At least 100 young people die each year with a blood alcohol level at or above .05, figures released today show.
The National Coroners Information System (NCIS) statistics show that between 2003 and 2006 there were 402 deaths reported to coroners around Australia (excluding Queensland and South Australia) of people aged 13 to 25 who had a blood alcohol level at or above of 0.05g/100ml, the legal limit on the roads.
Director of NCIS Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith said the majority of these deaths were the result of unintentional injuries.
The most common causes of unintentional injury deaths among young people affected by alcohol were road traffic injuries, alcohol and/or drug toxicity and drowning.
Weekends were identified as the peak time for such deaths of young people, with most fatal incidents occurring between 6pm and 6am on Friday/Saturday and Saturday/Sunday.