Drinking and driving is still seen as a small evil, and yet a person drinking and driving is putting worse than giving a loaded gun to a drunken person. When you drink and drive you are put in charge of a 1/2/3 ton piece(s) of metal that can move at high speed, and you are placed on a road full of other people driving similar murder tools. My essay analyses the effects of alcohol when using a road vehicle.
Lower attention span
Even drinking less than the driving limit is going to affect your attention span, and some people have a very low attention span to begin with. Driving requires your constant attention, which is why so many accidents happen because of mobile phones on the road. Lower the level of attention a driver has on the task in hand, and you make the roads even more dangerous.
Slower responses
A person with even a little bit of drink inside him or her will have slower response times, and since the road is full of dangers and hazards, it is highly detrimental to yourself safety and the safety of others to have slow response times.
Unable to recognize danger
A person with any form of altered mind-state will be less likely to recognize danger. It becomes harder to preemptively recognize danger and access its severity and the correct course of action to take.
Poor predictive skills
A person is supposed to predict road changes and allow for them in order to stay safe, and drinking makes this harder (if not impossible).
Poor discrimination skills
A person is less able to discriminate what he or she sees and how dangerous it is. A movement in the bushes may be interpreted as the wind or may be interpreted as a person about to jump in front of the car.
Over confidence
A classic symptom of any form of drinking is a distinct feeling of overconfidence, and that is very dangerous on the roads when caution is the only way to remain safe.
Lower visual acuity
Discrimination is hampered, as is the ability to see in any sense of the word. Objects become blurred and peripheral vision is ignored more than it is when a person is sober.
Lower audio and sensory skills
All mental activity is depressed when drink is involved, which is why people suffer from lower auditory and sensory sense skills. People are less able to judge the dangers that surround them because they lose a portion of the skills they need to make those decisions.
Conclusion
Drinking before driving is a very bad idea because it puts a person at a massive disadvantage and makes them more likely to cause injury to themselves and to the other people on and off the roads. Alcohol is a depressant and many people lack the skills needed to drive safely when they are sober, so to lower those skills any more than they already are is reckless and shows an extreme disregard for life and the other people on and around the roads. Sentences for drink driving should be increased fivefold and jail time should be given as a default to anybody that drinks and drives.
