A lot of times a parent buys alcohol to help a teenager celebrate a special event. A strategy parents sometimes use is to provide alcohol at home in order to keep the young drinkers and their friends off the road. In recent years, many different types of establishments such as convenience stores, supermarkets and service stations have started selling alcoholic beverages. The teenage driver is involved in far too many alcohol-related crashes in proportion to the number of licensed drivers in this age group. Part of the campaign against teenage drinking and driving is going to involve restricting the access teenagers have to alcohol.
Legislation provides strict penalties for establishments that sell alcohol to underage drinkers.
Even with massive educational and legislative efforts being directed toward this easy access problem, more help is needed to control the situation. The public can play a crucial role in this effort by reporting establishments that sell to underage drinkers. The proper authorities should be notified of these incidents. The effort should not stop with notification. If satisfaction is not achieved, community meetings, letters to editors of newspapers, letters and phone calls to legislators and other elected officials should be generated.