Binge drinking by teens indicates more drunk driving accidents

On Behalf of | Sep 19, 2013 | Uncategorized |

Government-funded studies consistently report that high school seniors engage in extreme binge drinking where they ingest at least 10 drinks in a row. Almost 10 percent of high school seniors admitted to that severe practice for the past several years. More shocking is the reported statistic that almost 6 percent of high school seniors admitted to drinking 15 or more drinks in a row within the past two weeks of their answers. These statistics support the bleak prediction for Georgia and the rest of the country that drunk driving accidents, and the resulting numbers of people suffering personal injury, will continue apace for the foreseeable future.

A university researcher expressed that these teens are at risk for “severe consequences” including recklessness in driving, car accidents and alcohol poisoning. Driving under the influence and the chance of being hurt in an accident would have to be included as risk factors. The reporting by the University of Michigan School for Social Research is done on behalf of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It’s based on more than 16,000 classroom questionnaires given to high school seniors. The study reported that whites and males were the most likely to engage in all levels of binge drinking. Teens with more educated parents had higher rates of binge drinking than others, but lower rates of extreme binge drinking.

The surveys were taken each year from 2005 through 2011. The results for 2012 have not yet been published. Extreme binge drinking was most common in rural areas and the Midwest and least common in the West. The report was published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

To make matters worse, the same group reported a 2012 survey that found more than 1 in 4 people aged 19 to 30 had recently consumed at least 10 drinks in a row. This phenomenon predicts continued dire numbers of drunk driving accidents on the highway in Georgia and nationwide for the foreseeable future. Similarly, the studies support a prediction that the numbers of victims suffering personal injury in highway accidents will continue to occur at alarming numbers.

Source: wtvm.com, Extreme binge drinking not uncommon in high school, Lindsey Tanner, Sept. 16, 2013