Wednesday, January 18, 2012

High Rates of Binge Drinking among College Students Increases DUI Risks

Approximately one in every 4 American adults between the age of 18 and 34 has drunk excessive amounts of alcohol or binged on at least one occasion over the previous month. In the general population, the rate is approximately 1 in 6 adults. Further, college-age drinkers who drink excessively are likely to consume as many as 9 drinks at a shot.

In the general population, binge drinking is the consumption of around 5 alcoholic beverages over a 2-hour period. However, among college drinkers, the average number of drinks consumed in a binge drinking session seems to touch 9 drinks. The national average number of drinks consumed per episode of binge drinking is about 8.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provided other indications that the problem of binge drinking is much more widespread than we know. For instance, according to the agency, approximately half of the alcohol that is consumed in the United States is consumed during episodes of binge drinking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there's a mismatch between alcohol sales figures, and the amount that people say they're consuming. In short, people are actually buying more alcohol than they're admitting to drinking, based on sales figures.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a telephone survey of more than 450,000 adults, and questioned them about their binge drinking practices over the past month.

Binge drinking is also surprisingly prevalent among persons above 65 although the average number of drinks consumed in this age group is less than 6. However, Los Angeles DUI lawyers are especially concerned about high rates of binge drinking among college students, because these drinkers may not be able to safely determine their own ability to drive safely after.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Half of All Americans Want License Suspensions for Texting Offenses

Approximately half of all Americans surveyed in a recent poll believe that persons who are found texting while driving must lose their license for a little while.

The cell phone survey consisted of 1,094 registered voters. The persons were asked whether they believed that a person caught texting while driving should lose their license privileges at least for some time. Approximately 50% of the Americans in the survey answered with a ‘Yes’. However, there were differences in the responses based on age, race and other factors.

No San Fernando Valley car accident lawyer would be surprised to find that older drivers were more likely to answer ‘yes’ to this question than younger drivers. Younger motorists were less likely to recommend losing of license privileges for texting offenses. Only 39% of drivers between 18 and 29 believed that it was advisable to suspend licenses of persons who are caught violating these laws. In contrast, among older drivers above 65, close to 67% believed that drivers who are found texting while driving should have their driving privileges suspended.

Women also seem to be more in favor of suspension of license privileges for texting offenses, compared to men. Approximately 52% of women were in favor of a law like this. Approximately 50% of whites and Hispanics believed that a law like this was recommended, while only 42% of African Americans believed that drivers caught texting while driving should lose their license privileges for a little while.

San Fernando Valley car accident lawyers believe that the practice of texting while driving in California could be reduced substantially if the current penalties also include license suspensions, like in the case of drunk motorists. The limited success that California's texting-while-driving ban has had could be traced partly due to the unintimidating penalties attached.
 
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