According to the CDC, 3.1% of adults drive after drinking too much. On the other hand, 5.5% of teens report driving after drinking despite the minimum age for alcohol consumption being 21. Some 623,000 teens aged 12 to 17 even suffer from alcohol-related disorders. Ohio residents should know that the number of teens who drink and drive differs from state to state.
It seems that those states with the most teen drunk drivers also have the highest DUI fatality rates. This was the conclusion of a study from CheapCarInsuranceQuotes.com. Researchers came up with a list of the 15 worst states, and heading that list were Arkansas, Louisiana and Montana with 10.6%, 10% and 7.6% of teens there driving while drinking. Those states’ DUI fatality rates are 4.8, 4.7 and 4.5 per 100,000 people.
By comparison, the national average is 3.4 per 100,000 people killed in drunk driving crashes. One of the lowest-ranked states for teen drunk drivers, Idaho, sees 3.5 per 100,000 people killed in DUI crashes, and 6% of high school students there drink and drive. As for the state with the lowest numbers overall, that is Utah with 2.8% of high school students drinking and driving and 1.7 per 100,000 people killed.
Drunk driving in both teens and adults is an epidemic. In fact, one third of all driving fatalities are drunk driving fatalities. Those who are injured in a motor vehicle accident and who discover that the other side was drunk can file a claim against that driver’s auto insurance company. Whether they recover damages or not is another matter, so victims may want to hire a lawyer for this process. Personal injury lawyers might have a network of investigators, medical experts and other third parties to help build up a case. Lawyers may also handle all negotiations and, if negotiations fail, litigation.
