I have a question that I have been thinking about. When I took a drivers ed course last summer and we got to the section concerning drunken driving, everybody just kinda thought it was funny and didn't take it seriously. I don't know if that means they think it's ok or what. Today when we were on our way to get some lunch we passed by a club and the whole parking lot had beer bottles, cans and even the cardboard container scattered all over the place. I'm assumeing those people were driving around last night too. I just don't understand why they (teens) can't see this as a serious problem.

 

I am a teen, and i dont have a problem with drinking underage, but i do have a problem with people who choose to abuse that. Such as really loud parties, where they disturb people at night, or where the vandalize, stuff, but especially with drinking and driving. People say dumb stuff to me, like "i was over at so and so's house, had like 4 beers, then drove home, man, driving while your drunk is hard", then they look at me like they want me to think thats cool. I just tell them they are half retarted. and walk away.

 

I agree that drinking under age( under 18) isnt the best, but if you are going to do it, do it at somebodys house and DONT drive at all.. if your 18, you should be able to buy it, your eligible to fight for your country, you should be able to drink.

 

i agree that if you can fight for the country you ought to be able to drink, how that ever got overturned i will never know. i am 19 and i don't have a problem with people drinking underage, i am a christian and not big on the idea of getting drunk. but you don't belong driving after drinking. nobody does. but esp if your even 18, you have only been driving for 2.5 years and that is not a lot. add alcohol to the equation with loud music and you are asking for disaster. if you drink underage keep it in a house or off the road back in a woods and spend the night in your truck, at your friends house, in the barn, etc but don't go out drinking and driving because you are asking for TROUBLE.

 

I couldn't agree more with the above posts. Teens who abuse underage drinking ruin things for the rest of us, even peoples lives (though some legal drinkers fall under the same area). I take driving seriously (I'm 17), and never drink when or before I drive. To be honest, I don't even drink...maybe one occasional drink once in a blue moon.

 

Heres a suggestion, and AAA may not like it but here it goes, first go get a AAA Plus membership, then wrap a Twenty dollar bill around it, next tuck it away in your wallet or purse.

Okay its time to party Okay its now time to go home and you start to walk to your car, oops you dang near stumble over that pea sized pebble hmm you think to yourself maybe i better not drive home hmmmm what to do I don't want to leave my car here.

Ahh haaa as I fish out the AAA card......hello triple AAA my car won't start, okay thanks ,,,,and the wrecker arrives and iI then had the card and the $20 to the driver and tell him that the closest garage in the one at the end of my drive way or your hotel parking lot if your out of town

Hmmm driving drunk=thousands of dollars, jail, and possilblity of a serious accident.
AAA membership cost $100 + $20=$120
Planning ahead =priceless

 

Just know your limit. Don't drive.

Never, ever buy alcoholic beverages for anyone else, if something happens to them, it is your butt.

A cold one every once in a while is not a bad thing at all. Just grow up.

 

Your brain and your body are still developing when you're 18. That may have something to do with the drinking age. Also, being able to fight for your country at 18 is a privelige, too. However, you don't go into your local recruiter's office and come out the same day with uniforms, a gun and start shooting tangos (Terrorists). Soldiers and marines are highly trained before setting foot on the battlefield. It doesn't make a good analogy, I'm sorry.

Drinking and driving at any age is stupid... there's no excuse. The problem with trying to do it in a controlled environment, at a friend's house, the woods, etc, is that you may get away with it for a while, but eventually, you're going to want to test the waters elsewhere. Remember the saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions..." The only real way to avoid trouble with the drinking and driving thing is to always, ALWAYS plan ahead- designate one of your friends to drive. Especially with the way the folks on this forum feel about driving. I've been doing it for over 25 years, and I can tell you that when I was young and really dumb, I loved to get drunk and go for a ride... (listen to ZZTop sing 'Driving While Blind') I still love to drive as much as ever- thank Heavens I finally got wise and quit drinking altogether, now I can always make sure my friends have a way to get home safely...

I do like the suggestion from F2504by4, sounds good.

 

I was driving home this weekend behind a drunk driver... couldn't keep a steady speed or stay on the road well... it's like watching a giant game of Pong. I called 911 and they said they'd dispatch a car, but the guy made it to his local road and turned off the highway. Note to anybody who drives home "intoxicated"... even if you "think" you're doing okay, it's probably really obvious to everybody else on the road. Do yourself a favor and pass out on the bar!

