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to drink or not to drink essay
to drink or not to drink essay
to drink or not to drink essay
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The foam of the lager remained on my peach fuzzed mustache as I sipped my first beer. I was twelve years old and indulging in alcohol was not a wise decision. I didn't know the impact it would have on my life or the ramifications involved with drinking. Thinking about consequences and the effects of the choices we make is a thought process deleted with more alcohol consumption. As I grew older and became able to drive the opportunity to drink and drive presented itself quite often. Although I never drove drunk I was a culprit of having one beer then driving but this practice stopped as life hurled tragedy at me. My godmother was killed by a drunk driver in addition my father, who was in the car too, was seriously injured as well. This shock filled experience helped define my view towards alcohol and my consumption of it especially in relation to driving. Now as an adult my position is very strongly on the side of no alcoholic beverages when I am about to drive. The social aspect of drinking is what propels a lot of individuals to drink but the act of driving while impaired is a dangerous choice.
She left her house with a radiant smile and that same smile continued as I watched her open the door to the car with my father firmly entrenched in the driver's seat. They were on their way to buy a tire for her car which so happened to be three miles from our home. Time crawled along at snails pace and eventually my brothers and myself wondered where my father and godmother were. Within an instant my mother screamed for me and I ran to her as if my life depended on it. Instead my life was not in the balance it was my godmother who had lost hers. Instantly shattered and numb I was afraid to ask the next question but my mother eased my ...
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...as he fell asleep at the wheel with a blood alcohol content level that was twice the legal limit. The car flipped twice and slung Jeffrey from it like a rag doll but he survived and to this day he does not drink. I have several acquaintances who drink a glass of wine, a shot of liquor, a beer or two and then drive home carefree. Although every individual has their own tolerance level as it pertains to alcohol the missing factor that seems to be missing from everyone's mind is the legality of drinking and driving regardless of consumption. Drunk driving is illegal and the importance of understanding how quickly one beer can lead into two should not be misunderstood. By considering those factors people will learn to make better decisions when it comes to alcohol and driving. Having the ability to get into a car and drive is a privilege that should not be taken lightly.
If one person decides to drive home drunk from a party then that person has a chance of getting into a head on collision with others. That choice to drive drunk has just endangered countless lives of innocent people on the road.
Drunk driving is an issue that effects many people across our nation. People do not realize the affects alcohol can have on the body and mind that slow decision making while driving. This issue begins in the home. Children see their parents, or other adults figures, have a beer or a cocktail and get in the car. Thus, making it seem like it is acceptable to drink and drive. “One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime” (MADD).
I walked into the room on New Year’s Day and felt a sudden twinge of fear. My eyes already hurt from the tears I had shed and those tears would not stop even then the last viewing before we had to leave. She lay quietly on the bed with her face as void of emotion as a sheet of paper without the writing. Slowly, I approached the cold lifeless form that was once my mother and gave her a goodbye kiss.
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,...
The combination of driving an automobile after drinking a significant amount of alcohol has been recognized as a serious problem since the motor car was invented in the 1880s. By 1910, the law in the United States had already codified drunk driving as a misdemeanor offence. Prohibitionists used the danger created by mixing alcohol and driving as a key point in their argument in favor of the eighteenth amendment, as a result of which the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was banned between 1920 and 1933. Apparently lessons were not learned and many decades later drunk driving has been called one of the most serious problems confronting America today” (Kinkade). This should not be a problem for any country as individuals should be able to control their drinking behavior.
