More Teens Drink and Drive on New Year’s Eve Than Other Holidays
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iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Adults are not the only ones who overindulge in alcohol then get behind the wheel on New Year’s Eve — teens do it, too.
According to a recently released study by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), 10 percent of teens admit to driving under the influence on New Year’s Eve, compared to just 6 percent on prom night and 4 percent after graduation.
New Year’s Eve has the highest percentage of admitted teen drivers for a single event.
Teens also believe that New Year’s Eve is the most dangerous time to drive, with 49 percent of them tagging that night as especially risky, due to drunk drivers on the road — but still, they continue to contribute to the problem.
The study also found a large majority of teens would stop driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana if asked by a passenger.
Female passengers are more likely to speak up than male ones, and teen passengers are more likely to ask a friend to stop driving after drinking than if the driver had used marijuana.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the day with the highest number of alcohol-related fatalities in 2010 was Jan.1 — a trend that’s held up for the last decade.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio