Drunk Driving and Road Accidents

Road accidents in the United States have been discussed in recent years. Alcohol is one common ingredient that is responsible for such a high percentage of a serious public safety problem, and it should be prioritized for study, intervention, and regulation.
Alcohol intake impairs brain function by altering thinking, distorting muscular coordination, and clouding judgment. All of these bodily processes are crucial in terms of driving safety. It is critical that individuals should not drink and drive for this purpose. At an early age, education on drunk driving is carried out, and various programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education among others are taught to the youth in the United States. These efforts to train the youth on the effects of alcohol and impairment are illustrative of a cultural mindset pertaining to operating a vehicle under the alcohol influence (Alcañiz et al 522-531). The main cause of road accidents is driving under the influence of alcohol. Consumption of alcohol negatively affects the driver’s performance on the roads by impairing their driving skills. The problem is looked into deeply to give a more integrated synthesis of the literature from the perspectives presented.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Drunk driving accounts for over 30% of traffic accidents in the United States. Solutions have been found by several states through education on laws, and publicity prohibiting drunk driving. Violators of enacted law face imposed penalties. 0.08% is the legal limit for (BAC) Blood Alcohol Concentration in United States therefore; it’s unlawful to drive when someone’s BAC is above the given limit. Research done shows that, every 50 minutes one person dies from drunk driving. Current statistics indicates that; drunk driving causes a loss of over $44 billion a year in deaths and damages.

Higher BAC increases the risk of traffic accidents. Operators who have more than 0.08% are six to twelve times highly likely to get into a deadly crash than the ones with less alcohol content in the blood. The National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (NHTSA) indicates that non-fatal collisions are alcohol-related, given that accident report shows evidence of presence of alcohol even when the test was not done on driver or passengers. Drunk driving is largely responsible for traffic accidents as indicated by various research findings.

Impaired driving attracts consequences that include both criminal and administrative. Criminal penalties comes to play as a result of lawsuit, while administrative penalties are imposed by state agency and may be applicable to the accused if the accused of drunk driving is not charged of the offence. Drunken driving penalties in the United States are less severe compared to many other countries, unless involved in death or fatal injury (Potter, Sharyn J.822-829).

Laws and regulations have been set up to find out the driver’s mental state and whether he is under alcohol influence since driving while intoxicated represents the criminal offence of operating a motor vehicle while drunk. When such drivers are identified and prosecuted, administration of laboratory test is done to detect actual level of substance in the blood samples.

Drunk driving penalty is a process of police arrest therefore police engagement process requires a clear understanding on how it applies to drunken driving penalty. An accepted method by an officer, who is enforcing the law, is when he has a reasonable ground to accuse a driver under alcohol influence. Most procedures locally available are varied under the tens of thousands of law interpreting jurisdictions in the United States (Hansen, Benjamin, 1581-1617). The normal system is: Criminal charge, Probable cause, and Reasonable suspicion, arrest, and ”civil law” sanctions.

CONCLUSION

Driving while drunk is a concern to the United States public health and bringing down the occurrence rate will need a joint community approach. Development of intervening measures like the development of treatment Model, a program that spurs a change in the view of the offender is needed to curb drinking and driving.

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Work Cited

Alcañiz, Manuela, Miguel Santolino, and Lluís Ramon. ”Drinking patterns and drunk-driving behaviour in Catalonia, Spain: a comparative study.” Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour 42 (2016): 522-531.

Arria, Amelia M., et al. ”Energy drink use patterns among young adults: associations with drunk driving.” Alcoholism: clinical and experimental research 40.11 (2016): 2456-2466.

Hansen, Benjamin. ”Punishment and deterrence: Evidence from drunk driving.” American Economic Review 105.4 (2015): 1581-1617.

Møller, Mette, Sonja Haustein, and Carlo Giacomo Prato. ”Profiling drunk driving recidivists in Denmark.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 83 (2015): 125-131.

Potter, Sharyn J. ”Reducing sexual assault on campus: lessons from the movement to prevent drunk driving.” American journal of public health 106.5 (2016): 822-829.