In 2007, the U.S. Surgeon General estimates that approximately 5,000 persons under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking each year.
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Surveys estimate the highest prevalence of both binge and heavy drinking in 2006 was for young adults aged 21 to 23, with the peak rate occurring at age 21. The rate of binge drinking was 36.2 percent among those aged 18 to 20, 20 percent among those ages 16 and 17, and 49.3 percent at age 21.
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In 2002, 86.4% of the Americans 18 and older who reported driving after they had had too much to drink also reported binge drinking. Binge drinkers were over 13 times more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than those to drank, but did not report binge drinking.
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People reporting first use of alcohol before age 15 were more than five times more likely to have past year alcohol dependence or abuse compared with people who first used alcohol at age 21 or older.
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More than 40 percent of individuals who start drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.
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Approximately 6 percent of college students have been diagnosed as alcohol dependent and nearly one-third of students would be given an alcohol abuse diagnosis under psychiatric criteria. Approximately 44 percent of students reported at least one symptom of either abuse or dependence.
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Eighteen percent of US college students reported suffering from clinical significant alcohol-related problems in the past year, compared with 15 percent of their non-college-attending peers. College students were also more likely to be diagnosed as alcohol abusers than their non-college-attending peers.
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In 2006, an estimated 15,827 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes—an average of one every 33 minutes. These deaths constitute 37 percent of the 42,532 total traffic fatalities. Of these, 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). On average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 39 minutes.
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