“Many people believe that after a few drinks they’re still safe to drive,” said Gary Poedubicky, acting director of the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “Even one drink can impair your judgment and reaction time, putting not only yourself,
I rushed out of the bedroom confused. I began to realize what was going on. I ran to where I last saw her and she was not there. Never before I felt my heart sank. My eyes filled with tears. I dropped to my knees and felt the cold white tile she last swept and mopped for my family. I look up and around seeing picture frames of of her kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren smiling. I turn my head to the right and see the that little statue of the Virgin Mary, the last gift we gave her. I began to cry and walked to my mother hugging her. My father walked dreadfully inside the house. He had rushed my great grandmother to the hospital but time has not on his side. She had a bad heart and was not taking her medication. Later that morning, many people I have never seen before came by to pray. I wandered why this had to happen to her. So much grief and sadness came upon
Young drivers (ages 16-20) are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood alcohol concentration of .08% than when they have not been drinking. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) With that being said, it goes to show that teens already cannot handle drinking and how much problems that have are already came about and will prolong about unless the law stay the same. Good amount of families and friends have already lost their children due to countless of fatal car crashes being under the influence and alcohol abuse from consuming too much. One night, Reggie Stephey 18 years young, he was driving home and he had been drinking. Less than a mile from his driveway, Reggie drifted across the center stripe and hitting Natalia Bennett head on also heading home from a birthday party in Austin, with 4 other passengers Natalia Bennett and her Laura Guerrero died at the scene. It was a little past 4:00 in the morning on Sunday, September 19, 1999. ) Instantly like that someone can lose his or her life just for not making such and irresponsible choice. We need to prevent things from happening like this some because it is not getting any
Driving is a privilege Americans have been afforded since the invention of the automobile in the late 1800’s. Yet with great power comes great responsibility. One of the responsibilities associated with being able to drive several tons of metal at high speeds is the responsibility of doing so without any distractions or impairments. Choosing to drive drunk puts not only the driver in danger, but also everyone else in the car and on the road. Currently, the average drunk driver will drive eighty times before getting caught by the police (1). On average, one third of all people will be involved in a drunk driving accident during the course of their lifetimes (7). Whereas driving drunk once can be seen as a mistake and a one-time lapse in judgment, choosing to recklessly ignore the law and the safety of others is a serious offense against society. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that one in three persons arrested for drunk driving are repeat offenders (2).
Alcohol is something that people use to help with multiply different things and some studies have shown that alcohol may help protect our bodies from cardiovascular disease. Alcohol does have side effects to our health the surroundings around us and can cause violence, vehicle crashes and even suicide. Alcohol does have an effect on people that many social drinkers may not realize. Many people usually have tried alcohol around 13 years of age and high school students consume more wine coolers that are sold in the U.S. and they drink more than 1 billion beers a year. To understand the effects of alcohol, it begins with the brain. It is a curiosity as to why people feel the need to drink and drive. The way the brain works while influenced with alcohol has always fascinated me. Drinking and driving is one of the biggest decisions that alcohol leads to. The National Public Services Research Institute (NHTSA) did a study on 600 people who admitted driving while under the influence of alcohol. They described in detail the decisions they made leading up to the occurrence of driving while impaired like whether to take part in a drinking event, how to get to the event, how much to drink, and how to get home. The people being interviewed revealed more than 2,000 individual decisions that led to alcohol impaired driving. The decisions were then broken down into several categories as shown on the graph attached. Little is known as to what leads people to continue to drinking and driving. But as research shows, people do think, prior to drinking, how they will get home. It’s after they have already had been drinking that they decide to get behind the wheel.
Imagine being in a bar with a few of your good friends. Everyone is drinking and having a good time. Your are going to leave and go home, but you friends won't let you because they know the dangers of driving after having a few drinks. Instead they ca ll a cab to give you a ride home. You would be extremely lucky to have such smart friends. Drunk driving is a very serious problem in our society today, but it is becomming socially unacceptable causing the numbers of alcohol related traffic fatalites t o decline considerably.
("Drinking and Driving”). Instead of getting into a car with a drunk driver you should really think before you act, think of the consequences and think about the endangerment you are getting yourself into. If you are a experienced driver and you drove under the influence before and nothing bad has happened. That probably makes you think that nothing will ever happen, but you are wrong anything can happen ("Drinking and Driving”). When consuming alcohol you often lose judgement and you do things you normally would not do sober. Drinking heavily over a longer periods of time can lead to very serious consequences. Alcohol not only harms yourself, but it also damages relationships and society ("Know… the Effects of Alcohol."). As teens our brains are still developing and consuming alcohol can damage many parts of our brain, affecting our behavior and our ability to learn and remember. It also can destroy relationships and affect society in general with violence and crime, accidents and drunk driving. Drunk driving is very dangerous. It can not only hurt us but it can also hurt others as
It is not healthy for one to wake up every morning just to worry about a drunk driver hitting them. It causes depression, fear, and fury towards the situation they are put in. By choosing to drive while under the influence an individual is signing a contract to put everyone else 's life in danger. One may not realize how friends and family are affected after this dreadful occurrence. An achievable solution to this major problem is that all cars should have a breathalyzer test them in order to start the car because drunk driving is such a problem in today’s society. With this solution drunk driving will never be an issue again. The constant sleepless nights, the aching headaches, and the fear of losing another loved one will not affect individuals any more because of the addition of the
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.
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.