Drunk Driving Is Far Too Common (and Far Too Dangerous)

alcohol, police car, and keys

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You understand that drinking and driving is a dangerous game, and you make it your practice never to play. Unfortunately, not every motorist out there is as conscientious as you are, and drunk drivers continue to cause far too many dangerous traffic accidents. In fact, the statistics are staggering.

Considering the Numbers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports two sobering drunk driving statistics, including:

  • Someone dies, on average, every 52 minutes as a result of a drunk driver, and this adds up to about 28 deaths every day.

  • In 2019 alone, more than 10,000 people lost their lives to drunk drivers in the United States.

One of the most difficult considerations when it comes to drunk driving accidents is that they are absolutely preventable – getting behind the wheel while under the influence is a choice that motorists need to stop making.

The CDC Also Weighs In

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares some additional eye-opening statistics of its own, including:

  • In 2016, nearly 10,5000 people lost their lives in accidents caused by impairment, and this amounts to 28 percent of all the traffic fatalities that year.

  • More than 1 million motorists were arrested in 2016 for driving under the influence, but this only accounts for 1 percent of the 111 million incidents of self-reported impaired driving that year.

The Effects that Alcohol Has on Drivers

CDC reports that, as blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rises, so too do its physical, cognitive, and sensory effects on motorists.

About Two Drinks In

After about two drinks (a .02 percent BAC), motorists tend to be more relaxed, experience a slight increase in body warmth, and lose some judgment. These motorists can also experience a decrease in rapid visual tracking, and they can have more difficulty performing more than one task at a time.

About Three Drinks In

With about three drinks, the driver’s BAC rises to .05 percent, and he or she may experience any of the following:

  • Exaggerated behaviors

  • Some loss of small-muscle control, such as eye focus

  • Impaired judgment

  • Decrease in alertness

  • Relaxed inhibitions

  • Reduced coordination, which can translate to poor steering

  • Increased reaction times to emergency situations

About Four Drinks In

With about four drinks under their belt, drivers begin to move beyond the legal limit (.08 percent BAC). The effects these motorists experience are even more pronounced, including:

  • Poor muscle coordination, which can translate to poor balance, slurred speech, vision problems, seriously slowed reaction times, and even hearing impairments

  • Difficulty detecting danger

  • Impaired memory, judgment, self-control, and reasoning

  • Deficits in information processing

  • Difficulty controlling speed (Can Speeding Land Me in Jail?)

  • Difficulty concentrating

Things only get worse from here.

You Need an Experienced Killeen Personal Injury Attorney on Your Side

If a drunk driver leaves you injured in a car accident, Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard in Killeen, Texas, is a formidable personal injury attorney who has the experience and legal insight you are looking for. For more information about how we can help, please do not wait to contact or call us at 254-501-4040 today.

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