Step 3

It happens all the time. You go out to have drink or two with friends, but this time things are different. You’re having a great time, the drinks are good and are going down easier and easier. Before you know it the bar is closing and it’s time to go home. Without thinking you say bye to your friends, get in your car, and head home. Only two miles away from home the unthinkable happens. You’ve crossed the center lines and swerved into oncoming traffic. You’re not sure what happened after that, things are a little hazy. The bright lights hurt your eyes, not sure where they came from. There is an offensive odor surrounding you, and you can hear muffled screams, your head hurts. Who is screaming? Finally things start to clear up and you are able to stumble out of your car to see the carnage that you caused. The person screaming is in the other car, well it was a car a few minutes ago. The screaming stops as a rescue team crowds around. Police, fire trucks and ambulance are everywhere. What have you done? As a police officer pulls you away from the seen you see a white blanket. What is that for? In reality you had too much to drink and have caused a horrible accident. Your life is over now, you killed an innocent person. A nurse coming home from a 16 hour shift. She was mother of three, a wonderful wife, and a beautiful women. She is no more.

Drinking and driving has devastated countless people’s lives over the years. The consequences of drinking and driving not only effects the impaired drivers but that of many others, from passengers to others drivers on the road to pedestrians,

even family members. Driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious problem in the U.S. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “alcohol has been identified as one of the most important preventable causes of motor vehicle collisions for more than 4

decades.” (Roudsari, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Rodriguez, 2009) If this issues is so preventable than why is it still happening, where do we draw the line? While the national number of fatalities involving alcohol related traffic crashes has gone down in the recent years. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) reports the death toll, from 10,076 fatalities in 2013 to 9,967 fatalities in 2014 ("Number of Drunk Driving Deaths Dropped Below 10,000 in 2014", 2015). While this isn’t a large number it is still a decrease. Making the conscious decision to drink and drive can put everyone at risk, even the innocent. Despite increased public awareness, drinking and drugged driving continues.

What is considered drunk driving? “By law, a driver is considered to be impaired by alcohol if his or her blood alcohol content is 0.08 percent (0.08 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood) or higher. A driver is any operator of a motor vehicle, which includes motorcycle, truck, and passenger vehicle.” (Holzmueller, 2015). While each state has different laws for drinking and driving, they each share the same foundation laws. “It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher, the minimum drinking age to twenty-one years, and each have established a zero-tolerance law that prohibits people less than twenty-one years of age from driving after drinking (most zero-tolerance laws set the drinking limit to a BAC of 0.02 percent.).” (Holzmueller, 2015). The effects that alcohol has on the body can vary and can depend on consumption and the person. Some zero-tolerance laws set the legal BAC limit as 0.02%, this is equal to about two drinks. With a BAC of 0.02% “there is come loss in judgment, altered mood, relaxation sets in, and the body warms slightly. There is a decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target), and decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention).” (“Effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)” (2015).

While this may not seem significant, but at the national BAC of 0.08%, which is about 4 drinks,

there is a great change in function. At 0.08% BAC “muscle coordination becomes poor (e.g., balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing), it becomes harder to detect danger, and judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are impaired,” while this is only what your body goes through physically, it effects the way you function. “There is a loss of concentration, speed control, and short term memory loss. There is reduced information processing capability (e.g., signal detection, visual search) and impaired perception.” (“Effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)” (2015). Any BAC above this point is 100% illegal. Alcohol causes normal brain function to slow, it affects cognitive skills, and hand-eye coordination.

“By some estimates, an individual who regularly drinks and drives will have done so 80 times before he or she is arrested for a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) charge.” (Shah, 2015). So why do people put themselves and other at such a risk? The reasoning behind a person’s decision to drink and drive are many ranging from social influence to usual behavior. “By far the single biggest influence on drinking and driving decisions comes from environmental influences, primarily those of a social nature. People who made decisions based on social influences tended to be younger people, including college students, and to be females. They also tended to be relatively high on the socioeconomic ladder, for example, with larger incomes, more education and white collar jobs.” (“Why people drink and drive: the bases of drinking-and-driving decisions.” 1995). Peer pressure can be a horrible thing, giving the feeling that a person has to do something even when they know it is not right. It is a leading cause for choosing to drink and drive. A person’s usual behavior can affect the decision to drink and drive. The reasoning behind this usual behavior is that the person drinks and drives on a regular bases so why change that behavior if they have never been caught. Other factors involved in drinking and driving include age, genders, and time of day or day of the week. The times between midnight and 3 a.m. is the

deadliest time of day with a reported “66 % of all traffic fatalities at this time occurred in alcohol-related crashes and 55 % of drivers involved in fatal crashes occur during this time.”

