Underage drinking is an issue in North Carolina and across the U.S., but every state differs as to the exact frequency of teens drinking. It should be noted that drunk driving, regardless of the driver’s age, is the cause of at least one-third of all driving fatalities in this country. Of the 37,133 road accidents reported in 2017, 10,874 involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or more.
Researchers at CheapCarInsuranceQuotes.com gathered some data on drunk driving among high school students and made a ranking of the 15 worst states. At the bottom of the list were Idaho, Arizona, and Connecticut with 6%, 6.2% and 6.3% of teens driving while drinking. In Idaho, 3.5 per 100,000 people died in drunk driving crashes. This is close to the national average of 3.4 per 100,000 people.
At the top of the list was Arkansas with a startling 10.7% of teens reportedly drinking while intoxicated. The drunk driving fatality rate came to 4.8 per 100,000 people. This was followed by Louisiana with 10% of teens and Montana with 7.6%. Of all 50 states, Utah sees the lowest rate with only 2.8% of high school students drinking and driving. Its fatality rate is 1.7 per 100,000 people.
Those who are involved in car accidents with a drunk driver may be able to recover damages as long as they show that the other party was 100% to blame. North Carolina follows the law of contributory negligence, so victims who contribute even 1% to the crash will be unable to recover damages. To ensure a strong case, victims may want to hire an attorney. The attorney might hire investigators and other third parties to obtain the police report and other evidence against the defendant.