The horror stories continue to increase, the lives of the innocent are silenced in one moment, and no highways are safe to use to escape this trauma that has taken the country by storm. The trauma that has caused so many lives and so much tax money is drunk driving. Drunk-driving is not only dangerous for the driver of the vehicle, but also for the passengers and everyone in proximity of the driver 's path. If the penalties are raised for drunk-driving offenses, all of the horror stories of crashes on highways and the loss of innocent lives can be prevented and the frequency of other alcohol related criminal activities would decrease dramatically because the deterrence from the laws would be more effective and have a wider audience. The drunk-driving laws that were implemented before the Zero-Tolerance era took a position stating that “[drunk-driving] laws [were to be] aimed at youth under age 21[. Specifically,] underage youth [were] subject to the same BAC [(Blood Alcohol Content)] threshold as adults over age 21, generally in the range .08–.10 [BAC]” (Carpenter, “Heavy Alcohol...Crime”). These laws were problematic because .08 BAC for a young adult (age 20 or under) still has a more devastating effect on a young adult 's body than on an adult 21 or over. The reason for this is that a young adult 's brain and body are still developing, so if alcohol is introduced into the young adult 's body multiple organs could be corrupted and deform. The BAC limit is also indirectly
Grabar, H. (2012, December 31). The Geography of Drunk Driving. Retrieved July 6, 2015, from http://www.citylab.com/commute/2012/12/geography-drunk-driving/4278/
Burke, Sheila. "TN Supreme Court to Hear Field Sobriety Case." The Tennessean. N.p., 23 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in drunk driving incidents. Out of those people, 65% (6,515) were drivers, 27% (2,724) were passengers, and 8% (837) were non-passengers (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Over half of those fatalities (67.1%) involved blood alcohol levels over .15% (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). The legal blood-alcohol content is .08%. Drunk driving caused 31% of deaths in car crashes in 2013 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). In 2012, 402 people were killed by alcohol impairment in North Carolina (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). These numbers, though they seem astonishing, have been cut in half since 1991 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Even though the number of fatalities has been lowered, that number is not low enough. Most drunk drivers are repeat offenders. Lives are being taken because of the careless attitude of the drunk drivers. Drunk driving is selfish; those who commit this crime do not think about the extreme consequences of their actions. In North America it is estimated that 1-5 drivers has been drinking and 1 in 10 is legally impaired on any Friday or Saturday night (Root). Many groups, including MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), are fighting to stop drunk driving. Unfortunately, drunk driving cannot be stopped. People will always commit this heinous crime. The numbers may go down, but unfortunately there will always be a number. The only way to continually decrease the amount of lives lost is to increase punishments for drunk driving.
There are things we can and must do to prevent drunk driving as much as we can and eventually completely cut it out. We have to look at the facts and statics and not let those around us, our friends, our families become victims of drunk driving. Weather they’re the ones that take part in driving under the influence or are killed or injured even though sober due to someone else’s selfish drunk driving actions there has got to be a stop to all of this. Laws can only do so much, it’s up to us to decide to take part in no drinking and driving. It is not a good feeling to see headlines talking about collisions or fatalities that occurred due to drunk driving and the feeling is even worse when you personally know the people involved. Let’s keep drunk driving from happening, let’s help put a stop to those stories you hear that were caused by people driving under the influence. In this time and age there is no excuse for drunk driving. WAKE UP, HELLO have a designated driver, call an Uber, a taxi, a reliable friend or family member, stay the night if you can at the place where you were drinking, anything just do anything but drink and
What are some of the effects of drinking and Driving? Drinking and Driving is one of the most dangerous and deadliest ways to drive. It has caused many deaths and wrecks throughtout the United States. It can effect a person in mutiple ways. It can cause a person reaction time to decrease, blurry vision, ability to judge a cars position on the rode, and even cause drowsiness. This has been a common way of driving that police have tried to get a lockdown on. Drinking and Driving is not the way to drive. you are putting innocent lives at risk when you make that decision. This is one of the worst combinations known to man. Every 2 minutes their is someone injured by a person that is drinking and driving. Their is no reason to put your life and someone elses life at risk because of your idiotic decision. The effects of drinking and driving are not positive in no way possible. It is dangerous and is a easy way to hurt or get yourself killed.
As we all know that there are many people dying or getting severely injured every day because either they are driving under the influence (DUI) or they are victims of those people who drink and drive. The United States is the country which has the most accidents caused by DUI. According to the article “Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Crashes”, the U.S has the most impaired driving accidents. Statistics in the article “Impaired Driving” show that around 10,076 people were killed in ‘alcohol – impaired’ driving in 2013 in the United States. Research shows that people aged 16 to 49 are the ones who are most likely break the laws of DUI, and teenagers are more likely to get into fatal accidents. Therefore, the government, and other organizations have invented programs to help these people and reduce rates of drinking and driving in the United States. For example, Reinforcing Alcohol Prevention (RAP), Criminal Justice Policies, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) etc. However, not all programs work the same way for everyone. To find out how to reduce drinking and driving rates in the United States using programs, we have to look at what kind of people are breaking DUI laws, what are the causes, and then we can find out which program will work better for a specific group.
