Driving under the influence of proscribed substances has become a major problem all over the world. Each year, hundreds of thousands of drivers, pedestrians and passengers die as a result of road carnage caused by impaired driving. Moreover, the injured persons and their families incur huge financial losses when they cannot work. Some of the victims are the breadwinners of their households. Thus, their injury brings a lot of misery to their dependents.
Alcohol is the primary factor in the cause of these accidents. When they occur, property is also lost. Such property includes signs, utility poles, buildings, and trees. Police, fire, and emergency medical resources end up getting wasted on preventable occurrences. Motor insurance premiums also rise. There are a number of factors that compound the problem of driving under the influence. These factors are as follows:
Underage Drinking
The youths consume alcohol more than any other drug out there. First, alcohol is a legal substance whose sale is unrestricted and requires only a license. Second, access to alcoholic beverages has become much easier than ever before. Even though the consumption and sale of alcohol is illegal for those under the legal drinking age, most youngsters still gain access to it due to the fewer restrictions and laxity of law enforcement. The legal drinking age also varies from one country to another.
Another factor in underage drinking is that most youths view it as a rite of passage into adulthood. Popular culture makes it cool to party hard and get high. Most students who complete high school and a majority of college students are usually below the legal drinking age. The freedom associated with this stage of life makes such students heavily indulge in alcohol. Most campuses even have student bars that sell all kinds of liquor. When such youngsters attend parties in outdoor venues, they are more likely to drive back to their homes and campuses while drunk (Wechsler et al., 225).
Cultural and Economic Factors
Most people indulge in drinking as a form of entertainment. They yearn for the tipsy effect of alcohol. In fact, some people would love the thrill of drunk driving to entertain and transport them at the same time. Cultural drinking habits also contribute to drunk driving. For instance, most people drink on weekend nights. Therefore, such periods experience a lot of drunk driving and its associated hazards. Availability of vehicles also increases the risks as more alcohol-impaired people will be on the roads.
Low Apprehension Rates
Most drinkers have less fear of getting caught. This fact is due to the low probability of apprehension during drunk driving. There are much fewer officers on the roads than people may think. This means that most cases go unnoticed. Another factor is that for a police officer to stop a suspect, there has to be a probable cause. The officer must observe a suspicious action that satisfies his curiosity to make an arrest. However, with drunk driving, the situation becomes difficult to observe. Processing drunk driving arrests are also time-consuming. Officers would rather put more efforts in more serious offenses.
Community Design
Drunk driving is common where licensed establishments get located far from where people live and work. Rural and suburban areas experience drunk driving compared to urban areas. On the contrary, places easily accessible on foot experience less drunk drivers. Currently, real estate establishments are expanding towards the suburbs as more people move out of the congested cities. This situation worsens the problem.
Works Cited
Wechsler, Henry, Jae E. Lee, Toben F. Nelson, and Meichun Kuo. "Underage College Students' Drinking Behavior, Access to Alcohol, and the Influence of Deterrence Policies: Findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study." Journal of American College Health 50.5 (2002): 223-236. Print.
