Alcohol is a drug, a very popular drug. Alcohol has been around for a long time, and
people have always enjoyed it's effects. Many people have passions for alcohol, some
people have refrigerators filled with beer, many others are wine connoisseurs. Alcohol
always seems to liven up the party. But no madder what your preference is, alcohol can
be very dangerous when combined with the operation of an automobile. If you can remember
only a few things from this report remember this: driving drunk is unsafe to you, and
everyone else around you. The driver's of other cars, pedestrians, etc... Driving drunk
can also be very, very costly: insurance surcharges, insurance rates, tickets, fines.
You should understand what alcohol does to you before we go on. Alcohol is a
depressant, and often enhances your mood. If your angry, after a couple drinks you may
be quite possibly angrier. If you are sad, you probably will feel sadder after some
drinks. It is not good to drink and drive when you are in a good mood, but your driving
is also influenced by your mood. It can make you drive faster, pay attention less,
etc... Study's have shown that the combination of anger, and drinking is responsible for
much of reckless driving. Not only can alcohol enhance your mood, but it has been proven
that it can quickly alter your mood. When alcohol is consumed, it is not digested. It
passes through your stomach and small intestine directly into the bloodstream and is
carried to all parts of your body. It reaches your brain in small amounts. When alcohol
is ingested in larger amounts, it dulls the area of your brain that control inhibition,
judgment, and self-control. Hopefully you can see how this could be detrimental to your
health when driving. Drinking.
But how does alcohol effect my driving? To expand upon this, drinking increases your
self-confidence, and inhibitions but lowers your driving performance (reaction times,
stopping distance). You may feel like you can do anything behind the wheel of a car
after a six-pack. But you can't. Many, many accidents occur because of drinking. Most
of these accidents involve only 1 car, but other people are killed by drunk drivers.
There is a technique to protect yourself from drunk drivers. First, always wear your
seat belt. Second, keep your distance from anyone that may appear to be under the
influence. Anyone who is swerving, or going to slow are good examples. But it is
impossible to prevent all of these accidents, people have to be educated about drinking
and driving.
So how much alcohol is safe? No amount of alcohol in your body is as safe as having
none. But certain amounts of alcohol are safer than others. There is no set limit of
how much is too much, because there are too many factors in drinking. Body weight,
amount of drinks, and how fast you drink are all factors in how alcohol affects you.
Even the amount of food in your stomach can be a factor in how fast the alcohol gets into
your blood stream. You cannot always tell by looking at someone if they've had too much.
Some people can hold their alcohol real, others cannot. The only real way to measure the
amount of alcohol in your body is with a breathalyzer. A breathalyzer measures your BAC;
blood alcohol concentration. Your BAC is how much of your blood is alcohol.
You must be 21 in the U.S. to drink, but the BAC limit is .10%. If you are over .10% you
are considered legally drunk, and will be charged with DUI if you are caught. At
slightly above .05% your risk of causing an accident is double what it would be at 0%.
Considering that most people are not excellent drivers to begin with, this is scary.
How do is sober up? Eating, taking aspirin, drinking black coffee, deep breathing and
cold showers are not effective at all in sobering up. The only way to sober up is time.
This is important to remember, do not let anyone tell you otherwise. If you do drink,
you can be smart about the actions you make. If you have any second thoughts about
driving, don't. Have a friend drive you home, call a friend, or call a cab. Don't worry
about your car, it is not as important as human life, and will probably be in better
condition if you don't drive it drunk. Also, don't let friends drive drunk either, if
they are stubborn, take the keys from them. It is a good idea to make agreements with
your friends about not letting each other get in a car intoxicated. If you have a party,
and someone who gets intoxicated at your party is involved in an accident, it may involve
a lawsuit. Everything about drinking and driving is bad.
If you are driving drunk, there is a very good chance of you getting pulled over.
Indications of drunk driving are speeding, a drinking driver sometimes thinks he/she can
drive safely at high speeds (superman). Weaving, even if a drunk driver stays in the
right lane, sometimes they have trouble steering straight. Slow driving, when a driver
knows that they are intoxicated, they may drive slower than the flow of traffic so that
they do not get in an accident, this can be dangerous in itself. Sometimes drunk drivers
have jerking motions because of short mental lapses and may not keep a steady speed.
Another indication of an intoxicated driver is quick stopping, which causes many
accidents. Police officers have seen drunk drivers many times, and know how they drive.
Don't be a fool a try to beat the system, because it is you that is going to get screwed.
It is sad but true that there are people who drive drunk all the time and get away with
it, and never get caught. But the odds are not with you. If you do get pulled over and
the police officer thinks that you are intoxicated, they will ask you to perform a field
sobriety test. The sobriety test consists of you walking the line straight, following
the police officers finger with your eyes, and touching your nose with both index fingers
while having your eyes closed. Depending on how you do with this test the police officer
will usually conclude whether or not to perform a breathalyzer test. The cop may skip
the sobriety test, and go straight to the breathalyzer if he/she feels like it. It
depends on the judgment of the police officer what happens to you. But in New Jersey and
some other states in the U.S. there is the implied consent law, which says that if you
refuse to take the breathalyzer test you will be considered under the influence, you will
lose your license for six months if it is your first offense, and for two years for
repeaters, and a charge from $250-500. There is also a mandatory insurance surcharge of
$1,000 for three years, plus court imposed fines and penalties. It can be quite costly
being a drunk driver. Failure to pay insurance surcharge will result in indefinite loss
of driving privileges.
Driving while intoxicated does not add up. It is very dangerous, expensive, and stupid.
It easy to avoid it if you are educated. If half the people who have there license knew
the penalties for getting caught, many people would not do it. Education is key.
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