It’s important to note that the timeline for experiencing these effects can vary among individuals. Forgetting about statistics and facts, let’s explore what could happen if you decide to get behind the wheel after having one too many alcoholic beverages. Depending on the severity of the collision, victims of car accidents can suffer from multiple severe injuries.
Driver simulation and road course studies have revealed poorer parking performance, poorer driver performance at slow speeds, and steering inaccuracy at BACs of 0.05 percent and higher (Finnigan and Hammersley 1992; Hindmarch et al. 1992; Starmer 1989). Roadside observational studies have identified increased deterioration of speeding and breaking performance (Damkot et al. 1975). Thankfully, there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from impaired driving.
Reaction Time
With the exception of a brief leveling off beginning in 2009, the number of drivers and number of vehicles has generally followed the same trend as population growth (FHWA, 2017) (see Figure 2-4). In 2015 the total number of drivers was 218 million, an increase from 191 million in 2000; 49.4 percent of drivers were men and 50.6 percent of drivers were women (FHWA, 2017). Funding for federal programs aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm, particularly to minors, has significantly dwindled in recent years. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws program is the sole federal initiative that exclusively addresses underage drinking and availability of alcohol to minors (DOJ, 2009).
- DUI penalties range by severity and state, but it is a serious offense that no one wants to have on their record.
- Relative to nondrinking drivers, drivers in all age and gender groups examined who had BACs between 0.08 percent and 0.099 percent had at least an 11 times greater risk of dying in a single-vehicle crash.
- Overall, the proportion of drivers with positive BACs decreased from 36 percent in 1973 to 17 percent in 1996.
- Did you know that you can also get a DUI for driving under the influence of drugs?
Policies and interventions to reduce alcohol-impaired driving, crashes, and fatalities are discussed in detail in Chapters 3, 4, and 5. Additionally, significant growth of suburban areas in recent years has contributed to several changes in the physical driving environment. A possible explanation what are the consequences of drinking and driving is that as residents of suburban areas are more dependent on automobiles to travel, more driving is necessary for suburban residents. Stakeholder marketing also encompasses corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities such as efforts to prevent alcohol-impaired driving.
Drinking And Driving (DUI)
In 2015, we surveyed readers in different parts of the country who had been arrested for DUI. Conviction rates and the severity of charges varied depending on how many prior DUI convictions drivers had. Preventing drinking and driving starts before the next time you plan to drink. You can use a technique of examining each individual decision you made in the past that led to a specific outcome, such as driving under the influence. In the United States, more than one person per hour is killed in a drunk driving accident (1).
Working alongside the aforementioned promotional and sponsorship activities, such market expansion has the potential to increase rates of alcohol-related problems including crashes and fatalities (Babor et al., 2018). Researchers estimated that in 2001 (the most recent year for which these estimates are available), underage and pathological drinking accounted for between 37.5 and 48.8 percent of consumer expenditures on alcohol (Foster et al., 2006). Thus, were the population to drink in a fully legal and nonpathological fashion, the industry could lose nearly half of its revenues, and the government would lose a large amount of its tax revenues as well. Beyond the physiological effects of alcohol, an individual’s perceptions of his or her level of impairment can also affect his or her behavior.
A Regional Look at Drinking and Driving Facts
As of 2016, 12 states plus the District of Columbia had mandatory service training laws, 20 had voluntary laws, 6 had a combination of mandatory and voluntary policies, and 12 had neither (APIS, 2016). Innovation in vehicle safety technology is rapidly expanding, with a range of technologies recently emerging that provide lane departure warnings, forward collision warnings, side view assists, adaptive cruise control, and many other features. Many hold promise to improve vehicle and road safety, although most are currently marketed not as safety features but as driver-assistance systems. Advanced vehicle technology in the form of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety and autonomous vehicles are also in development (see Chapter 4 for more information).
