Drunk Driving

We all wonder each and every day what the day will hold. We know we will have problems, but like always we will survive. We go about our day not thinking about the danger or trouble outside on the roads and highways connecting our towns. There is a danger that is there which in a split second can change the lives of many people.

Imagine you are a mother who has just watched her child that morning leave in her car to go to the store not even giving a thought to the danger which may occur. She goes back in the house and a while later she gets a knock at the door. It is a police officer with the news that your child was just killed in a car accident.

Car accidents happen and are tragic to say the least. In this instance it could have been avoided. The young girl was killed by a drunk driver. Someone who got into a vehicle, thinking they were sober enough to drive. This person thought he saw a car, but the alcohol had blurred his vision. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. Someone's child had died, and it was his fault.

Drunk driving is a deadly killer. When a person drinks and gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, they are holding a deadly weapon. They are not just putting their own life in of danger, but that of many innocent people. Every person they pass, get in front of, or behind are in danger.

When I was younger I lost many friends in drunk driving accidents. One of my best friends was killed in an accident where everyone but the driver died. Three died in that crash and not one of them was over 20.

I was in an accident not long ago where a driver rear-ended us. We all made it out unharmed, but the car was totaled. That's fine because cars can be replaced. People can't. I was grateful no one was hurt. The driver of the other vehicle had taken his eyes off the road for a second while we were turning into a gas station. He had not been drinking.

If this guy sober, could cause a bad crash by taking his eyes off the road for a split second, where does that place someone who has been drinking? Look at the two charts below. One shows the vision distortion of a drunk driver. The other one shows the effects of alcohol on the perceptions at different Blood Alcohol Levels.

Check out how many deaths there have been so far this year because of Drunk Driving. Click on the Death Clock.

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Some Alarming Facts

Would you trust your life to someone who has these problems of vision and concentration? Well, if you get in a car with someone who drinks and drives, you are doing just that.

Fact: A total of 17,013 alcohol-related fatalities were recorded in 2003. That's one death nearly every ½ hour in this country at the hands of someone who was drinking and driving.

Fact: Approximately 275,000 persons are injured or disfigured yearly by alcohol-impaired drivers. One third of these are children.

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More Important Facts

After a night of drinking, the effects of alcohol last longer than you might think.

You and your friends have decided to have a few drinks after work to ease the tension. You've been drinking since 6:00 p.m. and it's now 1:00 a.m. So, by now you already have a good idea of the way alcohol affects your motor skills, but are you aware of the blood alcohol levels?

After the designated driver has driven you home, you fall into bed at 2:00 a.m., intoxicated with an alcohol concentration of .190 (.08 is now legally intoxicated as determined by the federal government and most states).

Since alcohol leaves the blood at .015 per hour, let's see the blood alcohol effects over the next ten hours...(Times and BAC Numbers are in bold print.)

2:00 a.m....You get into bed, the room is spinning./.190

3:00 a.m....Sleeping/.175

4:00 a.m....You wake up with a pounding headache, find the bathroom and take aspirin./.160

5:00 a.m....Sleeping/.145

6:00 a.m....Alarm startles you awake. Reluctantly, you get up for work./.130

7:00 a.m....You leave for work, wondering why the keys won't fit the lock./.115

8:00 a.m....You've miraculously made it to work, but you're still legally intoxicated!/.10

10:00 a.m....You leave for an appointment and could still be arrested for "driving under the influence."/.07

12:00 a.m....Still under the influence./.04

*Blood Alcohol Concentration (Information is based on a 170lb. average man)

I hope everyone will take this warning to heart and will stop drinking and driving.

Information taken from Alcohol Alert.

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What can we do to stop these tragedies from happening?

* We can make a decision ourselves to never drink and drive.
* We can designate a driver if we do decide to drink who does not drink.
* We can make sure our kids know to call us whenever they drink and need a ride home.
* We can speak out on tougher laws for those do drink and drive.
* We can speak to our kids about the dangers of drinking and support the efforts of those who are activating against underage drinking.
* We can care and make a stand against drinking and driving.
* We can support law makers who are writing new bills in the area of drunk driving.

The only wrong effort is to do nothing. We are responsible to keep our families and communities safe. Lets work together to end these tragedies.

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