Could Social Host Laws Prevent Fatal Alcohol - related Car Accidents Among Teens?

Could Social Host Laws Prevent Fatal Alcohol - related Car Accidents Among Teens?

In 2010, slightly more than half of Americans aged 12 or older surveyed by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Maul and Mental Health Services Administration reported to have worn out at pioneer one alcoholic beverage within the past 30 days. Besides, halfway a lay of respondents spoken that they had engaged in binge drinking.
While teenagers are susceptible to the same effects of alcohol consumption as adults—delayed reaction month and impaired understanding and coordination—their deficiency of experience with operating a motor vehicle makes them more likely to crash while drinking and driving. In 2009, 30 percent of the drivers aged 16 - 20 senescence senile who were killed in motor vehicle collisions had a Blood Alcohol Content ( BAC ) of 0. 08 percent of higher, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Besides, drivers in this age pack with BACs of 0. 05 - 0. 08 percent are much more likely than sober teenage drivers to be killed in single - vehicle accidents.
Studies have indicated that teenagers are takeoff to drink at younger ages than in the past. As the average age of a teen’s first drink in 2003 was 14, it was 17 ฝ in 1965, according to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. In its 2007 report on underage alcohol use, the agency indicated that approximately 50 percent of adolescents had wasted alcohol by the enroot of 15.
In rush to these statistics and fatal traffic collisions in representative communities, cities and the state of California have enacted laws to grasp adults accountable for providing alcohol to minors. Recently, Irvine joined the Orange County cities of Business Viejo and Laguna Hills when it passed an edict that will aftereffect in fines of between $750 and $3, 000 for tear hosts who transfer alcoholic beverages to or allow their consumption by destitution attendants of social assembly to blame on individualizing property. After a law passed in 2010, if a celebration host furnishes alcohol to a minor and that minor ergo causes a fatal or injury accident, the victims may take civil actions against the host.
Considering that social gatherings involving minors where alcohol is ad hoc are more likely to materialize in a private residence than a bar or public area, social host laws have important potential for reducing fatal and injury car accidents, explains a lawyer. Inured that the laws in Orange County and throughout the state have only recently been enacted, it may take a few elderliness until the impact of them is fully realized.