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The effect of drinking and driving
The effect of drinking and driving
Stricter laws for drunk driving
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Recommended: The effect of drinking and driving
Imagine being in a bar with some of your good friends. Everyone is drinking and having a good time. You're planning to leave and head home, however, you friends will not allow you to because they understand the risks of driving after having many drinks. Instead, they call a cab to provide you a ride home. You would be very lucky to have such sensible friends. Drunk driving may be a terribly major problem in our society nowadays, however, it's becoming socially unacceptable causing the numbers of alcohol-related traffic fatalities to decline significantly. Drunk driving can be very deadly. Nonetheless many people drive while under the influence each day. Drivers who are drunk are blamed for the loss of as many as twenty-five thousand …show more content…
Additionally, most of these killed are simply innocent victims whose behavior failed to contribute to their deaths. These last two statements are both false. On average, a drunk driver that kills has never been involved in an alcohol-related accident before and have no previous convictions for drunk driving. The part about the people killed are simply innocent bystanders is over exaggerated as well. Most of the drunk driver's victims aren't the drivers themselves, they are usually passengers, and the intoxicated pedestrians and cyclists. Despite this, drunk driving remains terribly dangerous. It's the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in America these days. In fact, it's said that about 40% of the population are going to be involved in an alcohol-related crash throughout their life. Drunk driving is very dangerous to adolescents, who appear to be more involved than others. Drunk driving is the number one reason for death among adolescents, accounting for 20% of all deaths from ages fifteen to twenty. Drunk driving is such a tough issue to overcome, though. In our society alcohol is overwhelmingly accepted as a facilitator of sociable interaction, and the great majority of adults drink. However, steps are being taken and the numbers of deaths are …show more content…
The states have taken some effective measures like immediate license suspension, lowering the blood alcohol concentration legal level from .01 to .08 for adults and for individuals beneath age twenty-one to .02. Others like sobriety checkpoints, public education, community awareness, and media campaigns regarding the hazards of alcohol-impaired driving. Additionally, some methods ought to be considered, like those printed throughout the MD General's Workshop on Drunk Driving and within the national arrange for injury prevention and control. Such methods embody changing the social norm to create alcohol-impaired driving socially unacceptable, limiting alcohol accessibility among underage youth, alcohol service coaching for people who sell and serve alcohol, early alcohol treatment, and rehabilitation programs, giving various transportation programs for those of the legal age, and increasing the perception of the danger of arrest for alcohol-impaired driving. States like California have raised the penalty for infraction drunk driving offenses to a maximum $1000 fine and one year in jail. In July, a state law took result requiring twice-convicted drunk drivers to equip their cars with a breath analysis device that prevents them from starting their engines if they have a blood-alcohol level more than .02%. And after January 1, individuals under the age of twenty-one caught driving with a blood-alcohol level .01%
I think that it is agreed by all parties that the prodigious number of sober drivers in our neighborhoods, city streets, and country roads is at present deplorable to the state of our great nation. Currently, a whopping ninety-eight percent of Americans of driving age feel threatened by those who drive under the influence of alcohol, which means that only two percent of Americans are able to fully relax and enjoy themselves while on the road, and with the growing awareness, this number could be on the rise (MADD Online: General Statistics 1). What a travesty! All drivers, and passengers alike, should be put at the same risk for danger, be it damage, injury, or death.
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
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,...
Main Point I: I’d like to start off by talking about the penalties of drinking and driving. Did you know that drunk driving is the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime? A chronic drunk driver is a person who has driven over 1,000 times before being caught. They do not respond to social pressures, law enforcement, and the messages that have been combined to reform the drinking and driving behavior of our society.
Law enforcements around the US have worked extremely hard to prevent drinking and driving. Checkpoints were established to help prevent DUIs. In Sedalia, for example, mostly they are on “big nights” such as prom, Fourth of July, and graduation. A DUI checkpoint is when police officers block the road with barriers or vehicles. Before being a loud to go through the checkpoint, the driver must have a conversation with the officer and present his or her driver’s license. If the driver is shown to have signs of drinking alcohol, the officer can give the driver a sobriety test or a Breathalyzer.
“Drink the first. Sip the second slowly. Skip the third. The speedway ends at the cemetery” (Rockne). Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol related crashes totals more than 51 billion. In Recent discussions of drunk driving, a controversial issue has been whether the driving while intoxicated laws should be increased due to the amount tax payers are paying for drunk driving crashes. On the one hand. Some argue that the driving laws for driving drunk should remain the same and not change. From this perspective the laws about driving under the influence should greatly increase to be stricter, this will help decrease the death rate per year in the United States. On the other hand, however others argue that the laws about driving while drunk are already too strict and should remain unchanged. In sum, then, the issue is whether the laws about driving drunk should be greatly increased to be more effective, or remain unchanged. Because drunk driving can result in unnecessary and premature deaths, unsafe roadways, billions of dollars spent on taxpayers due to DUI’S, and losing a loved one. Drunk driving laws should be altered to be more efficient.
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...
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
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
Drunk driving has continued to be an ongoing crisis that has led to indiscriminate injury, loss of life and property damage. Having more stringent law enforcement in the form of more sobriety checkpoints would allow alleged violators to be arrested, charged and adjudicated. Penalties may be assessed based on blood alcohol content, driving history and prior offences so that financial penalties, driving restrictions and/or rehabilitative treatment can be ordered through the judicial system. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC www.cdc.gov ) reports the following statistic, “Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
Drivers know that driving when drunk can cause an accident. To ensure that the streets are safe from accidents, drunk drivers
Imagine 3.3 million people. About 3.3 million people die yearly due to car accidents. All because of driving under the influence of alcohol. It’s important to talk about drunk driving because the rates of death increase more each year. As you go further into this topic, you will get to know more about how lethal drunk driving can be.
In present time we have seen a rise in the coverage being presented to us as a society about people being charged for drunk driving and making reckless decisions more often than one thinks. Society has a problem of drivers choosing to drink and drive without thinking of possible life changing consequences, until a horrific event happens. This problem can be dealt with by educating society and providing more classes, additional resources, information, and awareness on this subject. Drunk driving has become a countrywide problem and a health hazard to every human being, regardless if one is on a vehicle or not.
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.
Drunk driving is very dangerous and has become a serious problem in today’s world. People who are drunk and behind a steering wheel tend to drive carelessly. Many people across the nation die every day due to drunk driving incidents. Statistics show that “Every day in America, about 27 people die as a result of drunk driving accidents” (Madd “Drunk Driving”). To prevent drunk driving and the death of innocent men, women, and children, society must promote education, increase punishment, and limit the sale of alcohol.