> > > So imagine some night you're gonna meet a 16 year old in a > 3,000 pound > > van who has just downed a 6 pack of beer for fun. All his > inhibitions > > are released, and he's like to see how fast this van can go... > > Or maybe your wife & kids will meet him on their way home. > > It's sobering, so to speak: > > http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/20/2796615.htm >
The driver in that story was not underage, at least not in the UK, where the drinking age is 18. What that story demonstrates is that you don't have to be under age to get shit-faced and kill someone with your car. You don't have to be either shit-faced or young, in fact. Two of my nephews, brothers aged about 17 and 18 at the time, have been involved in separate motor accidents. One was knocked off his motor scooter at high speed by a teenage driver, who was sober at the time but changing his CD; the other was knocked off his motor scooter while on his way to work by a sober middle-aged doctor who was in too much of a hurry and wasn't paying attention. Fortuntately neither of my nephews was seriously hurt, although one of them is still feeling the physical effects some 2-3 years later, but they could both easily have been killed. This shows that throwing road traffic accidents into a discussion about outdoor under-age drinking doesn't really contribute much. Young drunks probably do get involved in a lot of traffic accidents. The number of these would be reduced if we as a society took more responsibility for introducing young people to booze and adulthood. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
