Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is one of the most
dangerous things you can do. There is a mass of research evidence to show that
driving performance and reaction times are seriously affected by alcohol. If
you drink and drive, you are not only a danger to yourself but also to your
passenger, other road users and pedestrians. In fact, every 30 minutes,
someone in this country dies in alcohol-related crash. Every 30 minutes! And
last year alone more than one million people are injured in alcohol-related
traffic crashes. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down body reactions and
the working of the brain. Each year drunk driving is responsible for about 25%
of these deaths. The risks of drinking are alcohol-related accidents and
violence. The effects of alcohol are poor coordination and slurred speech,
double vision, decrease of self control loss of consciousness and death. There
are legal consequences due to drinking also. The more a person drinks, the
more their ability to make important decisions becomes impaired. After just
one drink, a driver can lose their ability to perform the tasks necessary to
drive a car. At a certain point, a driver will become illegally intoxicated
and can be arrested for attempting to operate a motor vehicle. In every state
on out country there is a legal limit to how much alcohol you can have in your
body if you are driving. If you drink and drive you can lose your driver's
license and even go to jail. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death
for teens and young adults. More than 5,000 young people die every year in car
crashes and thousands more are injured. Drivers who are 16 years old are more
than 20 times as likely to have a crash as are other drivers. There are two
main reasons why teens are at a higher for being in a car crash and lack of
driving experience and their tendency to take risks while driving. Teens drive
faster and do not control the car as well as more experienced drivers. Their
judgment in traffic is often insufficient to avoid a crash. In addition, teens
do most of their driving at night, which can be even more difficult. Standard
driver's education classes include 30 hours of class-room teaching and 6 hours
of behind-the-wheel training. This is not enough time to fully train a new
driver. Teen drivers are more like to be influence by peers and other stresses
and distractions. This can lead to reckless driving behaviors such as
speeding, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and not wearing
safety belts. There is no safe amount that you can drink and still drive. Even
one drink can influence your driving offences. It is often too late by the
time they seek help. They face losing their license, having embarrassing court
appearances, press coverage and heavy fines. Many are just ordinary people who
have a few social drinks, get behind the wheel and then get pulled over by the
police. So try to manage your life so that you do not drink and drive. If you
go out for a drink, try to go somewhere that you can reach either on foot or
by public transportation. Think about sharing the driving on different days
with a group of people so that you can take turns at driving. If you do drink
even though you meant not to, and you went out with your vehicle, consider
taking a taxi and leave your vehicle behind. This is a whole lot cheaper than
getting prosecuted!
