Drinking alcohol is a common social activity that has been present in society since the beginning of time and continues to remain extremely predominant today. In today’s world, alcoholic drinks can be seen served at social events like parties, weddings and other gatherings. In fact, alcohol is so crucial in today’s society that it is now being sold in grocery stores and restaurants.
Despite the advantages of drinking and having a good time, it is important that if a large quantity of alcohol is consumed that the individual has an alternative way of traveling home safely. Drinking and driving, also known as impaired driving refer to driving while under the influence of alcohol, their BAC is higher than required and is considered a crime. Though I or someone else I know has never been driving while driving the news has shown very heartbreaking examples of this ongoing problem and the affected lives.
Alcohol can be extremely dangerous when mixed with using a vehicle. Getting behind the wheel is not only dangerous but can pose serious dangers and risks on the road. Drinking and driving underlie several problems as it affects the human body’s ability to drive, it puts the driver at risk and can result in the death of other innocent lives around them due to drunk drivers’ actions.
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Drinking and driving is a serious problem as it affects the intoxicated individuals’ ability to drive safely and effectively. To begin, drinking and driving is a major problem as getting behind the wheel after drinking will reduce reaction time in an individual. Driving safely involves being alert and having the ability to make effective decisions in any possible situation. Reaction time refers to the ability to make a quick and safe decision while on the road unexpectedly.
While drinking, people tend to have a slower reaction time, which can create problems since drinking impacts the brain function and slows down the nervous system, resulting in the individual to react slower than the normal 1-2 seconds, creating several dangers.
According to Northbound Treatment Services, when alcohol is in your system, it affects how quickly you’re able to react to different situations. Driving slows your response time, which can increase the likelihood of an accident. Therefore, if a car in front of you brakes suddenly or a pedestrian crosses the street, it will take longer for your brain to process the situation and prevent an accident. Secondly, drinking and driving can pose serious problems in relation to poor vision.
Consuming alcohol has the ability to decrease eye muscle movement, resulting in blurred vision, making it a problem to see and drive safely. Northbound Treatment Services further explained that impaired vision can affect how you judge the distance between your car and the other vehicles on the road. Lastly, alcohol consumption can pose a problem to an individual’s coordination, making it a problem while driving drunk. Coordination refers to the ability of several parts of the body including eyes, hand and foot movements at once.
Drinking and driving can present several problems in the way the driver moves and functions the car properly, causing problems on the road. Another study at Northbound Treatment Services describes that heavy drinking affects your motor skills such as eye, hand and foot coordination. Without crucial coordination skills, you may be unable to avoid an impending harmful situation. To conclude, drinking and driving is a serious problem as it affects the individual’s ability to drive due to bodily changes as a result of intoxication.
Drinking and driving is not only a problem affecting the individual’s body functions, but drinking and driving put the driver at risk and can ultimately result in their own death. First off, drinking and driving is a problem as if caught while under the influence, this can pose several offenses with the law. Impaired driving in Canada is the most leading criminal cause of death alone. Impaired driving not only comes with serious bodily changes, but drinking and driving can result in several serious offenses with the law.
The Criminal Code prohibits driving while impaired to any degree by drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both. Penalties for this offense range from a mandatory minimum fine, license suspension to life imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offense. Additionally, drinking and driving is a serious issue as it can result in problems with a person’s criminal record.
A criminal record refers to the documentation of an individual’s criminal history. If documentation of crime exists on one’s record, this may possess serious future problems in relation to seeking employment opportunities and earning a living.
According to the National Pardon Centre, most driving offenses – like speeding or making an illegal turn – are not criminal and, therefore, will not go on your criminal record. But impaired driving can be considered sufficiently serious to warrant a criminal conviction, especially if the driver has a blood alcohol level over 0.08. Finally, drinking and driving can cause problems to the driver as they can ultimately sustain serious injuries or possibly death through their actions.
Drinking and driving are some of the most dangerous offenses an individual can do to themselves. Though many people drink and drive and get away with it, it doesn’t mean that will be the case every time. By getting behind the wheel, the individual is not only creating problems on the road, but they put their own lives and well-being at risk.
Despite the strict laws implemented in Canada alone, individuals continue to get into a vehicle and put themselves in danger. According to The Government of Canada, police-reported 72,039 impaired driving incidents in 2015, a rate of 201 incidents per 100,000 population. Of the total number of incidents, 122 were cases of impaired driving causing death and 596 were cases of impaired driving causing bodily harm. As a result, the death and dangerous risks of a driver behind the wheel possesses serious problems in relation to the topic of drinking and driving.
