Cause And Effect Essay, Research Paper

Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is one of the

most dangerous things you can do. There is a mass of research evidence

to show that driving performance and reaction times are seriously

affected by alcohol. If you drink and drive, you are not only a danger

to yourself but also to your passenger, other road users and

pedestrians. In fact, every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in

alcohol-related crash. Every 30 minutes! And last year alone more than

one million people are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes.

Alcohol is a depressant that slows down body reactions and the working

of the brain. Each year drunk driving is responsible for about 25% of

these deaths. The risks of drinking are alcohol-related accidents and

violence. The effects of alcohol are poor coordination and slurred

speech, double vision, decrease of self control loss of consciousness

and death. There are legal consequences due to drinking also. The more

a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions

becomes impaired. After just one drink, a driver can lose their ability

to perform the tasks necessary to drive a car. At a certain point, a

driver will become illegally intoxicated and can be arrested for

attempting to operate a motor vehicle. In every state on out country

there is a legal limit to how much alcohol you can have in your body if

you are driving. If you drink and drive you can lose your driver’s

license and even go to jail. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of

death for teens and young adults. More than 5,000 young people die

every year in car crashes and thousands more are injured. Drivers who

are 16 years old are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash as

are other drivers. There are two main reasons why teens are at a

higher for being in a car crash and lack of driving experience and

their tendency to take risks while driving. Teens drive faster and do

not control the car as well as more experienced drivers. Their judgment

in traffic is often insufficient to avoid a crash. In addition, teens

do most of their driving at night, which can be even more difficult.

Standard driver’s education classes include 30 hours of class-room

teaching and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training. This is not enough

time to fully train a new driver. Teen drivers are more like to be

influence by peers and other stresses and distractions. This can lead

to reckless driving behaviors such as speeding, driving under the

influence of drugs and alcohol, and not wearing safety belts. There is

no safe amount that you can drink and still drive. Even one drink can

influence your driving offences. It is often too late by the time they

seek help. They face losing their license, having embarrassing court

appearances, press coverage and heavy fines. Many are just ordinary

people who have a few social drinks, get behind the wheel and then get

pulled over by the police. So try to manage your life so that you do

not drink and drive. If you go out for a drink, try to go somewhere

that you can reach either on foot or by public transportation. Think

about sharing the driving on different days with a group of people so

that you can take turns at driving. If you do drink even though you

meant not to, and you went out with your vehicle, consider taking a

taxi and leave your vehicle behind. This is a whole lot cheaper than

getting prosecuted!