When most people think about drinking alcohol, they picture themselves surrounded by their closest friends, with everyone laughing and talking and having a great time. This definitely demonstrates how social of a substance alcohol is. Very rarely do they picture some of the harsh realities alcohol brings into your life.

Lives are dramatically changed when individuals become involved in a drunk driving incident. In fact, the group of women who started the coalition of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) did so because they had family members or children who had been victims of an alcohol related accident. The number of teenagers involved in drunk driving cases has seriously increased over prior years, but the question is, why?
Let’s look at some of the causes that may be pushing teens towards drinking and driving.

  • Personal Freedoms – There is a certain level of entitlement that a lot of teenagers feel like they deserve nowadays. This may come growing up with everything provided for them. They also are experiencing new things and testing the limits of what they can do. This may lead to a teenager naturally thinking that they can handle driving drunk, but the fact is they can’t. Statistics show that teenagers with a blood alcohol level of .05 to .10 (under most states legal limit) are around 36 times more likely to get into a crash. In the extremely unfortunate incident of an alcohol related crash, your local Salt Lake DUI attorney wants you to know they’re always available to help.
  • Peer Pressure – Now I’m definitely not saying there is peer pressure from the children that surround your teen to drink and drive. Very rarely is that encouraged by peers. Most teenagers are smart enough to realize the dangers that surround it. The trouble occurs after the first drink is taken, when the impairment of judgement starts to happen. Once this kicks in, most teenagers do not have the comprehension to understand that they are in a vulnerable state. In fact quite the opposite, they start to think that whatever they decide to do will be that much cooler because they are drunk.

So what can you do to help your teens make sure they make the correct decisions, regardless of whether they decide to drink or not? It may help to stop thinking of it merely as a “moral” issue. If you try to stop your teen from doing something, odds are they’ll find a way around it. Treat it like it should be treated, as a reality, but just because you oppose it doesn’t mean you want to disregard your childs safety. Always be available for them when they need it, in any stage of their life. This message from your local Utah DUI lawyer is intended to bring families closer together.

Utah DUI
211 East Broadway, Suite 210
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Ph: (435) 649-9300