The death of other people on the roads’ lives is an additional problem associated with drinking and driving. Firstly, drunk drivers who get behind the wheel cause serious problems as they kill and take the lives of innocent people who were not impaired. Every day, individuals of all ages, especially teenagers and young adults, get into a car and drive under the influence of alcohol and or drugs, not realizing the effects and hazards it may have on themselves as well as their surroundings such as other people or bystanders.
These decisions may result in a possible collision with another vehicle or other pedestrians, resulting in their death. Though the impaired driver may have sustained little to no injuries and is alive, the drunk driver has now killed the innocent lives of others, who were following the rules and road safety.
According to CBC News Canada, provincial police say nearly half of the people killed in impaired driving crashes over the past 15 years were not the impaired driver. So far this year, provincial police say 37 people, 19 of who was not the driver, have died in collisions linked to alcohol or drug-impaired driver on OPP-patrolled roads. They say this marks the fourth consecutive year when the number of innocent people killed is higher than that of impaired drivers who caused the collision.
Secondly, drinking and driving is a serious problem as the suspect who murders the individual(s) will affect and ultimately ruin the lives of the victims’ family and friends. In life, and death of a loved one can be a tough experience to encounter, but dealing with the death of someone who was a victim of a tragic incident, for instance, drunk driving, a mistake in which could have been prevented. According to Global News, Jennifer Neville-Lake was a devoted mother to her three young children but a car crash that happened almost three years ago robbed her of the opportunity to watch them grow up.
On Sept. 27, 2015, Daniel, 9, Harrison, 5 and Milly, 2, were killed in an impaired driving collision at the intersection in Vaughan, Ont by Marco Muzzo. The children’s grandfather, Gary Neville, was also killed. Neville-Lake spoke with Global News and said she is not the same person she was before the crash.
Lastly, drinking and driving possess serious problems as the suspect who murders these innocent people’s lives has ultimately ruined their own life and their well-being. In some cases, when the suspect remains alive and the victim(s) have deceased, though the impaired driver is lucky to remain alive, they now must prepare for the consequences and difficulties that await them. Marco Muzzo, who was 29 years old at the time of the collision, was driving the Jeep that caused the fatal crash.
After spending the weekend in Miami for his bachelor party, Muzzo and his friends flew back to Pearson International airport on a private jet. Muzzo admitted he had been drinking on the flight back to Ontario and in February 2016, he pleads guilty to four counts of driving under the influence causing death and two counts of driving under the influence causing bodily harm. He is currently serving a 10 year jail time sentence and upon release will face a 12-year driving suspension.
Overall, the problems of drinking and driving not only affect the suspect of the accident but ultimately affect the family, friends and relatives of their injured or deceased loved ones.
Drinking and driving is a serious problem in which affects one’s bodily functions while driving, puts the driver at risk and puts other drivers and cars around them in danger resulting in serious injuries or death.
Not only does this serious crime continue to take the lives of thousands each year, but this problem of getting behind the wheel intoxicated is constant in today’s society and could be avoided in the first place by not operating a vehicle. Drunk driving not only affects the suspect and the victim but ultimately affects their family, friends and guardians surrounding them. One mistake of drinking and driving impaired is all it may take to spare an innocent person’s life and those supporting them.
Luckily, there are several ways in which situations like these can be avoided. Having a designated driver who is not drinking or calling someone to bring you home whether it is a parent, friend or taxi services like an Uber are excellent ways to get home safely and alive, rather than risking not only your life and others. It’s your life, why risk it; don’t drink and drive.
Bibliography
- CBC News. (2017, November 23). Nearly half of impaired driving fatalities ‘innocent victims’: OPP. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/driving-fatalities-innocent-victims-opp-ontario-1.4416596.
- Global News. (2018, June 27). “I don’t know who I am anymore”: Mother of 3 children killed in an impaired driving crash describes life after their death. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://globalnews.ca/news/4297327/jennifer-neville-lake-three-children-killed-impaired-driving-crash/
- Government of Canada. (2019, April 2). Impaired Driving Laws. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/sidl-rlcfa/
- National Pardon. (2017, May 29). How to Get a DUI Pardon—Drunk and Impaired Driving in Canada. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://nationalpardon.org/dui-drunk-driving-canada/.
- Northbound Treatment Services. What is Drinking and Driving (DUI). Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/alcohol/crimes/dui/.Santos, Daniel. (2019, April 20).
- Problems Of Drinking And Driving. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from www.worthofread.com/problems-of-drinking-and-driving-essay-free-best-tips-and-solutions/.
- Smith, Kathleen. (2019). Drinking and Driving. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019 from https://www.psycom.net/drinking-and-driving.
