Have A Happy~ "NEW YEARS", but remeber this ....
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THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 1900
- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Have A Happy~ "NEW YEARS", but remeber this ....
Sobering facts about driving
Celebrate New Year's Eve with care !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How precious is life? Is it worth risking your life or the lives of others to drive after you've been drinking?
Some very sobering facts are contained in the winter issue of Access, the newsletter of Twin Lakes Center in Somerset County. It's especially appropriate on New Year's Eve.
The newsletter says studies show that one of every five people will become a victim of drunken driving. For thousands of Americans each year, that incident ends their life.
"Impaired driving is not just a problem for the courts or the victim, but it is a problem for all of us," the newsletter said. "Be-cause impaired drivers take to the road, they not only put themselves at risk, they put the public's safety in jeopardy. Impaired driving (is) one of the most frequently committed violent crimes."
Who are the victims of this violent crime? All of us, potentially. Children, among others. A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 68 percent of the motor vehicle crashes in which a child died involved a drinking driver.
The tally showed that for 1,588 of the 2,335 children younger than 15 who died in vehicle crashes between 1997 and 2002, the vehicles were being driven by individuals who had consumed alcoholic beverages.
The report added that, in most cases, the child who died was not in a proper child restraint or seat belt. These deaths are severe examples of child abuse, whether the abuse was intentional or induced by the alcoholic dimming of a normal sense of responsibility.
Then there is the problem of underage drinking, which costs Pennsylvania about $2 billion a year, or $1,699 for every youth in the state.
The newsletter gave this partial breakdown of where the money goes:
Total funds available in Pennsylvania for combating underage drinking, $79 million; total underage drinking sales in the state, $539 million; total alcohol industry profits on underage drinking in Pennsylvania, $264 million; total underage drinking costs in the state, $2 billion.
It lists these costs by problem: Youth violence, $1.02 billion; youth traffic crashes, $619.6 million; high-risk sex, ages 14 to 20, $105.3 million; youth property crime, $90.6 million; youth injury, $60.4 million; poisoning and psychoses, $26 million; fetal alcohol syndrome among mothers ages 15 to 20, $23 million; youth alcohol treatment, $65.4 million.
How widespread is the problem of underage drinking? A survey revealed that 36.4 percent of ninth-graders said they had consumed alcohol before age 13. It showed that 38.5 percent of girls and 33.9 percent of boys now in ninth grade consume alcohol, and that 20.9 percent of ninth-grade girls and 18.8 percent of boys engage in binge drinking.
A lot of that alcohol is supplied by adults who think they are doing the kids a favor. In too many cases, they sign a young person's death warrant.
Alcohol is a problem that can affect people of all ages. It becomes a problem for everybody when those who drink get behind a wheel.
The Twin Lakes Center newsletter summed it up this way:
"No one wants to face a new year with the loss of a loved one. If we treat impaired driving as the grave problem it is, then hopefully no one will have to. We cannot expect individuals to take responsibility for themselves if the public does not share that responsibility equally, because when you drink and drive, we all lose."
"THE CHOPS". :? :roll:
Celebrate New Year's Eve with care !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How precious is life? Is it worth risking your life or the lives of others to drive after you've been drinking?
Some very sobering facts are contained in the winter issue of Access, the newsletter of Twin Lakes Center in Somerset County. It's especially appropriate on New Year's Eve.
The newsletter says studies show that one of every five people will become a victim of drunken driving. For thousands of Americans each year, that incident ends their life.
"Impaired driving is not just a problem for the courts or the victim, but it is a problem for all of us," the newsletter said. "Be-cause impaired drivers take to the road, they not only put themselves at risk, they put the public's safety in jeopardy. Impaired driving (is) one of the most frequently committed violent crimes."
Who are the victims of this violent crime? All of us, potentially. Children, among others. A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 68 percent of the motor vehicle crashes in which a child died involved a drinking driver.
The tally showed that for 1,588 of the 2,335 children younger than 15 who died in vehicle crashes between 1997 and 2002, the vehicles were being driven by individuals who had consumed alcoholic beverages.
The report added that, in most cases, the child who died was not in a proper child restraint or seat belt. These deaths are severe examples of child abuse, whether the abuse was intentional or induced by the alcoholic dimming of a normal sense of responsibility.
Then there is the problem of underage drinking, which costs Pennsylvania about $2 billion a year, or $1,699 for every youth in the state.
The newsletter gave this partial breakdown of where the money goes:
Total funds available in Pennsylvania for combating underage drinking, $79 million; total underage drinking sales in the state, $539 million; total alcohol industry profits on underage drinking in Pennsylvania, $264 million; total underage drinking costs in the state, $2 billion.
It lists these costs by problem: Youth violence, $1.02 billion; youth traffic crashes, $619.6 million; high-risk sex, ages 14 to 20, $105.3 million; youth property crime, $90.6 million; youth injury, $60.4 million; poisoning and psychoses, $26 million; fetal alcohol syndrome among mothers ages 15 to 20, $23 million; youth alcohol treatment, $65.4 million.
How widespread is the problem of underage drinking? A survey revealed that 36.4 percent of ninth-graders said they had consumed alcohol before age 13. It showed that 38.5 percent of girls and 33.9 percent of boys now in ninth grade consume alcohol, and that 20.9 percent of ninth-grade girls and 18.8 percent of boys engage in binge drinking.
A lot of that alcohol is supplied by adults who think they are doing the kids a favor. In too many cases, they sign a young person's death warrant.
Alcohol is a problem that can affect people of all ages. It becomes a problem for everybody when those who drink get behind a wheel.
The Twin Lakes Center newsletter summed it up this way:
"No one wants to face a new year with the loss of a loved one. If we treat impaired driving as the grave problem it is, then hopefully no one will have to. We cannot expect individuals to take responsibility for themselves if the public does not share that responsibility equally, because when you drink and drive, we all lose."
"THE CHOPS". :? :roll: