Non-fiction: Crash!
Crash!
By Darcy Lewis
Drunk driving is a matter of life and death.
If you think you can handle driving after drinking alcohol, talk to Kenny
Bollier. When he was 17, the Texas resident (below) made a choice that still
haunts him. “I let my friend drive my truck even though we’d all been
drinking,” he says. “I was sure we could handle it.” The friend crashed the
truck.
Courtesy of Kenny
Bollier
Although the friend and a third teen walked away, Bollier, now 27, wasn’t so
lucky. The impact not only crushed his jaw, nose, and right eye but also
snapped his neck, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. “I’m a
quadriplegic and live in a nursing home because my family can’t take care of
me anymore,” he told Current Health. “I can’t feed or bathe myself. I used
to bench-press 350 pounds, and now I can’t lift even a couple of pounds.”
Bollier is the first to admit he made a mistake. Unfortunately, many teens
make the same mistake every day. According to the 2009 National Survey
on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 12 percent of all drivers—30.2 million
people—drove drunk at least once during the previous year. The drunk
driving rates for those ages 16–17 were better at 6.3 percent. But for
drivers 18–20, that number rose to 16.6 percent.
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Non-fiction: Crash!
Alcohol remains a major factor in fatal crashes too. Nearly 11,000 Americans
died in drunk-driving crashes in 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration reports. That’s one in every three traffic-related deaths.
iStock
People in drunk-driving crashes don’t always die, of course. “They’re often
left severely injured or brain damaged,” notes Kevin Haggerty, assistant
director of the Social Development Research Group at the University of
Washington. “Many people would say that’s worse than dying.”
Your Brain on Alcohol
Like Bollier and his friends, most teens who drink and drive probably think
they can do so safely. But science isn’t on their side. “Alcohol impairs
judgment, and driving involves thousands of judgments, including motor
skills and depth perception,” says Stephen Wallace. He’s the national
chairperson and CEO of Students Against Destructive Decisions and author
of Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex— What Parents Don’t Know and
Teens Aren’t Telling. “Alcohol slows your reaction times, no matter how alert
you think you are,” he says.
What’s more, teens are more vulnerable to alcohol’s effects than adults are.
Haggerty explains that the brain’s decision-making frontal lobe doesn’t
mature until a person is in his or her 20s. “Teens are more prone to
blackouts and less likely to have an adult’s warning system of ‘acting drunk,’
like weaving or staggering,” he says. “Teens are also more likely than adults
to become uninhibited and to make bad decisions.” That includes other risky
situations aside from driving, of course.
Fortunately, fewer teens are drinking than in previous years. A long-term
study from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research found
that the percentage of high school seniors who had drunk alcohol in the past
month reached record lows in 2010: The number was 41 percent, down from
1978’s peak of 72 percent. “Young people are making smarter choices today,
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Non-fiction: Crash!
and high school culture is much less accepting of drinking than in years
past,” says Haggerty.
Don’t Get in That Car!
As Bollier’s story shows, it’s not enough for you not to drink and drive. You
also need to avoid riding with anyone who has been drinking. The easiest
way to do that is to steer clear of situations where alcohol is present. “If I
hear there is going to be alcohol at a party, I don’t go,” says 18-year-old
Alexis Galinski. She’s the former president of her Florida school’s Students
Against Destructive Decisions chapter.
Courtesy Of Kenny Bollier
Kenny Bollier wants teens
to avoid getting in a car if
the driver has been
drinking.
That doesn’t always work, however, so be prepared. “Have a plan before you
go about what to do if you’re pressured to drink or ride with someone who
has,” says Galinski. “Otherwise, you might make a bad decision on the
spot.”
Work out in advance that you will call your parents or another trusted adult
for a ride if any situation makes you uncomfortable. “Your parents want you
to be safe even if they get mad later,” says Laura Dean-Mooney, national
president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “They would rather get a call
from you now than a call from an officer saying you’ve been killed or
injured.”
You should also be prepared to stop a friend who’s been drinking from
driving. Wallace says the old advice about taking away a friend’s keys works.
“They might get mad at first, but we’re talking about life and death,” he
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Non-fiction: Crash!
says. “I’ve talked to too many kids who have seen friends die because they
didn’t act when they had the chance.”
For Bollier, those scenarios seem simple in hindsight. “I lost my whole future
in the blink of an eye,” he says. “Ask yourself: ‘Is having this drink worth my
life?’ And then put it down.”
Doesn’t Everyone Drink?
NO. Even teens who decide to avoid alcohol altogether may underestimate
how much company they have. “If you ask teens how many of their peers
drink, they’ll say 90 to 95 percent, which hugely overestimates the true
numbers,” says Stephen Wallace, author and national chairperson and CEO
of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). Many teens find
themselves in groups of friends where alcohol isn’t even part of the picture,
he points out.
Alexis Galinski, former president of her high school SADD chapter, agrees.
“People in high school respected that I wouldn’t drink,” says the 18-year-old
from Florida. “I knew lots of people who drank, but I put my energies into
friends and sports and never missed alcohol.”
Lower the Drinking Age?
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise
their legal drinking ages to 21. (In many states the legal age had been 18
until then.) The law has saved at least 1,000 lives per year—nearly 30,000
lives so far—according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
iStock
For Kevin Haggerty, a social scientist at the University of Washington, those
numbers tell a compelling story. “The 21 drinking age is one of the most
effective pieces of public policy out there,” he says.
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Non-fiction: Crash!
The nonprofit Choose Responsibility disagrees, however. (The organization
began after a group of college presidents questioned whether the law was
effective in curbing teen drinking.) Instead, the group’s president, Barrett
Seaman, advocates stricter drunk-driving enforcement. “We also call for a
mandatory course in ‘drinker education’ that would lead to a drinking license
at age 18,” he says. “Such a license would be recognized only in those states
that issue it and could not be transported across state lines. If abused, the
drinking privilege before age 21 could be revoked.”
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Questions: Crash!
_____________ Date: _______________________
Name:
1. Review the section, “Your Brain on Alcohol.” In it, all of the following are given as
reasons why teens can’t drive and drink safely EXCEPT
A
B
C
D
alcohol slows your reaction times
alcohol impairs your judgment
teens are making smarter choices today
teens are more likely than adults to become uninhibited and make bad
decisions
2. Read the following sentences from the passage:
“You also need to avoid riding with anyone who has been drinking. The easiest way to
do that is to steer clear of situations where alcohol is present.”
Which of the following best describes the relationship between these two sentences?
A
B
C
D
The
The
The
The
sentences
sentences
sentences
sentences
describe a sequence of events.
present similarities and differences.
present a problem and a solution.
provide evidence for both sides of an argument.
3. After reading this passage, you can conclude that driving and drinking among
teenagers
A
B
C
D
will no longer be a problem in the future
remains a problem and people continue to seek solutions
can be solved by changing state laws to lower the drinking age
is not such a big a problem
4. Read the following sentence from the passage:
“‘Teens are more prone to blackouts and less likely to have an adult’s warning system of
“acting drunk,” like weaving or staggering,’ he says.”
In this sentence, the words prone to mean
A
B
C
D
likely to have
happy about
lying down
interested in
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Questions: Crash!
5. The passage “Crash!” is mainly about
A
B
C
D
the fast-growing problem of drinking and driving among teenagers
the danger of teen drinking and driving and how to stay safe
the importance of not going to parties where alcohol is served
how the teenage brain is affected by alcohol
6. What makes drinking and driving even more dangerous for teenagers than for adults?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
7. What are some steps teenagers might take so they don’t get into dangerous
situations around drinking and driving?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
8. The question below is an incomplete sentence. Choose the word that best completes
the sentence.
Many teens estimate the number of kids who drink is 90 or 95 percent _________
evidence that the real percentage is much, much lower.
A
B
C
D
around
despite
because
for example
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Questions: Crash!
9. Answer the following questions based on the sentence below.
During her high school years, Alex Galinski knew lots of people who drank but decided to
put her energies into friends and sports instead because she saw how destructive
drinking could be.
Who? Alexis Galinski
(did) What? ____________________________________________________________
When? ________________________________________________________________
Why? _________________________________________________________________
10. Vocabulary Word: uninhibited: willing to do risky or silly things.
Use the vocabulary word in a sentence: ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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Teacher Guide & Answers: Crash!
Teacher Guide and Answers
Passage Reading Level: Lexile 1010
Featured Text Structure: Problem/Solution – the writer poses a problem and presents possible solutions
Passage Summary: “Crash!” discusses the many dangers that drinking and driving pose for teenagers.
It describes what alcohol does to a teenager’s brain and emotions, and offers a number of suggestions for
steps that teens can take to keep themselves safe.
1. Review the section, “Your Brain on Alcohol.” In it, all of the following are given as reasons why teens
can’t drive and drink safely EXCEPT
A
B
C
D
alcohol slows your reaction times
alcohol impairs your judgment
teens are making smarter choices today
teens are more likely than adults to become uninhibited and make bad decisions
2. Read the following sentences from the passage:
“You also need to avoid riding with anyone who has been drinking. The easiest way to do that is to steer
clear of situations where alcohol is present.”
Which of the following best describes the relationship between these two sentences?
A
B
C
D
The sentences describe a sequence of events.
The sentences present similarities and differences.
The sentences present a problem and a solution.
The sentences provide evidence for both sides of an argument.
3. After reading this passage, you can conclude that driving and drinking among teenagers
A
B
C
D
will no longer be a problem in the future
remains a problem and people continue to seek solutions
can be solved by changing state laws to lower the drinking age
is not such a big a problem
4. Read the following sentence from the passage:
“‘Teens are more prone to blackouts and less likely to have an adult’s warning system of “acting drunk,”
like weaving or staggering,’ he says.”
In this sentence, the words prone to mean
A
B
C
D
likely to have
happy about
lying down
interested in
1
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Teacher Guide & Answers: Crash!
5. The passage “Crash!” is mainly about
A
B
C
D
the fast-growing problem of drinking and driving among teenagers
the danger of teen drinking and driving and how to stay safe
the importance of not going to parties where alcohol is served
how the teenage brain is affected by alcohol
6. What makes drinking and driving even more dangerous for teenagers than for adults?
Suggested answer: Teens’ brains are still developing, which makes teenagers more vulnerable to
alcohol’s effects than adults are. Teens are more likely to have dangerous blackout and to make bad or
impulsive decisions. [paragraph 7]
7. What are some steps teenagers might take so they don’t get into dangerous situations around drinking
and driving?
Suggested answer: They can avoid events where drinking is going on; have a plan ahead of time for
what to do if they are pressured to drink or ride with someone who is drinking; call a parent to take them
home; or take steps to stop a friend who has been drinking from driving. [paragraphs 9, 10, 11, and 12]
8. The question below is an incomplete sentence. Choose the word that best completes the sentence.
Many teens estimate the number of kids who drink is 90 or 95 percent _________ evidence that the real
percentage is much, much lower.
A
B
C
D
around
despite
because
for example
9. Answer the following questions based on the sentence below.
During her high school years, Alex Galinski knew lots of people who drank but decided to put her energies
into friends and sports instead because she saw how destructive drinking could be.
Who? Alexis Galinski
(did) What? decided to put her energies into friends and sports
When? during her high school years
Why? because she saw how destructive drinking could be
10. Vocabulary Word: uninhibited: willing to do risky or silly things.
Use the vocabulary word in a sentence: answers may vary.
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