving. Two important words that we hear almost daily. Whether its, “Did you hear about that poor girl last night, she died, drunk driving.” or even if it a short presentation on your health on “The Risks of Drunk Driving.” There is a reason this is fairly common phrase, people like to talk about problems. And drunk driving is one of the biggest.
Although for such a deadly problem, the consequences aren’t even that bad. ¨A first DUI carries $390 to $1,000 in fines,¨ from the article DUI, What are the penalties. A fine of $390 is not nearly a bad enough consequence for almost possibly taking another person’s life. People are not going to change or listen if the consequences aren’t bad enough. They will keep making the same mistakes over and over. Penalties need to become harsher and stricter if we want to decrease the rates of drunk altogether.
Although our generation is cutting this issue out. The rates of teens drunk driving have majorly decreased 54% since 1991! This is amazing, but we still have ways to go. 54% is more than half, but still on a estimate 8 teens die per day due to drunk driving. “Drinking too much can harm your health. Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year in the United States from 2006 – 2010, shortening the lives of those who died by an average of 30 years.” From CDC.com. We need our generation to keep the rates decreasing and keep encouraging other generations to do the same if people want to live longer lives.
“More than 4 million U.S. adults admit they drink and drive” a quote from NBC News. Adults need to be responsible. If teenagers have decreased the drunk driving rates by 54%, adults should know when not to drive and what the consequences are if they do. They are putting others and their lives on the line for something they could have easily not done. Adults are supposed to be wiser than teens, but it seems as if, for this issue at least, that its the other way around.
There are solutions to drunk driving, but people need to become aware more of them. Such as having a responsible non-drinking designated driver, calling a taxi or Uber or even having your friend pick you up. But the most important solution, is to know that the consequences. People might think that this would never happened to them, but ¨In 2010, 10,228 people died in drunk driving crashes – one every 52 minutes¨. Who’s to say that it couldn’t be you?
