Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Drunk driving and its effects
Effects of alcohol misuse essay
Effects of drunk driving
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“Every year, in the United States about 600,000 and ten percent-of all motor vehicle crashes recorded by police department are all due to consumption of alcohol.” In 2003; 42,643 fatalities were caused by vehicle crashes. Of those, 17,013 (40 percent) were alcohol related. The majority people with DUI’s are not alcoholics. “Beer drinking causes about 80 percent of alcohol-related fatalities.” A crash is alcohol related if any driver, pedestrian or passenger involved has any trace of alcohol or there is suspicion of alcohol usage. As the cases of drunk driving quickly increase over a period of time as one of the fast developing public problem, more definite and stricter regulations should be emphasized on books and in the academic world to control such recurring drunk driving offenses. “The costs associated with a DUI conviction vary from state to state, but they almost always run into the thousands of dollars.” Getting a DUI can cost up to a thousand dollars. Sometimes even more than that. Putting others lives in danger and even yourself in danger means spending that kind of money. When getting a DUI, you also have to attend a education class and end up spending even more money on that as well. “The aforementioned mandatory drunk driving education program can cost between $1,500 and $2,500. Is all this money worth spending on a DUI when it is 100 percent preventable? Drunk driving has been around for many, many years. “Drunk driving actually began long before automobiles were invented. As soon as man climbed onto the back of another animal and began riding, there have been drunken horse, camel, and elephant riders.” As you can see, drinking and driving even came long before automobiles were even invented! Drinking and driving ... ... middle of paper ... ...“The only reliable method of reducing your BAC is to wait out the time for the alcohol to be metabolized.” The water, showers, throwing up may help you feel more alert but will not bring your BAC level down. “Two units of alcohol have the effect of increasing your reaction time by an average of 0.2 seconds.” This means during drinking and driving you react slower than usual when something unexpected happens. In conclusion, as the cases of drunk driving quickly increase over a period of time as one of the fastest developing public problem, more definite and stricter regulations should be emphasized on books and in the academic world to control such recurring drunk driving offenses. Drunk driving is a very serious problem in our society today, but it is becoming socially unacceptable causing the numbers of alcohol related traffic fatalities to decline considerably.
The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most drivers that have only one or two drinks feel fine, and assume they are in control, which is irresponsible and dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's ability to react and impairs judgment. To drive well, you need to be able to have a quick reaction time to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, people continue to drink and drive. However,...
A DUI offense is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. In the state of California if you have a blood alcohol level of .08% or higher it is illegal to be behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. If you are pulled over you can be convicted of driving under the influence. California’s DUI law also includes driving under the influence of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, over the counter medication and drugs with alcohol in them such as cough syrup. Penalties for a DUI include license suspension, fines, jail time, community service, AA meetings DUI School, an ignition interlock device and an SR-22 filing. If you are under 21 years of age, California has a zero tolerance law meaning any amount of alcohol found in your system will be considered driving under the influence. You face having your license suspended for one year, additional fines, and must complete the educational portion of DUI School. If you are 21 or older on your first DUI offense you face immediate license suspension depending on if you take the chemical test, up to six months in jail, more than a $1,000 in fin...
As you can see, drunk driving can cause many tragedies on a family or just the nation in general. Many people think that if we lower the Body Alcohol Content than there wouldn’t be as many people getting injured or killed a year. The question “Should tougher DUI laws be enacted?” is yet to be answered, but maybe in there next few years we will get an
From 1897 to 1980 drunk drivers did not receive the appropriate punishments for their actions. The first person who was arrested for driving while intoxicated was George Smith. Smith was a London, taxi driver and pled guilty after slamming his taxi into a building. Smith was charged with 25 shillings, which was the british currency in that time but has now switched to british pounds. 25 shillings in our money today is worth 24 cents. In 1910 New York was the first state in the United States to pass a drunk driving law, while other states started to follow after. The disciplinary action for a person drunk driving was $1000 and one year in jail. Nonetheless the law did not specify how intoxicated you had to be to receive the punishment. There have been inventions to help our problem that was happening in our society. One was the Drunkometer, invented by Robert Borkenstein in 1936. This device was used for someone to breathe into and could tell someone whether or not the person is drunk. People may think that this was a great invention but, in 1953 is when the more prominent invention came to be. This invention was called the Breathalyzer, invented by Robert Borkenstein.“The Breathalyzer used chemical oxidation and photometry to determine alcohol concentration. The machine measured the alcohol vapors in the breath, and it would show the level of alcohol in
Drunk driving has been an increasing problem for many years. One issue that contributes to this is that in the United States it is actually legal to drive with a certain alcohol percentage. The blood alcohol limit is 0.8 percent (Drunk Driving). This means that a person may drive legally as long as they have a blood alcohol percentage of 0.8 percent or under. However, even at a percentage of 0.3 there may be some impairment of alertness and concentration (Drunk Driving). Driving requires fast reflexes that may be impaired at a 0.5 percent blood alcohol level but a person with this level of intoxication is not legally drinking and driving. Many people are arrested for drunk driving. In 2009, more than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving while under the influence (Drunk Driving). In addition, “an average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before their first arrest” (Get Involved). Therefore, there were a minimum of 112 million accounts of drunk driving in 2009 alone. Drunk drivers also cause an increasing number of deaths. Drunk drivers in the United States c...