Impaired driving is when a teen/adult is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It's not safe to drive when you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If you drive when you're drunk or high because you can cause wrecks or kill someone or run into something and damage your car. Driving can be hard enough being sober, so it’s even harder to drive impaired. In 2015, 10,265 people died in alcohol impaired driving crashes, and they continue to happen everyday. When you're impaired, everything is blurry or slowed down and your brain works differently and it’s a lot harder to do things. Somethings that are harder to do are like walking and driving and talking and just normal things. But when our group made a game to use when we had
Alcohol consumption is considered to be a part of culture in many countries and the United States is no exception to this ideological thinking. However, drinking responsibly and understanding the impairments alcohol has on the body is a key component to being safe and within the regulations and laws established by the states. With this being said, many people still find themselves behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming too much alcohol and are quickly found to be in violation of the laws set forth. Alcohol is a key factor in many traffic accidents and the lethality of these accidents increase when alcohol is involved, leading to 41% of all traffic fatalities being caused by a DUI offender in 2002 (Hingson & Winter 63). Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol can be defined as being over an established limit of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) prescribed by that state. While most states have set their basic BAC level to 0.08%, the sanctions, treatment and monitoring of offenders is widely varied across the states (Voas, et al 1221). The effects on DUI offenders, although varied, follow a similar guideline that includes license suspensions, treatment, offender monitoring, fines, and sometimes incarceration.
Drunk driving is a serious offense that not only effects the drunk driver, but also the people around the drunk driver. Drunk driving causes serious accidents that often end with someone being seriously injured, or killed. There are many ways to prevent drunk driving from license suspension to incarceration. Another way to prevent drunk driving is to rehabilitate the drunk driver by initiating the ignition interlock device. This device is installed in a vehicle of a driving while intoxicated (DWI) offender to prevent them from driving while drunk. Society pushes for states to have harsher punishments for DWI offenders, however, a more rehabilitative stance should be taken with the ignition interlock device because it prevents DWI offenders from driving while intoxicated, it enables DWI offenders to still be able to drive to maintain their responsibilities and practice safe driving habits, and it reduces recidivism rates among DWI offenders.
Statement of Intention: This text is a fictional story to be used in spreading awareness of drunk driving. It shows an example of the negative impacts and horrors drunk driver can causes to teenagers around the world in the case of a victim of who is telling the story of his death in a car crash. This story will be used as an Advertisement on TV or the radio. The target audience is teenagers and young adults.
Driving under the influence or DUI is the crime for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. To be charged with a DUI, you must have a blood alcohol concentration or BAC of 0.08% or more for drivers 21 years of age or older. If you are under the age of 21, a BAC of 0.02% can be cited for a DUI. States such as Arizona or North Carolina have a “zero tolerance” policy for underage drivers. In these states,
Even though under age drinking is illegal, teenagers are starting to drink at younger ages, which is leading to risky behaviors (Dedel). Some common behaviors known to happen while under the influence include, driving, property damage, rape, and other violent crimes. The major problem for teenagers is driving while they are under the influence. The laws need to be stricter when it comes to under age drinking. Most teenagers do not have the mindset to drink responsibly and can lead to negative effects, that could not only harm them but harm other people too. Police need to crack down on all underage drinkers so that nobody does anything that could harm them, like getting into a car and driving or riding in a car with someone who is drunk.. Most teenagers don’t think that drinking while they are under the influence is a big problem. Kelly Dedel stated, “Underage college students who drink heavily are more likely to
Imagine driving down the freeway with your family after a long day and instantly your life is changed forever because someone crashed into you caused by consumption of liquor. 10,076 people were killed in drinking and driving cases in 2013, that’s 1 humans life taken from them every 53 minutes. Drinking and Driving which is commonly known as Driving under the Influence (DUI) is something that is rationalized in society when in reality is incredibly selfish and life threatening for not only the intoxicated driver, but innocent citizens. Although drinking and driving is illegal in all states, most states are either lenient of the law and/or the tolerance is .08. Depending on the person, a blood alcohol count of .08 could mean that someone has ingested one beer or 5 shots depending on body weight and how much alcohol was consumed in a period of time. Every state should have a zero tolerance for drinking and driving because it creates harm to not only oneself but innocent civilians. It creates a danger and puts lives at risk every time someone who is intoxicated gets behind the wheel even if they think they can control themselves.
Every year almost one point three million citizens are involved in a fatal car accident. That’s almost 3,287 deaths every single day. In addition, on average, twenty to fifty million people are injured or disabled. Lastly, the majority of automobile accidents every year involve youth or young adults from ages fifteen to forty-four. Now, some may ask why are there so many accidents occurring every year? Well, the main cause of these avoidable tragedies is impaired driving. Majority of the public may only associate impaired driving to the overconsumption of alcohol while driving. However, the exact definition of the word "impaired" is a diminished, weakened or damaged ability. This can be due to the result of advancing age, drugs, emotions, fatigue, inexperience and ultimately alcohol.
June 14th, 2008, I remember it like it was yesterday, the day our family eagerly waited for all year long, it was the day of our family reunion. We were all to meet in Grand Lake, Colorado, and pick our camping spots for a weekend of fun and games with the family. As the evening approached us most of the family had already arrived, except for my brother-in-law Joaquin and his family, not thinking much about it (since we knew there was a chance his family would not make it that night) we carried on with our night. We later received a text message saying that Joaquin had to work late and he and his family would not make it until the next morning. Approximately 3 a.m. my husband’s phone rang I answered, it was a man on the line he quickly asked “Are you Joaquin’s sister?” I kind of laughed and replied “Well it depends” and he said “Ma’am, I am looking for the family of Joaquin Camacho” at that point I realized that he was serious. He said, “I am a Weld County sheriff and I need to speak with you, do you have a moment?” I immediately responded “Yes!” “What is going on?” he said “Ma’am, I am sorry to inform you but your brother Joaquin was in a serious car accident” I paused for a minute in shock, I looked around and all of my family laughing and joking around the huge campfire, I didn’t want to assume the worst so I calmly responded “How serious?” he said “Ma’am, are you able to meet with