Don’t Drink and Drive

By- Sneha Sabu 200439 BA CA-ADV

Road Safety is now the prime national concern due to its magnitude
& gravity and the consequent negative impact on public health &
economy. Road traffic fatalities result in deaths, disabilities, and
hospitalizations with severe socioeconomic costs. It takes roughly 30
minutes to two hours for alcohol to be absorbed into your
bloodstream. During this time, your breathing may slow down, and
your cognitive skills may be delayed. Because of this, it is always
dangerous to drink and drive. Drinking Driving has become a serious
public health problem. Everyone knows the laws and has heard the
phrase “don’t drink and drive” but despite this message being
repeated almost daily we hear cases of accidents or deaths due to
drinking and driving. No one is in the right position to operate a
vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Most people cannot
imagine being put in the position of those who have lost their lives
or have been heavily injured due to such incidents, but intoxicated
drivers have killed copious amounts of people and ruined the lives of
many others. One knows the consequences of driving intoxicated,
but they do not have the self-control to stop themselves from
picking up a drink where that alcohol is present. They realize what
they did was wrong after the problem has taken place. A drunk
driver is equivalent to a potential murderer as he cannot perform his
tasks. Also, he endangers the lives of people on the road. Drunken
driving has become a recognized world menace. 
Driving drunk is considered to be one of the most severe crimes in
almost every state because the driver is not only risking their life,
but they are also putting everyone else’s life in danger on the road
31% of fatal road traffic accidents are under the influence of alcohol.
Alcohol makes it very difficult for doctors to assess the severity of
the injury. Also due to alcohol, the recovery process of the human
body is hindered. This is because it affects the circulatory & the
immune system. It also causes anaesthesia delay and affects the
response of various medications, thereby complicating various
surgeries and their result. According to statistics around 40% of road
traffic accident occur under influence of alcohol. The accident risk
increases significantly when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is
0.04g/100ml. Some 4,80,000 deaths & 200 lakhs of people get
injured by drunk driving.

The United Nations has rightly proclaimed 2010-2020 as the decade

of the Action on Road safety so that the current trend of road traffic
accidents stabilizes and is reversed by the year 2020.
Every 22 minutes, someone will die in an alcohol-related traffic
accident. Although you probably think that it could never happen to
you, experts say everyone has a 40-per cent chance of being in a
crash involving alcohol use sometime in their life.
One of the ways we can potentially deter drunk driving would be by
setting up more checkpoints as the possibility of drunk drivers being
caught will be higher if more checkpoints are set. Citizens aware of
checkpoints are also more likely to use a designated driver or to
make arrangements to stay over if they are drunk.
Potential consequences of drinking and driving are as follows-
1.if you are caught drinking and driving, going to jail is exactly what
might happen to you. And, if you cause any harm while drinking or
driving – hit another person or cause property damage with your
car, for example – jail time could very likely be longer than a night or
two. If you cause a fatality you could spend many years in prison.
2.If you are caught while drinking and driving and cited for the act,
do not be surprised if a DUI conviction directly affects your insurance
premium. This is because insurance premiums are based, in part,
upon your risk as a driver. A driver who is at a higher risk of being
involved in an accident must pay a higher insurance premium. If you
are convicted of driving while under the influence or driving while
impaired, your insurance company will likely categorize you as high
risk, and your premiums will skyrocket as a direct result.
3.In many professions, a conviction of drinking while driving is a
serious enough crime to result in employment termination or
revocation of a professional license. This is even more likely if your
position is one of esteem or prestige, or if you are employed by a
municipal or state. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, public figures,
police officers and others may all be at risk of losing their job or
license if they are caught drinking and driving.
Conclusively, if you are planning to drink, please don’t drive, let your
driver drive you home. Take a Cab. Stay at a friend’s house till
morning and then drive home. If you see a friend is drunk, take away
their keys, drive them home or send them home with a sober friend.