Drunk Driving

Alcohol is known as a depressant used widely that can affect the central nervous system

and affect actions in physical and mental functioning. It has been known that driving under the

influence of liquor increases the chances of accidents and in our time now, the statistics of drunk

driving has placed 2nd in the leading causes of deaths all over the world. And every 2 minutes,

there is someone injured because of a car accident (Kramer 2020). One wrong turn may cause

big damage, not only on your own body, but also in the lives of people who are innocent.

Although there are many laws created like the Republic Act No. 10586 - An Act Penalizing

Persons Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Dangerous Drugs, And Similar Substances,

And for Other Purposes, to prevent the damage and together with fines and jail time once the law

has been violated, the numbers continue increasing. Even with the laws created to hinder the

action, the discipline of these drivers still remains and is difficult to eliminate.

Those who were examined and diagnosed of drunk driving were under conditions such as

weak cognition, judgement, reaction and a vigilance in behavior. The common standard number for

measuring the BAC of a person whether they are intoxicated or not is 0.8% BAC. It is proven that even

intaking a small dosage of alcohol can have an effect on the subject’s performance when it comes to their

perception, having the right vision and ability to process that information at the same time. And because

of the weak processing of information, the driver cannot execute full control over its body and

coordination especially when it comes to speeding, turning the wheel or braking (Fillmore et al). Since

the vision is impaired, the driver will have difficulties recognizing street lights, pedestrian lanes, and the

monitoring of the speed meter (Chamberlain and Solomon 2020).

 Several driving tests have been revealed from a research with a simulator that when a person is

intoxicated while driving, they have less reaction time and recognition of the things surrounding them.

The ones who were intoxicated tended to lean and go beyond their lane and speed up unknowingly

compared to drivers who did not drink alcoholic beverages.

Who are affected? Majority of the statistics show that ages 18-29 are most likely to be

involved in drunk driving. Majority of these people in the age group are males compared to the

number of females that drink. By comparison, 29% of men aged 30 to 49, 21% of 50- to 64-year-

old males, and only 16% of men aged 65 years and older report drinking too much sometimes

Nearly one million high school teens drank alcohol and got behind the wheel (CDC 2011) 85%

of teens in high school who report drinking and driving in the past month who reveals they have

binge drank. It was revealed that they consumed 5 or more alcoholic drinks within a couple of

hours. This case becomes more dangerous as it is illegal for minors to be sold alcohol in many

countries and drive specially after drinking. The behaviors they display when drunk tend to lean

on becoming adventurous than being cautious about their surroundings.

Effects. In Malaysia, it was said to include drunk related driving every week reported on

the news. Even on the holidays, Malaysia saw 138 deaths from road accidents in a span of just

nine days (ASEAN 2019). In America, at least 1/3rd of the population will be involved in a crash

caused by drunk driving. There are about 90,000 arrests in Texas every year. Majority of the

drivers were between ages 21-25 years old. This occurred often at weekend nights (Rick Oliver

2013). There are 89.6% of the community that believes in the use of technology to find a

solution in preventing this rising problem.

 As stated earlier, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, meaning various

automatic bodily processes are slowed following consumption. Alcohol has compounding effects

on the body, that is why intaking amounts of it in the circulatory system have amplified effects.

Deaths and damages related cost the US $201.1 billion a year. Economic costs include lost

productivity, legal and court expenses, medical costs, insurance bills, traffic congestion, and

damages done on the property. (Bezrutczyk 2020)

Alcoholism is known as the backbone of deaths, and is the disease that will bring

devastating events to families (Buddy, 2020). Which is terrifying and knowing that families who

have lost their young ones will have to suffer over the death that was caused due to the liking of

drinking. But because of this accessible beverage, many people have been using it with under no

circumstances.

Conflict. There are instances where the official’s judgement may also affect the decision

to be put on the driver. For this instance, a woman accused of drunk driving was jailed, but it

turns out she had really suffered a stroke, and despite multiple contacts with police and

corrections officers, she went days without medical attention. Carol Carlson, 64, of Edmonds,

Washington, drove to the Kingston ferry terminal on a Monday morning in December 2017 and

was accused of DUI when she fell through the cracks. (Binion 2019)

There are also chances where the driver’s vehicle speeds up on its own. Having complete

control over your vehicle is essential to your safety on the road, it can lead to dangerous events

when your vehicle accelerates by itself while you’re driving. There have been several reports of
sudden unintended acceleration in the US over the past few years, and while incidents are few

and far between, their consequences have been alarming.

Method. To prevent the damages done due to drunk driving, the first thing we should

consider are small steps which are the basics such as; before drinking, assign a person who will

drive you on their way home. Do not drive on your own or let others drive when you know they

are intoxicated; it is recommended to use a taxi on your way home. But if drinking isn’t a habit

and it has become an addiction, the steps should go further into having treatment. Some of the

methods to cope with this are detoxing, counseling, spiritual treatment, and alcoholism treatment

medication may be used to treat an alcohol use disorder. Talk to a dedicated treatment provider

for more information.

Due to the consecutive increasing number of deaths worldwide, these basic steps are still

not followed and are not taken in mind when drinking, which is why we choose to take action by

creating a device that can sense the blood alcohol content of the subject to determine whether

he/she is intoxicated or not. The device will show the number of blood alcohol content the

person is in state of, and it will alarm once they have reached the limit BAC and that will

indicate whether they are intoxicated or not.

This will be useful for the before and after of a drunk driving incident for if someone will

be willing to drive, the device will determine whether the person still has the ability to drive or

not, to prevent the further damage that may happen if the person drives. And officials also have
good use of this for once the accident has been done, the device can prove the right judgement

whether he/she was intoxicated while driving.