When it comes to teens and alcohol, drunken driving is far from the only thing that should concern parents.
That's the message from MADD, whose new analysis of alcohol-related deaths among people 15-20 estimates that 68% of fatalities connected to underage drinking are not traffic related.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving analyzed 2010 data from the FBI, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on deaths related to underage alcohol use. It estimates that 32% of these deaths were traffic fatalities; 30% were homicides, 14% suicides, 9% alcohol poisonings and 15% other causes.
"As parents, we are definitely aware of the dangers of drinking and driving," says MADD national President Jan Withers. "I think we're not as educated about all the dangers that drinking before age 21 can be related to. And they're very, very real."
Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/17/underage-drinking-madd-alcohol/2070405/