Crime & Safety

How to Avoid Having Your Teen Ride with a Drunken Driver

National study has surprising statistic.

A new national survey on driving habits shows one in 10 teens has driven drunk on New Year's Eve.

But the study also shows a way for other teens to protect themselves -- and their friends behind the wheel: Just ask them not to.

About 94 percent of teens surveyed said they would stop drinking and driving if a passenger in the car asked them not to, according to the study by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD(Students Against Destructive Decisions).

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Some 90 percent said they would stop driving under the influence of marijuana if asked to by a  passenger.

“To avoid a fatal start to the New Year, teen passengers need to use their voices if they have concerns about their friends’ behaviors," Stephen Wallace, senior advisor for policy, research and Education at SADD, said in a news release. "They will be heard.”

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About 49 percent of the nearly 2,300 11th and 12th graders surveyed said they viewed New Year's Eve as a very dangerous day to drive. Nonetheless, 10 percent said they had driven under the influence of alcohol or drugs on that night.


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