Parents, whose teenage children are hanging out with friends who do drugs or drink alcohol, in spite of not being of the legal drinking age, may want to step in, and eliminate those friendships. According to a new study, teenage children with friends who indulge in dangerous alcohol-related practices like driving under the influence of alcohol, are much more likely to drive under the influence themselves.
That information comes from a study which focused on high school students, and found that students are much more likely to drive intoxicated if they have friends who also drive intoxicated. That information really shouldn’t be surprising to a San Diego car accident lawyer or parent. After all, peer pressure does play a very important role in helping fashion teen driving behaviors, especially those that are related to dangerous practices like drunk driving. However, what the researchers found surprising was the level of increase in teen drunk driving when they had friends who drove in an impaired condition.
If your teenager is hanging out with friends who believe that it is okay to drive while intoxicated, then it is very likely that your child will also drive in an impaired condition at some point. Being part of a social circle which accepts intoxicated driving simply exposes your child to the belief that such practices are acceptable.
Additionally, the research found that high school students who got their licenses much earlier were much more likely to drive under the influence of alcohol. That data should interest proponents of laws that require a much higher age limit for persons to receive a driver’s license. Overall, delayed licenses for teenage drivers combined with parental oversight seem to be the most effective way to help reduce such dangerous practices.
Write a comment: