t parents find it hard to talk to their teenagers about drinking alcohol'; Parents reported an increased, although reluctant, acceptance of underage drinking and a belief that children are drinking at a younger age. Almost all parents (95%) agreed with the statement that 'it's parents' responsibility to teach their children when, where and how to drink, with 69% of parents strongly agreeing. However, parents did not see it as their sole responsibility; and 89% of parents saw it as the role of family to teach young people to drink responsibly with 18% seeing this as being the role of government and 16% school education.Alcohol and DrivingDrink Driving is one of the main causes of road deaths in Australia. The factors leading to this are Alcohol affects all drivers because it is a depressant V it slows brain function. This reduces the ability to respond to situations, make decisions and take actions. Alcohol affects judgement of speed and distance. People cant tell accurately how fast they are going or how far away from others they are. Alcohol also gives a false sense of confidence, which makes people take risks they wouldnt normally take.According to the Roads and Traffic Authority, half of the accidents occurring on Friday, Saturday or Sundays nights are due to drink driving.Drivers aged between 21 and 29 are the highest risk factors contributing to this, though drivers aged 17 V 39 is also very high. Statistics show that drink drivers are mostly male (over 85% of all charges). There has been a change in community attitudes towards drink driving, with more and more people opting not to drink and drive. This is mainly contributed to the shock advertising that the Queensland Government has undertaken.Another deterrent that the Queensland Government has undertaken was the introduction of Random Breath Tests (RBT) in 1982. Since their introduction, road deaths caused by drink driving have dropped from 40% to 33 %.Australian Statistics on...
