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 Maltreat and Mental Health Services Administration reported to have droopy at primary one alcoholic beverage within the past 30 days. Besides, partly a property 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 turn and impaired genius and coordination—their need 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 dotage senescent 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. Also, drivers in this age lot 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 inception to drink at younger ages than in the past. Considering 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 irked alcohol by the evolve of 15.
In stir to these statistics and fatal traffic collisions in typical communities, cities and the state of California have enacted laws to retention adults explainable for providing alcohol to minors. Recently, Irvine joined the Orange County cities of Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills when it passed an ordinance that will finish in fines of between $750 and $3, 000 for hullabaloo hosts who add alcoholic beverages to or spare their consumption by privation attendants of social collection under contract on proper property. After a law passed in 2010, if a ball host furnishes alcohol to a minor and that minor thus causes a fatal or injury accident, the victims may take civil actions against the host.
Considering that social gatherings involving minors where alcohol is being are more likely to transpire in a private residence than a bar or public area, social host laws have convincing potential for reducing fatal and injury car accidents, explains a lawyer. Liable that the laws in Orange County and throughout the state have only recently been enacted, it may take a few oldness until the impact of them is fully realized.