Missouri residents should know that underage drinking has been a continual problem throughout the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.1% of adults report driving after having too much to drink whereas 5.5.% of teens report driving after having any amount of alcohol. In 2015, some 623,000 teens between the ages of 12 and 17 were found to have an alcohol-related disorder. That’s 2.5% of all teens in that age group.
Besides the harm they are doing themselves, teens are putting those on the road at risk. Of the 37,133 fatal accidents that were reported in 2017, 10,874 involved drivers with a BAC of .08 or more. Drunk driving is behind one third of all driving deaths. Every state differs, of course, in terms of how prevalent drunk driving is. Researchers at CheapCarInsuranceQuotes.com have, in fact, made a ranking of the states based on this.
The three best states were Idaho, Arizona and Connecticut with 6%, 6.2% and 6.3% of teens reportedly driving while drinking. Idaho sees 3.5 per 100,000 people die in drunk driving crashes. As for the worst, it was Arkansas with 10.7% of teens driving while drinking and 4.8 per 100,000 people dying in drunk driving accidents. Louisiana (10% of teens) and Montana (7.6%) came in second and third.
Drunk drivers are being negligent, and when they cause crashes, they could be held responsible for the losses that are sustained by occupants of other vehicles. Victims might find it advisable to have the assistance of an attorney when seeking compensation.
