Young adults are so excited when they first get their license. They’re driving their friends around, and the usual Maccas run is a right of passage, right? They can drive to school, to their work, they can run errands for parents and basically this whole new world opens up that they never thought possible. They suddenly think…I can drive every single day!
They can officially start drinking.
Then there’s the other side of this exciting stage of their lives. Parties! Whilst parties have always been a way of a teenager’s life, it enters a whole new domain when they can officially start drinking. It’s just a shame it all coincides with their 18th birthday. Would make a whole lot of sense to let kids get their license at 17 so they’ve got a whole year to get used to being on the road before they can legally drink. But that’s a debate for another day.
The other side of that coin, alcohol!
It’s the year they’ve all been waiting for. The endless string of 18th birthday parties, making new friends, being able to stay out without a curfew, finally being trusted to party and have a lot of fun, finish high school! But…with that comes the other side of that coin. Alcohol!
Too much alcohol has been consumed.
Many kids drive to parties these days with the intention of being good and not having a drink. Or, the other side of this is the parents say if you decide to drink when you’ve arrived, sleep it off and come home the next day. Generally, that is not a good idea if too much alcohol has been consumed.
Let me explain why.
Cruisers, which seems to be the drink of choice are generally around 275mls. The general single unit of alcohol for one of these cruisers is 1.1 units per serve. According to data (source https://www.health.gov.au/). For each serve of this particular alcoholic drink takes your BAC to .02 as per BAC requirements. So, if you’re consuming say 4-6 of these per session, your BAC will take it well over the 1.0 BAC mark. (This is an estimate only as every person is different!)
Is that a risk worth taking?
Then, you have to take into account that probationary drivers must have a zero blood alcohol for them to drive, so if they’ve had a huge night the evening before and lack of sleep due to fatigue and alcohol, it can take approximately 12 hours plus to entirely leave your system. Is that a risk worth taking?
The risk is just too great!
My girls are now 22 and 19, but the rule we’ve had in this house, if you choose to drive to a party and then change your mind to drink? Arrange for one of us to come get them that evening or the next day or Uber home with friends until we can safely pick up their car. The risk is just too great!
So, have a conversation with your new driver and work out a different way of doing things, because the alternative is loss of license or a car accident that may harm themselves and others.
