Drunk Driving and Teenagers

Teenagers and Drunk Driving

Historically, a major threat to teenagers in the United States is drunk driving injuries and fatalities. There has been great improvement on this issue. Since 1991, drunk-driving incidents involving high schoolers has dropped by 54%. 

However, many high schoolers continue to drive drunk. Alcohol is attributed to have caused or been a factor in 40% of all teen deaths in vehicular accidents. Teen drunk driving, by some estimates, every fifteen minutes a teenager will die from a drunk driving incident. 

Lastly, 60% of all teen car crashes are alcohol-related and 1 in every 10 American teenagers will drive under the influence of alcohol.

Alcohol is a big part of teen communities and therefore some statistics should be absorbed to understand the gravity and prevalence of alcohol-use in teenage communities. In 2003, the average boy tries his first tries of alcohol at 11 and the average girl at 13. On an average day, 11,318 teens will try alcohol for the first time. 

Alcohol abuse is more likely for those who begin drinking regularly before 15 years old. Lastly, three million American teens are alcoholics. These statistics show that alcohol is a big part of growing-up and holds a hallowed place in teenage communities. This must be tempered with policies that help to combat the potential threat teenage drunk driving can pose to the teenage community as well as the community at-large.

Zero Tolerance Laws

The tremendous drop in teenage drunk driving shows that effective strategies do exist o combat this specific threat. One of the most effective are known as “zero tolerance” laws. Zero tolerance laws are designed to deter drunk driving by making it illegal for all under the age of 21 to imbibe any alcohol at all and drive. 

This means in a jurisdiction where zero tolerance laws have been enacted, if someone under the age of 21 has any modicum of alcohol in their system, they will be considered to be driving drunk. The research has shown that laws like these have been effective in reducing drinking and driving crashes involving teenagers. 

The classification of these types of offences can vary depending on the jurisdiction in which the violation occurs. Some jurisdictions classify them as administrative infractions while others consider these offences are misdemeanor crimes. The facts of the case also play a role in what penalties are doled out.

The penalties, in cases such as these, can vary depending on how the state classifies the violation and the individual facts and circumstances of the incident. In many cases underage drivers with alcohol in their system can face: fines fluctuating from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, up to a year in jail, community service, substance abuse classes or treatment, and/or having to install an ignition interlock device. Although most often underage DUI penalties are less severe than normal DUI penalties, they can still have major repercussions in a young person’s life.

Less Known Adverse Effects of an Underage DUI Conviction

All young people should be aware of the extent to which a DUI can affect their life. Yes, underage DUIs can cause fines and even jail time. However, there can be other adversities posed by such a conviction. 

Applications to colleges and universities can be compromised by an underage drunk driving conviction. Most undergraduate institutions have a section in their application process devoted to crimes and infractions. On a college application, a misdemeanor can be lumped in with more serious crimes. 

Therefore, whether the underage DUI is a misdemeanor in that teenager’s students state can be a big deal for any potential students. It is true that underage DUIs do not necessarily disqualify you from getting your undergraduate degree, but it can be a factor that is given significant consideration and can materially hurt a teenager’s chance at an acceptance.

An underage DUI can potentially affect your ability to get certain types of employment. However, it is not common that an underage DUI (assuming it wasn’t followed with a pattern of irresponsible behavior and that offence occurred a number of years ago) will not substantially affect your search for employment. 

Again, this can depend on whether your state considers violation of zero tolerance laws a misdemeanor or merely an administrative infraction. Background checks are common for many employment applications and thus it is essential to be aware of your state’s policy on if they have a zero tolerance law on the books and if so how stringent it’s penalties are.

What Can Be Done to Avoid all of This?

First and foremost, teens must take the responsibility unto themselves to comport with behavior that minimizes the risk of being in alcohol-related vehicular accidents. Perhaps the most important thing teens can do is to not drink and drive. Teens should also not ride in a vehicle with another teen who has been drinking. In fact, they should make reasonable attempts to dissuade other teens from driving inebriated. Furthermore, obey the speed limit, don’t text and drive, and put on your seatbelt. All of these steps will make teens safer on the roads and hopefully will not only diminish drunk driving rates as well as promote safe driving in general.

Second, parents must be the vanguards of safety for their children and make reasonable efforts to ensure responsible behavior. Parents must understand that teenagers will drink and when they do they may be doing so to get drunk. Parents should also understand that drunk driving is more dangerous for teenagers than adults, in large part, because teenagers aren’t used to drinking and knowing their alcohol limits. Studies show that an effective way to respond is not to enforce draconian rules for your kids, but rater give them options. Offer to give them a way to get home safe and sound. This may be done by picking them up or sending a cab to get them. It is essential that teenagers do not feel desperate to hide their drinking as this is what often underpins desperate behavior. Lastly, be a good role model for your teenager by always adhering to the rules of the road.

Ignition Interlock Program

What is the Ignition Interlock Program?

