Could mocktail restaurant offerings decrease DUIs?
With Illinois' reputation of making it to the top of violent states, even when it's not, the Land of Lincoln continues to have less DUIs than other states
Chicago is both winning and losing when it comes to crime. According to Illinois Policy, 2022 marked a “decade-high number of assaults and motor vehicle thefts in Chicago” — with the first eight months of 2023 totaling a 13% increase in crime. The upside is arrest rates plummeted to their lowest level in 10 years.
While the World Population Review does not include Illinois in its 10 most violent states and the Land of Lincoln is not one of the top 10 states for DUIs, there are still an alarming number of DUIs. Last year, there were a total of 4,213 DUI arrests statewide and almost half (2,131) of those arrests were in Chicago.
Drivers between the ages of 21-24 account for 27% of all fatal alcohol-impaired crashes, followed closely by 25-34 year-olds (25%), reports Bankrate. But Generation Z may be about to change those numbers, specifically with their effect on today’s hospitality industry.
Non-alcoholic beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink products totaled $11 billion in 2022 profits, and Generation Z appears to be its biggest consumer. But why is Generation Z losing interest in drinking more than prior generations?
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Arguably, one reason may be more information regarding the results of drinking and driving. Youth, especially after the pandemic, have a heightened awareness of mental health. And excessive drinking links to several mental health conditions, including:
Memory (dementia)
Mental health problems (ex. depression, anxiety)
Social problems (family, school, unemployment)
Then there are physical health problems linked to drinking:
Cancers (breast, colon, esophagus, liver, mouth, rectum, throat, voice box)
Digestive problems
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Immune system weakening
Liver disease
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rundown isn’t much of a mystery to those who have had loved ones arrested for DUIs or fighting (or not) the battle against sobriety, the same group most likely to be arrested for DUIs is also the most likely to be interested in the mocktail trend.
So what changed? A 2021 Technomic food industry research study (via the Hill) reports that only 58% of Gen Z believe hanging out in bars and restaurants is “an important part” of how they socialize. Meanwhile, Millennials rank the same liquor-heavy gatherings at 65%, a group who was partying before the world knew what the coronavirus was.
While access to technology continues to educate more consumers about the risks of DUIs and alcohol addition, the pandemic — and a total of about 70,300 restaurants and bars closed within a year because of it — may have done what the Internet could not. Those closures helped Gen Z figure out that they don’t need liquor or bar hopping to have a good time.
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