“I BLACKED out while driving home,” says Mike, recalling that he had too much to drink that night. “But somehow I made it to my house. When I got up the next morning, I noticed that the passenger side of my car was badly damaged, but I couldn’t remember having an accident! I drove around trying to figure out what had happened, and that’s when I saw it. The big stone pillar near the cemetery had been hit, and the paint from my car was all over it. I must have smashed into it the night before! It really scared me.”

Mike got off easy​—he lived to talk about it. Unfortunately, many others do not. “Drunk driving is the leading cause of death for young people aged 16-24,” says the 1984 Report on the National Conference for Youth on Drinking and Driving. ‘Oh, it won’t happen to me!’ you may think. But that’s probably what many a victim had said to himself! See also the box on page 20, “It Can Happen to You!”

Lack of experience is one factor. For instance, if you were going to fly in an airplane, would you prefer a young, new pilot or a seasoned veteran with many years of flying experience? The answer is obvious. But why prefer the experienced pilot? Because you know that people are more likely to make mistakes or miscalculations when an activity is new to them.

The same applies to drinking and driving. Thus, a report on traffic safety and alcohol notes that the driving performance of youths who are drinking “worsens more rapidly than that of adults because driving is a newer and less routine skill for them. In short, most teenagers are both inexperienced drivers and inexperienced drinkers, and even more inexperienced at combining drinking and driving.”​—Senior Adults, Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program Leader’s Guide, by Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

[Box on page 20]

It Can Happen to You!

Reports about alcohol-related traffic accidents are often in the news. It’s easy to think, ‘It won’t happen to me!’ But such tragedies happen far more frequently than you may realize. Consider some of the sobering facts about youths and drinking and driving:

“Alcohol use by young people is on the rise in most parts of the world. . . . Road accidents, many of which are related to alcohol, are one of the major killers and producers of disability in young people.”​—World Health.

“A teenager is involved in an alcohol-related accident in [the United States] every 10 seconds, less time than it takes to fix a drink.”​—Aide magazine.

“A teenager is four times more likely to have an alcohol-related crash than any other driver. . . . While the life expectancy of most people in [the United States] is rising, that of 15-to-24-year-olds is not.”​—Just Along for the Ride.

So before you even consider drinking and driving, remember​—it can happen to you!