The Ignition Interlock Program was made to help limit the ability of those under the influence of alcohol to drive a vehicle. When an individual is in the program, a device is installed in their vehicle.

This device will only allow the driver to start the ignition of their vehicle when they are sober. Ideally, this would result in a reduction in the number of inebriated drivers on the roads and streets of Maryland.

The device installed in the vehicle has a mouthpiece that must be blown into by any prospective driver. This mouthpiece connects to the ignition of a particular vehicle and will only allow the vehicle to be turned on when breathed into by a person who does not have alcohol on their breath. 

The mouthpiece, when breathed into, connects to a component to the device that will analyze your breath to determine if the person is over the limit of inebriation.

This limit is measured by the blood alcohol content (BAC) which is the same measure the police use when stopping and testing drunk drivers.

The BAC required to disallow the vehicle’s ignition from starting is .025%. This is a lower BAC, then what is needed to arrest an inebriated driver for a DWI or DUI. 

The device also keeps records of all of it’s interactions with users and other types of information that will be reviewed by the service provider every thirty days. 

Lastly, the device will also ask for retests at certain points during your drive to ensure safety. The retests do not require the car to be stopped and can be done with little effort during your drive.

The Ignition Interlock Program and Maryland

Drinking and driving is a serious issue in America and results in property damage, injury, and fatality. In Maryland, roughly a third of roadway deaths are a result of impaired driving. The state averages 7, 884 impaired riving crashes annually. 

Additionally, 171 fatalities and 4,026 injuries occur every year in Maryland as a result of impaired driving.

Maryland established the Ignition Interlock Program in 1989. It is administrated and monitored by the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). The program has evolved since its inception. Currently, the Ignition Interlock Program is entirely automated.

This allows the MVA to monitor the participants of the program efficiently and effectively. The MVA also makes use of automation in taking action against program violators. 

Maryland Vehicle Law and the Code of Maryland Regulations mandate the requirements for “participation, the standards for certification, installation, repair and removal of interlock devices, the eligibility requirements for participants, and the standards for Service Providers.”

How do Driver’s Get into the Ignition Interlock Program?

Under normal circumstances, an individual is enrolled in the Ignition Interlock Program after some kind of drunk driving incident. An accused individual can elect to enter the program for a number of reasons, but the most common one is that it can be evidence used to show good behavior or a change of heart for the Court.

If the individual is eligible, the drunk driver can opt into the program thereby becoming a participant in the Ignition Interlock Program. Participation in the program is an alternative to requesting a hearing or upon the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license. On October 1, 2016 Noah’s law was enacted which would require certain offenders to enroll in the program.

These offences include DUIs, DWIs while transporting a minor under the age of 16, driving while intoxicated with an initial breathalyzer test refusal, and homicide or life-threatening injury by motor vehicle while DUI or DWI.

When you elect to participate in the Ignition Interlock Program, an individual will be enrolled for a certain amount of time. When you submit a test indicating a BAC of at least 0.08 but less than 0.15, you will be enrolled for 180 days. This term will 1 year if the test submitted indicated a BAC of 0.15 or higher. The term will be the same if you refuse to submit to the test.

What are Violations of the Ignition Interlock Program

For those who elect or are required to enroll in the Ignition Interlock Program, they must adhere to the requirements of the program or otherwise risk failure or addendums to their term of enrollment. One such violation is the failure to have the device installed in their car and obtain a license that reflects that they may only operate a vehicle that possesses an ignition interlock device.


Another is the failure to appear at the monthly monitoring visits or to operate a motor vehicle not equipped with the ignition device. Some more violations include: failure to abide by terms and conditions of the service provider, tampering with the device, or attempting to start a vehicle with a BAC greater than .025%.

The Cost of the Ignition Interlock Program

All participants in the program are responsible for all expenses incurred by participation in the program. The MVA charges a fee for obtaining a special license that notes the participant may not drive a vehicle that does not have an ignition device.


The MVA also charges a fee to correct the participants license after completion of Ignition Interlock program. Lastly, the installation and monthly servicing cost are charged to participants. These costs may vary.

How Long Does the Program Last?

When an individual receives information about the program, the information should include the minimum amount of time so that the program may be completed. However, this time period is subject to change.

Violations of the program’s rules and guidelines can result in change in terms. Therefore, an individual’s term in the program can be increased by violations. Duration in the program can also be increased by other driving incidents.

Another important note is that credit toward Ignition Interlock Program achievement will not be given until the ignition is installed in the individual’s vehicle and have obtained a restricted license. The program is only officially completed when a letter is sent by the service provider of the Ignition Interlock Program to the MVA.

A Brief History of Drunk Driving in America

Alcohol induced injuries have always been a part of society, but the introduction of the automobile has presented unique issues that require a high level of knowledge and experience to navigate.

Originally, automobiles were fairly unregulated. Few people owned cars and as such it was not a high priority to have them under the thumb of law enforcement. 

