While evaluating anything, it is easy to create a list of pros and cons. After weighing the importance of each pro and con, it should help making decisions easier. In 2015, there were a lot of ups and downs, as there are every year. There is new music, but on the other hand some popular artists seem to have fallen off of the face of the earth. There are 2015 fashion trends and sayings that need to be left in 2015. There are foods, TV shows, study habits, dances, negativity, and plenty of items being sold on infomercials that without second thoughts should not have been brought into the new year.

However, all of those things that should have definitely been left in 2015, seem unimportant when looking at drunk driving statistics. In 2011 alone, 1.2 million people got arrested for driving under the influence. Every two minutes, a person is injured from a drunk driving incident. In solely 2013, over 10,000 people died in drunk driving crashes, which is also one every 52 minutes. 290,000 were injured in 2013. We should make drinking and driving a thing of the past. Leave it in 2015, because it’s not worth it. If a pros and con list of drinking and driving was made and weighed, it would definitely not seem worth it to anybody. And I realize that still may not make anyone think twice before getting behind the wheel while intoxicated, but it’s worth a shot.

W = Weight (weight of importance is being weighed 0-50, 0 being not important at all, 50 being very important.)

After seeing the consequences, and the only plus side, that mind you, is not even important, people will still continue to drink and drive. Before going out to drink, people should have their rides planned out. If you have a big friend group and you go out drinking every weekend, come  up with a rotation of designated drivers. Every weekend it could be someone else who doesn’t drink and devotes themselves to being the designated driver. Another option is to sleepover wherever you plan to drink. I’m sure if you asked the host of the party, they would much rather you sleep over then put you at risk to get into a drunk driving accident. However, if none of those things are an option and it is too late to call anybody or do anything at all, it’s more safe to just sleep in your car, then drive home in the morning. Getting a ticket for sleeping in your car is much better than killing yourself, others, or injuring anybody, while also getting arrested, for drinking and driving.

There is no excuse to drink and drive. Drinking and driving has always been a huge problem. Everyone needs to try and make it a thing of the past. Let’s leave it in 2015. Let’s start the new year with new, better, habits. More importantly, let your friends and family know that you’re available to give them a lift when they are in a real need.

The first thing most people do when they get their license is drive around almost anywhere. It’s an exciting thing when you’re able to go wherever you want and most of the time people want company in the car with them when they’re driving. Having other passengers in the vehicle isn’t a bad thing until music becomes a topic, which means the person driving as well as the person in the second seat begin to mess with the radio or even worse, the aux cord which is usually connected to a phone or device that already has songs downloaded on it.

Distracted driving is more of an issue for teen drivers because they’re still new to the road and immature when it comes to being as responsible as they should be. It’s a fact that teen drivers with other passengers are more likely to be distracted by what’s going on inside the car before an actual car crash. Males that drive with their friends are approximately six times more likely to demonstrate illegal manners and also drive with more aggression before getting into an accident other than when they’re driving alone. Females are less likely to drive aggressive whether they have other people in the car or if they’re driving by themselves.

90 percent of teens realize that the behavior of passengers distracts the driver from focusing on the road. With such a high percentage, there should be rules and guidelines that are strongly forced upon new drivers to ensure that everyone out there will be safe at all times.

There shouldn’t be any other passengers for the first six months of being on the road alone and no more than 1 other passenger for the second six months of solo driving. This rule should be enforced among all teen drivers. It’s been proven that teens that follow behind guidelines such as this one are less likely to get into accidents and are well behaved behind the wheel. Other than music, there are many other distractions to face while driving such as:

Texting

Eating

Grooming

Setting up GPS

It’s important to do all of these things before getting behind the wheel to ensure that everyone inside the vehicle, including yourself, gets to your destination safely. Nothing is more valuable than a life, which can be taken very easily over something as small as looking in the other direction for a second, or eating a quick snack, so remember to always be focused on the road and to not get distracted.