It is common knowledge in American society that driving under the influence of alcohol is a very dangerous thing to do for the driver and other people on the road. There are public service announcements, news stories, classes, and many more ways in which the information is imparted on people, and yet, every day, people still drive while intoxicated. Why do people behave in this way? Many people, particularly young people, do not believe that anything bad will happen to them if they drive while intoxicated.
In addition, alcohol itself lowers an individual’s inhibitions and encourages him or her to make poor choices in many regards, not only whether or not to drive after he or she has been drinking, even moderately. Driving under the influence is very dangerous, and people think they can make it home, but there is a 50/50 chance he or she will arrive safely. People should always have a designated driver, because they never know if they are going to take someone’s life away, so stricter laws should be enforced.
Why do people drive while intoxicated? It varies from situation to situation, of course, but according to one source, “The top three reasons in favor of DUI were: (a) they wanted to go to another location(e.g, home), (b) they did not think they were very intoxicated and (c) they perceived other potential drivers (friends) to be too intoxicated to drive” (Mandeep et al). Alcohol messes with an individual’s perception of reality, and often makes them feel as though they are not intoxicated, even if they are. When young people fear that they have no other method to get from one place to another without getting in trouble with the authority figures in their lives, they may risk the chance of driving while intoxicated as to avoid letting anyone know they have been drinking.
According to one source, “Alcohol is related to an increased risk of accident –involvement and an increased risk of responsibility” (Erin et al.). This means that not only are people who drive while intoxicated more likely to have accidents, they are much more likely to be responsible for those accidents. People who are intoxicated have a tendency to participate in very risky behavior that they would have no part of if they were sober, and this is one of the reasons-- in conjunction with decreased hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness-- that they are more likely to get into accidents. It is also why young people are more likely to behave recklessly while intoxicated; a combination of peer pressure and alcohol-induced stupidity can often lead to poor decisions.
There are a few different outcomes that can occur when someone drives while intoxicated. The ideal outcome-- for everyone-- is that they arrive at their destination safely and never drive intoxicated again. However, when someone drives while intoxicated and is successful, common wisdom says they are more likely to repeat the behavior again because they have seen no bad outcomes from the action. According to Bertelli, however, “all states have laws designed to discourage people from drinking and driving behavior, but enforcement varies across the states. Existing studies offer conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of these strategies in deterring” (Bertelli). Just because some state laws may not be effective in deterring the behavior across the entire population does not make the laws a bad idea, though; the laws should not only be a deterrent for driving while intoxicated, but they should also be a way for society as a whole to communicate that driving while intoxicated is not a behavior that will be blindly accepted into American culture any longer. Peer pressure has been shown to be one of the most impactful motivators for young people.
When an individual is charged with driving while intoxicated, they may have a variety of different penalties based on the amount of alcohol an individual has ingested, and the blood alcohol content that they have in their system at the time they are pulled over. According to Shults and Olsen, “Motor Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of deaths among teens aged 16-19 in the United States. One in five drivers aged 16-19 are involved in fatal crashes had a positive 70% blood alcohol concentration” (Shults and Olsen). This means that not only are many individuals who are driving intoxicated teenagers, they are also underage, since the drinking age in the United States is twenty-one. When teenagers drink and drive, they are facing two separate types of charges, then: one for driving while intoxicated, and yet another for being intoxicated in the first place. These charges can become compounded if the individual gets into an accident while he or she is driving, or worse: gets into an accident where there are resulting injuries or fatalities.
When a police officer pulls a driver over and determines that the driver is intoxicated, the officer often has no choice but to arrest the individual. However, many states in the United States now have rules and regulations regarding who can be put in the “drunk tank” (the overnight cell for individuals caught while too intoxicated), as certain severe medical conditions can present in very similar ways as extreme drunkenness. As a result of this, police officers may be compelled to simultaneously hospitalize and arrest an individual, guaranteeing that that individual will wake up in the morning with not only a hefty fine and potentially criminal charges for driving while intoxicated, but also a large hospital bill.
In 2012, a total of 2,211 passenger vehicle occupants aged 16-19 years died in crashes on public roadways; fifty-eight percent of those who died were drivers (Shults and Olsen). One in five of these crashes also involved alcohol (Shults and Olsen). The problem with underage individuals driving while intoxicated is that not only do they face all the issues of mature adults who drive while intoxicated, but they generally have less experience with alcohol and less experience with driving. This combination can be very deadly for kids who choose to drive while intoxicated.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), “In 2010, 211 children were killed in drunk driving crashes. Out of those 211 deaths, 131 (62 percent) were riding with the drunk driver” (MADD). The sad part about these deaths is that they were completely preventable deaths-- had the driver chosen not to drink and drive, these children would likely still be alive today. Children are often the victims of the bad decisions that the adults in their lives make, but no child deserves to be victimized in this way. Deaths that are the result of an individual driving while intoxicated are some of the most senseless deaths that can occur, because they are so very preventable.
Unfortunately, regardless of the risks involved in drinking and driving, many people continue to make a habit of it. The statistics are downright shocking: for example, a drunk driver will drink and drive approximately eighty times before he or she is caught by authorities (MADD). This means that that very driver has been a menace behind the wheel almost a hundred times before the authorities are able to catch him or her and put a stop to their behavior; however, even after being caught, many drunk drivers do not halt their behavior. One study even suggests that up to seventy-five percent of people who had their license suspended due to alcohol-related infractions continue to drive intoxicated on a suspended license.
Clearly, driving while intoxicated is an incredibly poor decision to make, with serious and often deadly consequences. It begs the question, however, of why people continue to do it if it is so bad. The answer lies in the fact that often, people do not speak up when someone is going to drive while intoxicated; people will often think that is not their business or not their responsibility. However, as has been discussed, alcohol allows people to make decisions that they would certainly not make while sober, and people who have been drinking need another voice giving them input on their ability (or inability) to operate a motor vehicle.
Creating a culture that disallows driving while intoxicated is similarly important. It is important to remove the conflict for adolescents between being discovered by a parent or authority figure while drunk and choosing to drive to another location while intoxicated. If parents and laws were more lenient regarding drinking, then it would be easier for teenagers to ask for help when they clearly are in no position to drive.
While having adolescents drinking is not ideal, it is better to have them safe than driving while intoxicated and endangering everyone on the road. Creating a culture of punishment seems to be a silly solution to such a serious problem, especially as it seems to exacerbate the situation, rather than help it.
Works cited
Bertelli, Anthony and Lillard E. Richardson, Jr.. "The behavioral Impact of Drinking and Driving laws."Policy Studies Journal, 36. 4 (2008): Print.
Erin, Kelly et al. "A review of drug use and driving” : Epidemiology, Impairment Risk factors and risk perceptions." Drug and Alcohol Review, 23. 3 (2004): Print.
Hong, Il-Ki et al. "Development of a Driving Simulator for Virtual Experience and Training of Drunk Driving." (2011):
MADD. "MADD -Statistics." 2012. Web. 3 Mar 2013.
Mandeep, Dharmi et al. "Canadian and Spanish youths." (2012): Print.
Shults, Ruth A and Emily O Olsen. "Vital signs: Drinking and Driving among High School students > 16 years." MMWR: Morbidilty , Morality Weekly Report 2012: Print.
