Transcript The Consequences of Underage Drinking and Driving


Imagine your senior class, your fellow peers, your
friends, your family. About three in every ten people
will be in an alcohol-related accident.
This could be you
or someone
you love

Most schools operate on a 90 minute block system.
Every 45 minutes a person is killed in an event
involving alcohol. During one class period two people
are killed because of a drunk driver. That means that
during one school day, on average, eight people are
killed because of ignorance and stupidity.
Annually, about 5,000 people under age 21 die
from alcohol-related injuries involving
underage drinking. Approximately:

1,900 (38 percent) of the 5,000 deaths involve
motor vehicle crashes,

1,600 (32 percent) result from homicides, and
5000 people is approximately the population
 300 (6 percent) result from suicides
of Cherryville
The 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found
that among high school students, during
the past 30 days:




45% drank some amount of alcohol.
26% binge drank.
11% drove after drinking alcohol.
29% rode with a driver who had
been drinking alcohol.
Medical Consequences of
Excessive Alcohol Use








Death
Brain Damage
Alcohol Poisoning
Gastrointestinal Tract
Cardiovascular Damage
Strokes
Cancer
Skeletal Muscle Damage
A single episode of binge drinking has been shown
to cause significant impairment of memory during
hangover in healthy subjects.
 Physical performance of healthy subjects and
athletes is significantly reduced during hangover.
 Hangover related absenteeism and poor job
performance was estimated to cost the US economy
$148 billion in 1998.
 In the USA teenage binge drinking has been linked
to impaired mental and social development,
reduced school performance and attainment and
increased likelihood of school drop-out.


A 19 or 20-year-old caught possessing beer or
wine can be charged with a Class 3
misdemeanor and if found guilty could be
fined up to $200 and lose his or her driver's
license.

For the first offense, a person convicted of
selling or providing alcohol to someone under
the age of 21 must pay a $250 fine plus $100 in
court costs and do 25 hours of community
service.

In addition to fines and court costs, those
convicted of breaking the state alcohol laws may
have to pay attorney's fees and an increased
insurance premium of 400% or more.

A person under the age of 21 caught purchasing,
attempting to purchase or possessing alcohol
will be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor.
Sentencing is left to the judge's discretion. The
Division of Motor Vehicles revokes that person's
driver's license.

Nearly ¼ of North Carolina high school
students had their first drink before the age
of 13.

Alcohol kills 6.5 times more young people
under the age of 21 than all other illicit drugs
combined.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of all high school
students drink alcohol; 24% of them are
binge drinkers.

In North Carolina, the underage consumption of
alcohol costs taxpayers $1.1 billion annually.

95% of all violent crimes committed on college
campuses are alcohol related.

Any reading above 0.00 on an alcohol-screening
test is sufficient to convict a youth.

Refusing to take an intoxilyzer test along with the
odor of alcohol on the breath is sufficient evidence
to convict an underage user.
Screeching tires, shattering glass,
twisting metal, fiberglass.
The scene is set it all goes black,
The curtain raised the final act.
Sirens raging in the night,
sounds of horror, gasps of fright.
Intense pain, the smell of blood
tearing eyes begin to flood.
They pull out our bodies one by one,
What is going on, we were only having fun!
One of my friends is missing, what did I do?
Her scattered belongings everywhere,
in the road there lies her shoe.
A man is leaning over me and
looking in my eyes,
"What were you thinking, son"?
"Did you really think that you could drive?"
He pulled up the sheet still looking in my eyes,
"If you'd only called your Mom or Dad, you'd still
be alive!“ I started to scream, I started to yell;
But no one could hear me, no one could tell.
They put me in an ambulance; they took me
away.
The doctor at the hospital exclaimed, "DOA!"
My father's in shock, my mother in tears,
she collapses in grief, overcome by the fear.
They take me to this house and place me in this
box. I keep asking what is happening,
But I cant make it stop.
Everyone is crying, my family is so sad.
I wish someone would answer me,
I'm starting to get mad.
My mother leans over me and kisses me goodbye, My father pulling her away, she is
screaming, "WHY"?
They lower my body into a dirt grave,
It feels so very cold, I yell to be saved.
Then I see an angel; I begin to cry.
Can you tell me what is happening?
she replies "YOU DIED."
I can't be dead; I'm still so young!
I want to do so many things - like sing, and
dance, and run. What about college or
graduation day? what about a wedding? Please
- I want to stay. The angel looked upon me, and
with a saddened voice, "It didn't have to end
like this; you knew you had a choice."
"I'm sorry it's too late now; time I can't turn
back." "Your life is finished; that, my son, is a
fact!“ Why did this happen? I didn't want to
die!
The angel, she embraced me and with her words she
sighed, "Son, this is the consequence you paid to
drink and drive. I wish you made a better choice, If
you did you would be alive. It doesn't matter if you
beg me, or plead on bended knee, There is
nothing I can do, you have to come with me."
Looking down at my family, I said my last goodbye.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you, Dad.
Mommy, please don't cry,
I didn't mean to hurt you, or cause you any pain.
I'm sorry all you're left with is a grave
that bears my name.
I'm sorry all your dreams for me have
all been ripped away;
the plans for my future all gathered in
a grave.
It was such a stupid thing I did, I wish
I could take it back;
But the curtain is being lowered.
SO ENDS THE FINAL ACT...
Underage Drinking and Driving is a choice.
Regardless of the peer pressure or addiction one
may possess to “live rebelliously,” underage
drinking and driving is a choice. I have chosen
to live above the influence. The dangers of
drinking could be death. I am young and eager to
live; that is precisely why I choose to avoid the
risks and consequences of participating in
underage drinking and driving. If you don't think
it could happen to you, find the person who had it
happen to them.





http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/factsheets/binge_dr
inkingmed.pdf
http://www.camy.org/factsheets/index.php?Factshee
tID=29
http://www.nccrimecontrol.org/Index2.cfm?a=0000
03,000005,000272,000274
http://www.madd.org/Drunk-Driving/DrunkDriving/Statistics.aspx
http://www.cdc.gov/Alcohol/quickstats/underage_dr
inking.htm