Is [Lifetime] Drunk, Driving, and 17 Based on a True Story?

Russ Parr helmed the Lifetime’s Drunk, Driving, and 17 movie. It follows Gossip Girl’s Savannah Lee Smith as a straight-A student whose life is turned upside down by one night of heavy drinking and driving. The mother who gets in trouble with host responsibility rules for letting her teens (including her own daughter) drink under her watch is played by Michael Michele. In order to address the serious issue of alcohol consumption among young people, Lifetime’s Drunk, Driving, and 17 drew on a number of recent news stories.  Is s Drunk, Driving, and 17  Based on True Events? tvacute investigated!

Is [Lifetime] Drunk, Driving, and 17 based on a true story?

Yes, “Drunk, Driving, and 17,” is based on true events. The terrible results of teenage party hosting and drinking are explored. Drunk Driving addresses the issue of parents providing alcohol to their minor children during house parties because they believe their children are safer doing so. If you’re a parent serving alcohol to your teen guests at a party, you might want to bear that in mind.

Nerds of Color Interviewed Savannah Lee Smith, and she said “I think it [being influenced by true events] definitely influenced the way that I approached the project just because it is a heavy movie and its subject is one that deserves care and caution. I just really wanted to do the character and the project in general justice and try to relay the message as accurately as it was written on the page,” the actress told me. “I spent a lot of time speaking with the director, Russ Parr, and executive producers at Swirl Films about how we can make it as real as possible while still entertaining.

The film, produced in conjunction with MADD, addresses the serious problem of underage drinking and driving.  Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a not-for-profit group that operates in the US, Canada, and Brazil with the goals of reducing drunk driving, helping those whose lives have been affected by it, keeping young people from getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, and improving national policy to crack down on driving while intoxicated. After the tragic death of her daughter Cari, 13, who died of a drunk driver, Candace Lightner launched the Irving, Texas-based nonprofit on September 5, 1980, in California.  Alcohol contributes to one-quarter of all teen automobile accidents, and the deaths of 4,300 people annually, according to MADD data. What’s more, the host responsibility rules discussed in the movie are actual, current laws in 43 states.

Telling the story of a mother who has lost a child due to drunk driving is one of the most heartbreaking things anyone can do. This is how Sheila Lockwood feels about losing her son Austin, according to her own words. When two police officers showed up at our house on June 10, 2018, our lives were cruelly altered. We were informed that Austin was gone.
Three words that spelled the end of our life. Broken in our souls irreparably. We have trouble getting to work, we stay up all night, and we hardly eat. The loss is too great to bear. Because of a heartless murderer, we lost Austin.

A driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs was speeding. Unacceptable. There was zero acknowledgment of responsibility for his despicable behavior. Unfortunately, Austin’s tale continues. The driver who hit and killed him was arrested on suspicion of murder while intoxicated. The terrible finding was found by Sheila some months after she had buried Austin. Her son’s murderer was still behind the wheel. After the accident, the individual gave up his Illinois license and relocated to Wisconsin. His license was issued while the court was still considering his case.