(Holzmueller, 2015). A person’s age can affect drunk driving as well. In 2013 it was reported that people between the ages of 21 to 24 were involved in 33 % of fatal crashes, ages 25 to 34 29 % were involved in fatal crashes. As a person ages the percentage goes down. Out of all the ages involved in fatal drunk driving crashes men were at a 23% more likely to drink and drive where as women were at a 15% (Holzmueller, 2015). As to under-age drinking and driving, “in the general population, the risk of DUI rapidly increases during adolescence, and the DUI rate doubles between the ages of 16-to-17 years old and 18-to-19 years old.” (Delcher, Johnson, & Maldonado-Molina, 2013). To think that these kids, not even able to legally buy alcohol are twice as likely to drink and drive. The availability of alcohol can be a factor in drunk driving as well. One study done in New York shows that the time of day alcohol can be served plays a role in drunk driving. “All counties allow for businesses to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption starting at 8 a.m. until 1 a.m. or 4 a.m.” (Denson & Schofield, 2013). That is around 17 to 20 hours a day that one person has to drink alcohol, get in a car, and drive. While this study shows a link between first time offenders this is no link with repeat drunk drivers.

Being caught drinking and driving can change a person’s life forever and can carry heavy some penalties. So what happens when a person is caught driving under the influence of alcohol. That would depend on where a person lives, the number of offenses, and the BAC. The penalties can range from a simple fine, to jail time, or rehabilitation. For first time offenders the penalties may not be a harsh, however “each state determines the severity of the crime and possible punishments. In most states it is a serious criminal offense, but in other states, a first-time offense is merely a civil infraction. In some states the judge will have discretion on how to enforce

punishment, while in others the law calls for mandatory sentences.” (“State-by-State DUI Penalties,” 2016). As previously mentioned, the punishment for drinking and driving can vary depending on where a person lives, in the state of Maryland punishments can include “First-time offenders face a term of imprisonment of up to one year, payment of a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The driver’s license suspension period for a first-time offender whose BAC was .08 but less than .15 is 45 days. The suspension period for a first-time offender whose BAC was .15 or greater is 90 days. A second violation within five years of the first offense faces a term of imprisonment of up to two years, payment of a fine of up to $2,000, or both. A person who commits two or more DUIs in a five-year period will be required to use an ignition interlock device for three years. Those who commit a third or subsequent offense within a five-year period face a term of imprisonment of up to three years, payment of a fine of up to $3,000, or both.

These offenders will also be required to use an ignition interlock system for three years.” (“Maryland Drunk Driving Laws,” 2016). Fortunately a judge may choose to have a person complete rehabilitation. “The rehabilitation approach argues that offenders are in need of some sort of treatment to curb their use and abuse of alcohol through a variety of interventions.

Emphasis is placed on addressing the underlying behavior of alcohol use that contributes to further drunk driving incidents and criminal offenses. The purpose of rehabilitation, then, is to change behavior by treating offenders’ alcohol/drug problem.” (Taxman & Piquero, 1998).

Checking into a rehab center and attending AA (Alcohol Anonymous) meetings are two popular rehabilitation treatments available for drunk drivers.

“U.S. culture is generally tolerant of alcohol consumption, with two-thirds of Americans reporting that they drink alcohol at least on occasion” (Bertelli & Richardson, 2008). Drinking alcohol is considered to be a social event, from dinner parties involving fine dining, to a college

frat party, most people in the US have had at least one alcoholic drink and made the conscious decision to get behind the wheel and drive. It is because of this that the idea of prevention came about. If drinking and driving can be prevented why not. While there is always the option to call a cab or assign a designated driver not everyone plans ahead to do so. It is because no everyone is responsible that each state takes prevention into their own hands. “Sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols, open container laws, and media campaigns related to enforcement efforts are all enforcement-related strategies for preventing alcohol-impaired driving.” (Sanem, Ericksin, Rutledge, Lenk, Nelson, Jones-Webb, & Toomey, 2015). Another way to prevent drunk driving is the alcohol interlock programs. “An alcohol ignition interlock is an alcohol breath detection device connected to the ignition system of an engine and prevents a driver from starting a vehicle if his BAC measured from a provided breath sample is above the preset limit.” (Radun, Ohisalo, Rajalin, Radun, Wahde, & Lajunen, 2014). Alcohol interlock is the most effective measure to prevent drunk driving due to the fact that the vehicles it is installed into will not start if the driver has consumed any alcohol. Some devices can even detect alcohol in a mouth wash or perfume.

Another form of prevention takes the form of social media. One such organization MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) uses social media in the form of Facebook, blogs, and campaigns to reach people on the topic of drunk driving. Their mission is to bring drunk driving to an end. Not only do they help victims of drunk drivers but they help the families of said victims and promote public awareness of the issue at hand, Drunk Driving. They have a 5 year strategic plan that is broken down into 7 parts with three main parts. The 3 main goals of their plan include: reaching and serving more victims, accelerate progress on their campaign which is to eliminate drunk driving, and reduce drunk and drugged driving while preventing underage drinking with the use of evidence based strategies.

Drinking and driving has devastated countless people’s lives over the years. The consequences of drinking and driving not only effects the impaired drivers but that of many others, from passengers to others drivers on the road to pedestrians, even family members. A drunk driver sees no age, race, or gender, striking at any time. By raising awareness to prevent drunk driving with the use of social media campaigns and groups like MADD, the use of location law enforcement to set up sobriety checkpoints and randomized breath test the US as a whole can reduce the number of fatalities involving alcohol related traffic crashes.

 

 

 

References:

 

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