Number Of Drink Drive Accidents example essay topic

Every 22 minutes, someone will die in an alcohol-related traffic accident. Although you probably think that it could never happen to you, experts say everyone has a 40% chance of being in a crash involving alcohol use sometime in their life. According to a Gallup survey, funded by State Farm, of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), drunken driving is our No. 1 highway safety problem. Through education, increased law enforcement and stiffer penalties, the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents can be reduced. Since the early 1980's, there has been a substantial decline in drinking and driving and in the number of alcohol-related deaths and injuries on the roads. However, drinking and driving remains one of the main causes of death and injury.

Between 1993 and 1996 casualties in drink drive accidents had begun to rise again, but in 1997 this trend again went into reverse and there were further falls in the number of casualties. In 1997, there were an estimated 540 deaths and over 16,000 injuries involving illegal blood alcohol levels. Around half of the casualties were to people other than the drinking drivers themselves. There were probably an additional 250 people killed in accidents involving drivers and riders with raised blood alcohol levels but still below the current legal limit.

Altogether, therefore, around one in five road deaths are alcohol related. The average blood alcohol content among fatally injured r drinking drivers is 17%. Almost half of fatally injured drinking drivers have a BAC of. 2% over (which is twice the legal limit in most jurisdictions).

High BAC drivers tend to be male, aged 25-35, and have a history of DWI convictions. Alcohol affects your driving skills in many ways. After drinking, the brain works inefficiently, taking longer to receive messages from the eye; processing information becomes more difficult and instructions to the muscles are delayed. Alcohol can slow down reaction time by 10 to 30%.

It also reduces ability to perform two or more tasks at the same time. Alcohol reduces the ability to see distant objects and night vision can be reduced by 25%. Blurred and double vision can also occur. Ability to perceive what is happening at the roadside is weakened and loss of peripheral vision could be crucial. Even when sober, young drivers and riders are more accident prone than older, more experienced drivers. Their lower tolerance to alcohol further increases their accident risk.

The vulnerability of a young person to the effects of alcohol is shown by the lower average blood alcohol levels of young drink driving offenders compared with older offenders. The same pattern is found in drivers who are killed. For young people accident risk increases after one drink, after two it doubles and after five it can have increased 10 times. Some people wonder who are the ones who usually drink and drive. Well the answer is that more than 9 out of 10 of those convicted are male.

Young adults under the age of 21, account for around 10% of convictions. The peak age of becoming a "high risk offender" is 27. Young, male, unemployed workers who drink beer in pubs have been identified as one high-risk group, but so have older professional / managerial men. In 1996, 2,840 car drivers and passengers were killed or seriously injured. Of these, 1280 were drivers over the limit and 360 under the limit.

One thousand two hundred were passengers. Of the 580 deaths in drink drive accidents in 1996, 59% were drivers or riders over the limit and 41% were innocent victims. In the 16-24 age group, 1,090 car drivers and passengers were killed or seriously injured in drink drive accidents. 460 of these were drivers who were over the limit and 70 were under the limit.

Five hundred sixty passengers in this age group were killed or seriously injured. Drunk driving usually occurs during the hours of 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. About half of the drivers and riders killed are above the legal limit. During Friday and Saturday nights, this proportion rises to 60%. IN 1996, the number of drink drive accidents is highest in July and August, followed by over the Christmas and New Year period. At weekends during these periods, the proportion is 60%.

There are many different ways to help a police officer determine whether or not you are over the legal limit. One of those ways is a breath test. The number of breath tests has increased over recent years. As amended by the Transport Act 1981, and the Section 7 of the Road Traffic Act 1972, empowers a Constable in uniform who has reasonable cause to suspect that a person driving a motor vehicle on a road, has alcohol in his body or has committed a moving traffic offense, or has been involved in an accident, to require that person to provide a specimen of breath for testing. Remember that the typical bottle of beer, glass of wine or spirits drink (shot or mixed drink) each contains the same amount of alcohol. When it comes to alcohol content, a drink is a drink is a drink... they " re all the same to a Breathalyzer.

There are many penalties for drinking and driving. The penalties for driving with excess alcohol are a fine, and a statutory minimum period of disqualification of 12 months. The size of the fines and the maximum length of period of disqualification depend on the seriousness of the offense, mainly the amount of which the driver is over the legal limit. The Road Traffic Act of 1991 introduced a new offense of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs with a maximum of five years imprisonment, which was later increased to ten years. Throughout the years drinking and driving has decreased in young teens, but it still remains as a major issue. Young teens still do not understand the consequences of drinking and driving.

Through education and hands on learning, young teens will eventually understand why it is so dangerous to drink and drive. Even though some young teens understand they still insist on drinking and driving. This paper discussed jus a few of the many arson's, causes, and consequences of drinking and driving.

Bibliography

Hanson, David J. Professor. Sociology Department, State University of New York, Potsdam, NY 143676 web David J. Professor. Sociology Department, State University of New York, Potsdam, NY 143676 web of alcohol studies: November 2000 web Attitude Monitor 1997. web County of Dane Wisconsin. web.