As cars became more prevalent, it became obvious regulation was essential. In the 1930s, waves of regulation hit the automobile industry and laws were enacted to control the use of an automobile by individuals. 

Indiana became the first state to pass drunk driving legislation. They instituted a maximum blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15% which doubles the BAC limit today

This was truly revolutionary as it was the first legislation that said individuals need to be beneath a certain level of drunkenness to operate their vehicle.

Drunk Driving In the News

Drunk driving was not the stuff of front page news, but two high profile incidents were exceptions. The first was the death of Margaret Mitchell, the writer of Gone with the Wind. She was killed crossing the street by a driver who admitted to having had been drinking. 

Although, this was never proven to the standard we require today, colloquially it is considered the most infamous death attributed to drunk driving in the first half of the twentieth century. 

Next, and perhaps even more infamously Teddy Kennedy drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. This resulted in the death of May Jo Kopechne who died in the submerged car. It is widely speculated that Ted Kennedy, an alcoholic at the time, was drunk while driving the car. 

These infamous incidents shed light on the problem of drunk driving in America, but respectively each incident failed to gather enough steam to necessitate change.

Legislation that Changed How Drunk Driving Was Viewed

In 1968, The Department of Transportation published a study that found nearly half of the recorded auto fatalities in the United States were in part of entirely due to alcohol impaired motorists. However, by the 1970’s drunk driving incidents continued to be out of control and had reached a level of widespread cultural acceptance. 

The 1980’s brought about remarkable changes. Cari Lightner, a young girl, was killed in California by a drunk driver. This driver had recently been arrested for causing the death of another due to drunk driving.

Formation of Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Lightner’s mother began the group that would become known as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). After a lifetime movie about the incident, public support for the organization grew tremendously. MADD changed the way people viewed drunk driving. 

Early on, many thought drunk driving was just one of those things that happened. It was not encouraged, but it was not given the contemptuous treatment it receives today. MADD’s aggressive campaigning lead to nearly 700 new drunk driving laws nationwide and was instrumental in stigmatizing drunk driving. 

MADD has also been partly attributed with raising the drinking age to 21 while before them it was 18. This was a major shift in American culture. Despite, how controversial the age-raising was it seemed to work as soon The United States Experienced a drop in drunk driving deaths. These sentiments have been proven over and over again by countless scientific studies conducted by the Center for Disease Control, National Academy of Sciences and even the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Measuring Drunk Driving

So, clearly the situation is better today than it used it used be. This is in large part due to the trailblazing work of activities and receptive legislators, but perhaps no greater improvement to the drunk driving dilemma exists then the invention of the breathalyzer. 

This tool has changed the game and become a instrumental for any police officer looking to keep the roads free of drunk driving. Back in the 1920’s, Dr. Emil Bogen conducted a landmark study showing that drunkenness could be measured by determining what is now known as blood alcohol content (BAC). 

Dr. Bogen’s invention held sulphuric acid and potassium dichromate in a bladder-like mechanism. After an individual breathed into the apparatus, the shades of color that would result from the chemical reaction would indicate how much alcohol had been introduced into the bladder. 

The invention was groundbreaking, but not practical as it lacked mobility and ease of use. This lead to an arms race of inventors who knew that there would be a tremendous market for a portable measure of drunkenness. These attempts were plagued by missteps and even steps backwards. 

These devices were subject to wide-ranging criticism by many who believed them to be inaccurate. Even in the scientific community, false-positives became a flashpoint of controversy for makers and distributors of any such tests.

Breathalyzer in Use Today

It was at this moment; the breathalyzer became popularized. Robert F. Borkstein, a police photographer, became enamored with such tests and sought to perfect them. It took Borkstein approximately seventeen years to invent, but it immediately revolutionized the field. 

It was lightweight and portable. As such, it could be used by a police officer patrolling their beat or watching the highways. Additionally, it was light years ahead of its competition in terms of usability. Untrained police officers could use the device easily as it was quite simple to operate. 

The breathalyzer became used all over the country in many different police departments. However, this does not mean controversy around the device abated. There was great resistance to the device especially from lawyers who felt it was “push- button justice” and many other who felt that a police officer was a better judge than any machine at detecting drunkenness. 

The above-mentioned Department of Transportation study came along and greatly reinforced the need for law enforcement to be equipped to handle and deter drunk driving. Over the next two decades, the breathalyzer test has become synonymous with protecting pedestrians and fellow drivers by ensuring drunk driving has no refuge in the United States.

Today things have changed a lot

Drunk driving laws are strictly enforced by police and can result in some hefty fines or even jail in severe cases. Such laws are responsible for saving many lives and thus are a welcome addition to American rule of law. 

It is important for you to know what the laws are in your jurisdiction. Nobody is perfect and if you are charged with drunk driving you should know what to do. At the Law Offices of Randolph Rice, we know the history of drunk driving legislation and the important place it holds in our society. 

We want the laws to be tough, but fair. So if you find yourself having been charged with a drunk driving offense, when you hire us you get knowledge and experience.