Every year, approximately 5,000 teenagers are killed or injured in road accidents due to underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and US Department of Transportation) In the Safety by the Numbers newsletter by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and US Department of Transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes in 2012, 31 percent died in accidents involving a drunk driver, and this percentage has remained unchanged for 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Accidents involving alcohol include fatal accidents in which the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.01 g/ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Fatal accidents involving alcohol are twice as common among adolescents as among people aged 21 and over. In fact, alcohol is more detrimental to adolescents' judgment skills. Teens who drink not only risk injury to themselves, but also to their friends, family, and even strangers when they drive drunk. Teenagers and parents need to be reminded that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, "a study found that in 2011, 36 percent of American college students reported drinking excessively (five or more drinks in one sitting) in the past two weeks, compared to 43 percent of students. in 1988. Since 2006, current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives were saved after the legal drinking age was raised. Based on a Time Magazine article titled “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?” ", "lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing students, but it would probably kill more... middle of paper... ... 2014. “Adolescent Drug Abuse.” Adolescent drug abuse. Np, and Web. April 8, 2014. “Underage drinking: a major public health challenge – Alcohol Alert No. 59.” Underage alcohol consumption: a major public health challenge -- Alcohol Alert No. 59. Np, nd Web. April 5, 2014. “Underage Drinking Statistics.” » Edgarsnyder.com. Np, and Web. April 8, 2014. http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/teen/underage-drinking-statistics.htmlZeigler, Donald. “The neurocognitive effects of alcohol on adolescents and college students.” Preventive Medicine 40. (2004): 23 – 32. Web. April 10. 2014. .