Drinking and Driving
In society drinking and driving has become a very serious issue. Even though there is no easy or simple solution, there is still ways to teach kids the dangers and persuade them not to drink and drive.
The trouble with alcohol is that most people do not truly know what it is and according to Webster’s new world dictionary, “Alcohol is a strong smelling liquid that has no color, evaporates quickly, and burns with hot flame. It is produced by fermenting things, such as grain or fruit”(18). Another way of looking at it is that alcohol is a drug that it slows down vital functions and results in slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed perception and inability to react quickly. It can change your mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination (drugfreeworld). Statistics say that the percent of alcohol in your body that you can drive with depends on your gender and weight. Even though the legal age for drinking is 21, a lot of teens become addicted to drinking under age. Being an adolescent, the brain and body are not mature enough to handle alcohol because this time in their life is a very critical growing period. Drinking while going through adolescence can lead to lifelong damage in brain function, particularly as it relates to memory, motor skills (ability to move) and coordination. According to webster’s new world dictionary (10) statistics show that people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.
Even though statistics have shown that drinking and driving has dropped, there is still a large amount of it and drinking and driving is a very serious issue. In the United States in 2007, the death toll from teenage drunk-driving accidents was 1,393—nearly four fatalities every day of the year, and with that, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers with 31% from drinking and driving...