That story you saw on the news last week, that kid you heard got pulled over Friday night, that big accident that blocked the highway…we read about them, talked about them – mostly whispered about them–but still these stories didn’t remind us to not drive drunk.

Drunk driving is a serious problem. In 2013, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 10,076 deaths from impaired driving induced by alcohol in the United States–which means one out of three highway deaths is because of alcohol. And, how about this: every 52 minutes in 2013 there was a drunk driving accident that resulted in a fatality in the US. That’s 1,098 deaths just for the hours we spend in school, which is over half of the students at BHS. That means one death for every class we sit through each day at BHS–two during lunch block.

Despite all the stories and statistics put out there, most teens seem to convince themselves that they will be fine if they drive drunk. We constantly think that “oh, this won’t happen to me,” but it could.

Kristian Lucashensky, a 2014 BHS graduate, had to acknowledge this. He was in car accident due to driving drunk. In the aftermath, he was interviewed by B2B for a series on addiction and while reflecting on his choices, he urged students to “Change your life now instead of later.” Lucashensky pointed out that change is hard, but in such a case where your current choices can endanger your life, and others’ lives, it’s worth it.

Why are so many of us resistant to change and easily accepting of our peers drunk driving habit? Maybe it’s because we see adults seemingly go out to bars or friends get-togethers and are able to drive home after two beers or a few glasses of wine. If you grew up in an environment where driving buzzed has been an option, the chance that you may think you’ll be okay doing it is higher. But buzzed and drunk driving hold the same potential for accidents.

As teenagers, culturally we are told to keep our drinking on the down low, so we don’t stop at two beers. We binge. Pair that with our underdeveloped frontal lobes of the brain, and our decision making process isn’t very well-controlled.

At some point in school, we were taught about how bad driving drunk is, and how we should never do it. But, most of this material is taught to us in the fourth grade, when we are 9 turning 10; at an age when actually driving a car is 6-7 crucial years away. When we’re younger, sitting in health class, it doesn’t matter as much as when we’re older. And yet as 15 and 16-year-olds, it is more our responsibility to educate ourselves. We don’t get these messages in school anymore, only in driver’s ed–which only some take and few remember.

Families need to bring up the matter more. Information coming from a loved one holds a deeper impact than a jampacked school-wide assembly on statistics or a one-day mock crash. Teen drinking happens. There’s no way of avoiding the fact that some people will drink in high school.

However, maybe the way we handle driving drunk can change. It’s not a subject we like to bring up, or address with legally-drinking adults. We fear talking about it with our parents, because of the chance that we will get punished for it. Because of this chance, the instinct to hide it is natural. But the chance of getting injured is something to worry about more than the possibility of getting punished.

Punishment and parents aside, teen drinking can lead to many dangerous situations. But, there are ways we can make sure drunk driving is not an issue. For example, place car keys in a bowl on the way into a party so no one who gives up their keys can drive. Stick with this. Call someone if you can’t drive. Have a backup plan. This can be a life-changer, literally.

But beyond taking precautions, the people you surround yourself with can change how you act about all of this. Surround yourself with people who care about your well-being, and will stop you from doing something that will negatively change your life. Be the person who your friends call for help–with no judgement tagged along with it; just get them home safely. Be that person who can stop others from possible death.

We need to change before drunk driving changes us–forever.