Many young people enjoy a good party, but sometimes a person’s partying gets out of hand and they become intoxicated. Unfortunately, being intoxicated can lead to a series of bad decisions. One of the worst decisions a person can make while intoxicated is to get behind the wheel of a car. Drunk drivers are not in control of their mental or physical faculties, and as such have a great potential to cause car accidents. In fact, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection reports that the state of Louisiana sees more than two times the national average of drunk driving crash fatalities for individuals between the ages of zero to 20.
Therefore, it is important to get the message out to young people about the dangers of drunk driving. After all, drunk driving endangers not just the intoxicated driver, but everyone else on the road. Students at one Louisiana high school were recently shown a mock drunk driving presentation, in order to drive this message home. This is especially important, as according to one source, car accidents are the primary cause of death of individuals from 15-years-old to 20-years-old in Louisiana.
Teenagers and young adults may know that drunk driving is dangerous, but their youth often gives them a sense of immortality — that something as bad as a drunk driving fatality will never happen to them. Unfortunately, many individuals young and old die each day due to the actions of a drunk driver. When it comes to car accidents, if the elements of negligence are met the driver at fault could be held liable. The elements of negligence include duty, breach, actual cause, proximate cause and damages. Drunk driving often satisfies these elements, meaning the drunk driver could be found legally at fault for the crash.
There are many reasons why teenagers will be heading to parties over the next few months. They may be on spring break, they may be going to prom or they may be celebrating their high school graduation. And, while they may be tempted to drink alcohol at a party, it is important that they decline. This is not just because underage drinking is illegal, but because when drinking is combined with driving it could lead a teen to cause a car accident that injures or kills innocent individuals.
Source: KPLC, “Mock crash at Sam Houston High School shows reality of drinking and driving,” Chandler Watkins, March 23, 2018