Essay/Term paper: Cause and effect

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is one of the
most dangerous things you can do. There is a mass of research evidence
to show that driving performance and reaction times are seriously
affected by alcohol. If you drink and drive, you are not only a danger
to yourself but also to your passenger, other road users and
pedestrians. In fact, every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in
alcohol-related crash. Every 30 minutes! And last year alone more than
one million people are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes.
Alcohol is a depressant that slows down body reactions and the working
of the brain. Each year drunk driving is responsible for about 25% of
these deaths. The risks of drinking are alcohol-related accidents and
violence. The effects of alcohol are poor coordination and slurred
speech, double vision, decrease of self control loss of consciousness
and death. There are legal consequences due to drinking also. The more
a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions
becomes impaired. After just one drink, a driver can lose their ability
to perform the tasks necessary to drive a car. At a certain point, a
driver will become illegally intoxicated and can be arrested for
attempting to operate a motor vehicle. In every state on out country
there is a legal limit to how much alcohol you can have in your body if
you are driving. If you drink and drive you can lose your driver's
license and even go to jail. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of
death for teens and young adults. More than 5,000 young people die
every year in car crashes and thousands more are injured. Drivers who
are 16 years old are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash as
are other drivers. There are two main reasons why teens are at a
higher for being in a car crash and lack of driving experience and
their tendency to take risks while driving. Teens drive faster and do
not control the car as well as more experienced drivers. Their judgment
in traffic is often insufficient to avoid a crash. In addition, teens
do most of their driving at night, which can be even more difficult.
Standard driver's education classes include 30 hours of class-room
teaching and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training. This is not enough
time to fully train a new driver. Teen drivers are more like to be
influence by peers and other stresses and distractions. This can lead
to reckless driving behaviors such as speeding, driving under the
influence of drugs and alcohol, and not wearing safety belts. There is
no safe amount that you can drink and still drive. Even one drink can
influence your driving offences. It is often too late by the time they
seek help. They face losing their license, having embarrassing court
appearances, press coverage and heavy fines. Many are just ordinary
people who have a few social drinks, get behind the wheel and then get
pulled over by the police. So try to manage your life so that you do
not drink and drive. If you go out for a drink, try to go somewhere
that you can reach either on foot or by public transportation. Think
about sharing the driving on different days with a group of people so
that you can take turns at driving. If you do drink even though you
meant not to, and you went out with your vehicle, consider taking a
taxi and leave your vehicle behind. This is a whole lot cheaper than
getting prosecuted!