Okay, not to be the post-mother or something... but I really don't think anybody under 18 should drink. I'm sure you're all some pretty responsible kids and all, but the fact remains that when you're still in mom and dad's house and they say "Come home NOW, I don't care what you're doing or where you are, you're grass if you're not home in 10 minutes" you will start feeling the pressure to drive home. I really don't think kids in high school need to start drinking because you're all young, nobody has really had to deal with problems (that arise when your friends drink) and it's still "cool" to throw them back. Wait until college, go to a few parties where upperclassmen are puking on the floor, ****ing in strange places, and everybody is making a fool of themselves. Try taking care of a few drunks first... an experience to say the least! If you're only 17 now and think you have a casual outlook on alcohol, wait a few years and see if you still haven't done anything stupid while under the influence...

And the DD thing... you have to actually make sure your DD doesn't drink. It helps to have friends who are actually 21+ and don't see every party away from home or weekend without the parents as an opportunity because they're more likely to agree to DD, since they can buy it for themselves any time. You (young) guys will be amazed how different 20years + 364 days is than 21 years feels.

 

I wont say underage drinking is wrong, maybe not always smart but planning can make it alot better. When I was a kid me and my freinds rented a hotel room every weekend. If one of us couldn't get our parents would rent it for us or they would just rotate which house we got to use. Now with this setup we had to come up with a way to get our beer or liquor, but they knew we were drinking and also knew where we were at could call, come by, or heck call the cops if things got outa hand. There was about 7 of us that did this every weekend. None of us ever got a DUI or any other alchol related trouble. Our parents never had to say on a Saturday night at 3am "Damn where is my kid" Now maybe we earned the trust of our parents to give us that much freedom. All I know is I have an uncle that died at 17 from drunk driving and my mom wanted to make sure that didnt happen to me. To parents that say I can't beleive that or I would never just let my kid drink, I say they are most likely to do it anyways. You only have control or what you know is going on. We had plenty of kids get DUIs and Underage tickets, but they were never with us and most of the time they were trying to get home or do something else to hide the fact from their parents.

 

i don't drink, never have, never will

 

I'm 18, will be 19 in about a month, I don't drink, I don't have a problem with people drinking around me unless it is limiting my sleep, endangering their lives, or just getting out of hand. I have a lot of people tell me how, "wow, I drank so much last night at this party, and I saw 2-3 cops on my way home, I was so lucky I wasn't busted." Then, as stated above, they look at you looking for a response, like, hey, thats cool, or wow, you did that. I give them what they want, a wow, you did that, boy, you're a retard(could substitute a few other words for that one). Drinking and driving isn't cool, drinking for the sake of getting drunk is not cool, drinking until you puke isn't cool, personally, I don't think drinking is that great, it doesn't look "cool". I know when I see a girl that is drinking, I don't wanna be around them, personally, I think it makes them look unattractive doing it. I don't understand the whole underage drinking craze, I guess it's something rebellious or something, I satisfy my need for rebellion in other ways, Less harmful to my body or someone else.

 

I had a neighbor who was killed in a drunk driving accident. I dont want to go into details, but I'll just say her death was not pretty. And seeing her parents at the funeral will be burned in my memory forever. So if you ever have to make a decision, please think about the consequenses first!!!! I wasn't a saint when I was a teen. I was just very lucky. We all thought we were indestructable at that age but we are not. IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

 

The best advice I can give is to not drink until 21 and then do it responsibly. If you do sign up to fight for your country you are allowed to drink on the bases. I hate anybody that drives drunk and hope many bad things happen to them and them alone. One of the worst things I have ever seen was a drunk driving female that wrecked her SUV. She had way to many to drink and her husband the front seat passenger had not, yet she still drove. Not far from home she ran off the road and wrecked out pretty bad. Her husband was dead at the scene and she was able to stumble away. I watched her take the breath test with her hands covered in his blood. Those few drinks cost her way more than any bar tab. Think before you do these things.

 

I pick up the pieces from drunks all the time. If I had it my way there would be a judge, jury and executioner at the scene. First DUI you lose a finger, second a hand, third THE END. Way too many innocent people die because people just can't seem to understand that you cannot safely operate a vehicle when your blood has too much alcohol in it.

I've picked up pieces of little kids and watched as little kids stood on the side of the road watching us scrape dad's brains up into a bucket and wash the blood down with a hose. I've seen whole families die and a total waste of air walk away to jail. Knowing full well that some judge will probably give him a couple of years if we are lucky. A couple of years for 5 lives, that's the truly disgusting part of DUI. If you really want to get a good picture of what DUI does, then go for a ride on the weekends with an Ambulance, Fire Truck or a Traffic cop. I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Vegas, it's not IF it happens every Friday or Saturday night. It's when and how bad.

Soapbox session over.