Help pls! teenager drinking & driving, what do I do?

tiamai_d

rev_henry wrote: »

I'm not too sure these whole shock tactics really work on young people. I recently went to a road safety awareness talk put on by the fire brigade (I had to to get my pass plus for free ) and they basically shoved pictures of mangled bodies in our faces and said 'this is what happens if teenagers drive stupidly.' There were several people there who were clearly very shocked but personally I've seen that kind of thing before and it simply will not change how I drive. Moreover they also showed several clips by the Irish road safety board (or some organisation like that) which were road safety ads which were too graphic for this country. Needless to say they all showed young lads showing off to their girlfriends and then crashing and being horribly injured, but all the scenarios I found so unrealistic it was laughable; I was thinking to myself the whole time 'Nobody drives like this ever, even the most reckless young lad.' Now of course I could be entirely wrong about that but tbh I don't think I am, it really was taking it to the extreme end of dangerous driving.
Maybe I'm just not the type to be shocked by shock tactics, but OP it may be that your daughter would fall into that same category as well; it does sound like she might to me.

That was the type of thing I went to, but ours did seem to get across, not the stupid dodgy acting in the film (and yes, it was a young guy who was talked into driving by his girlfriend and pals and ofcourse the car they hit was driven by a woman who had just found out she was pregnant), but that bloomin nurse who spoke to us afterwards. He told the story of a mum who lost her 4 year old son (as I said in a post on page 1). That got to us.

money_maker_3

The ads that are shown in N. Ireland are very graphic, but they do seem to work as we now have a lower death rate. I think the OP daughter needs to see some evidence of what may happen, it works for most !!

Errata

The OP's daughter has already had one RTA an a blowout, although nether of them were her fault. One would think that a couple of close shaves like that would set her imagination on fire about how easy it is to have an accident and even easier if the driver is not in full control of their senses.

Nenen

Research into putting young people off smoking suggests that they are far less affected by gory sights of smoking related deaths, lung damage etc than they are by hard hitting facts about how they will be less likely to appeal to the opposite sex, their clothes will smell horrible etc. It is thought that this is because young people still feel invincible regarding death and actually like to live dangerously. If the same is true of drink driving then maybe a list of the possible consequences: being banned, huges fines, unable to drive abroad, insurance hikes, possible community service or prison (leading to poor job prospects and inability to get visas to many countries in the world she may want to travel to) and most important of all IMHO- living with yourself having killed or maimed another person.
Good luck OP

Janepig

lana22 wrote: »

Police can only breathalise people either involved in an RTC, those who have commited a road traffic offence, or those that you suspect of drinking alcohol recently.

I think someone's Mum saying they once saw them drink drive does not constitute enough "suspicion" to be able to pull over and breathalise.

They will pull anyone over - technically what you're saying is true, but you only need to briefly cross a white line for instance and they'll pull you over because they "suspect you've been drink driving".

Jxx

vikki_louise

if you do decide to go for the hard hitting programs thatsomeone suggested (i know you said you didnt think it would work), i saw an episode of oprah the other day, a family was coming home from a wedding in a limo when a drunk driver smashed into it. the mum walked away- with her little daughters head in her hands, she sat on the side of the road craddling her daughters head (her body was pilled up under the other relatives who had to be cut free). Ive always been anti drink driving and been shocked at stories before but this one was the hardest hitting one ive ever seen.

a few years ago 3 days before christmas my grandpa was out delievering xmas cards on foot when a driver ran him over, she wasnt drunk but wasnt paying attention. he went up on the bonnet, smashed the windscreen and was thrown over hte top of the car (he is over 6 foot tall), he spent a month on a ventilator and to make matters worse he is the carer for my nan who has very bad MS. im ill and my mum had to split her time between visiting my nan in a home (she had always said she would rather die than go into a home, she never said that as in dramaticly its just since being diagnosed it was always her fear), visiting my grandpa in hospital, working and caring for me. my grandpa recovered better than expected but he sturggles so much more than before, the effects are still felt on all of us today, all beccause one woman didnt pay attention.

good luck with your daughter, its good to see your being pro-active about tackling it. i guess it will be easier to be tough with her than to arrange her funeral from an accident x