Impaired driving is a major issue in our society and is an issue that can easily be preventable unlike many other legal issues. The punishment of impaired driving is barely considered when impaired drivers operates a vehicle while under the influence. It is seen as lenient and study shows that it is a conviction that is repeated multiple times. In order to avoid all of these issues and to fill in the flaws of our government system, the punishments regarding the accused’s conviction of crimes related to impaired driving should be far stricter than the current punishments in order to completely stop impaired driving within our flawed
Driving under the influence is extremely dangerous. Those who drink and drive tend to have an increased risk of car accidents, highway injuries, and vehicular fatalities. However, there are countless ways to prevent drunk driving. Professor David J. Hanson at the sociology department at the State University of New York states that “designated drivers have saved nearly 50,000 lives and spared many more thousands of people from suffering injury from drunk driving. It is a proven fact that almost 30 people in the US die every day in a motor vehicle accident involving a driver impaired by alcohol.” Every accident caused by drunk driving is one hundred percent preventable.
Drunk driving is when an individual drives a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level over the legaly permited limit. Driving under the influence of alcohol is a major health problem in the United States as it accounts for a high number of road fatalities; hence, there is a need for stricter drunk driving rules in the United States in order to reduce drunken driving fatalities.
What is a depressant? Many individuals would give an answer such as a substance that depresses one’s mood. Although on the right path, depressants reduce functional or nervous activity; an example is alcohol. Alcohol, when excessively consumed, will result “in slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed perceptions, and an inability to react quickly” (What is Alcohol, 2014, para.1). In other words, the beverage totally recalibrates a human’s judgment of his actions and thought processes. Because of the knowledge about alcohol, states throughout the country construct federal laws mandating the consumption or sale of liquor. These requirements protect people from hazardous activities and health concerns. Unfortunately, by regulating legislative
Driving under the influence is one of the most common and dangerous situations in which anyone can be or be placed. Drinking and driving is a serious offence that can cause someone to be physically harm or even killed. Not only are you putting yourself at risk but you are also risking the lives of passengers in the car as well as any other car and occupants sharing the road with you. Many people believe that increasing fines for drunk driving offenders will play a compelling role in cutting down the occurrences of driving under the influence. However, while harsher DUI laws will look effective on paper, they will not make a significant step in the fight against drunk driving. Although there is a law enforced for drinking and driving in the
In 1897, “the first drunk driving accident was ever recorded, in 1910” “New York was the first state to adopt a law against drinking and driving, with California and other states soon following ”(first Drunk driving Arrest).”
The first reason that drunk driving is a horrible choice and needs to be stopped is because there are many accidents caused by drunk driving. Almost half of the car accidents nationally are caused by drunk drivers. The source
The driver, George Smith, was a taxicab driver who crashed into a building one night after drinking and driving. (“History of Drunk Driving”) In 1910, New York passed the first law that prohibited drinking and driving.(Staff) Drunk driving is caused by people not making the right decisions. Teenagers would rather drive intoxicated, than to call a parent to come get them because they are afraid of their parents response. Adults drink and drive because they have most likely driven intoxicated before and felt that there is no danger in doing so. The accidents are caused by ignorant people who do not see harm in what they are
Although the safety of cars have improved over time, the same can't be said of their drivers. Driving under the influence of alcohol still kills thousands of people every year on our roads and highways in spite of public awareness campaigns and law enforcement efforts. The first line of defense against becoming a victim of drunk drivers is knowing how to identify them on the road and applying the right defensive driving techniques.
Many people in the United States enjoy a drink of their favorite alcoholic beverage. It could be a nice ice cold beer after a hard day of work or going to the bar and enjoying a few shots or mixed drinks with friends. Drinking alcohol is a common way to mingle with friends and take the edge off a difficult day. However, there are dangers involved with alcohol since it does dampen the body’s ability to cope with new information. Alcohol becomes a poison to the body when consumed in large quantities. The biggest danger is not to the driver after they become inebriated, but comes to anyone the drunk driver comes in contact with. A sober person can be dangerous just by being distracted, but a drunk driver’s ability to cope with changing situations and distractions is one of the biggest hazards on today’s roads. Some individuals believe that they are not as impaired as what they are led to believe from government ads and the many videos that show what can happen to someone who is drinking and driving. Although, there are many policies in place to advocate against drunk driving, there are those who would endanger themselves and others with their thoughtless actions when they jump into the driver’s seat of a vehicle. Drinking and driving should never be combined because a person who has been drinking does not have the ability to use all mental faculties unimpaired, many people have been killed, injured, or psychologically hurt by a drunk driver, many men and women do not know the difference weight and gender have on the body’s ability to process alcohol, and the financial and legal trouble that is awaiting for those convicted by a DUI.