The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that U.S. drivers drink and drive about 112 million times a year, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. It is estimated that one in three people will drive drunk at least once in their lifetime. These are some worrying statistics when you consider that just one time is all it takes to have the worst accident of your life, altering it forever and potentially ending yours or someone else’s. The problem is it is not just as simple as telling people “don’t drink and drive.” Rather, there are a lot of underlying problems in our society that are helping to create this one bigger one. Let’s examine the subject further by taking a look at some of them.

Underage Drinking

When you consider how many car accidents are attributed to teenage drivers, it is all the more worrying when you add alcohol to the mix. Of course, alcohol is illegal for those under the age of 21, but as anyone who has ever been around a high school or college party or even been a teenager themselves (so, everyone) knows, the law doesn’t really stop many teenagers from drinking. The CDC backs this up with some statistics about underage drinking, such as the fact that 39 percent of the high school students that were surveyed admitted to drinking, eight percent drove drunk, and 24 percent admitted to riding with a driver who had been drinking.

Binge Drinking

Furthermore, binge drinking is another huge problem. In that same survey, about a fifth of the high school students who were questioned also said that they had binge drunk. Binge drinking is not limited to underage drinkers, although it is more common in younger people. However, the main problem with it is that often people who binge drink underestimate the amount of alcohol that they will be consuming, and as a result they are unprepared with another means to get home.

Celebrities

We as a society are sort of developing a habit of blaming celebrities for all of our problems, and obviously they are usually just examples of a greater problem existent in our society. However, it has to be said that nothing harms the cause against drunk driving like seeing certain celebrities (looking at you Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Reese WItherspoon and husband) get caught drinking and driving and seeing nothing more than a slap on the wrist. And more often than not, they are out doing the same thing in a few months’ time. And these are the people that young America looks up to?

Weak Penalties

This leads us nicely to the next problem which is  the types of penalties that are given for driving under the influence. It is not just celebrities who are being let off easily; it is everyone. When the penalty for drunk driving is little more than the penalty for speeding, there is not much added incentive to lay off the booze before getting behind the wheel. Why is it that we wait until someone has died before the real penalties kick into effect?

Buzzed Driving

Many people think that they are ok to drive after a drink, as long as they are still under the legal Blood Alcohol Content limit, but in actual fact one drink is enough to impair your driving abilities. We as a society need to realize that there should be zero tolerance when it comes to drinking and driving and make sure that it is not happening at all.

John Thatcher is a freelance writer for DefensiveDriving.com