Rethink Before Driving Drunk

By: Abrahim P. 

       A loud bang ruptures the eardrums. The airbag pads your face before any further damage is caused, heart beating in terror as you realize what happened. Car crashes are a tremendously wide-spread problem. Though most car crashes are related to other problems like weather and distracted driving, drunk-driving is a colossal cause.

       Around 19 years ago, a victim named Sean Carter was under the influence of alcohol. He was a college junior and went out drinking with his friends. Knowing he was in no good condition, neither was his friend. His friend still drove drunk, while Sean Carter was a passenger in the crash. The drunk driver crashed, causing Sean to have a traumatic brain injury and lose the ability to walk or talk. “The crash is something Sean still deals with every day of his life,” his caretaker states.

       A staggering  amount of 29 people die a day due to drunk-driving related incidents. Drunk driving is when the BAC, amount of alcohol in a person's bloodstream, is 0.08% or above, which can lead to harmful effects like intoxication. Intoxication can make one not think properly while driving, leading to really bad injuries, or maybe even death in horrible situations. It’s surely disconcerting how many people that ranged 25 to 35 in age were found over the legal BAC. You could put people in danger if driving drunk. A study shows that one third of four million people that were involved in alcohol related incidents, car crashes involving alcohol, had a drunk driver. Transgressing any of the laws of drunk-driving can lead to even more dreadful consequences, like jail time.

       On average, a drunk driver doesn’t get arrested until they drive their 80th time. This is clearly related to why so many fatalities are recorded day by day. Every hour, one death is caused from drunk driving. 9,878 victims were injured during 2011. The number one leading cause of deaths for teens is traffic fatalities. One third of these traffic fatalities were alcohol related, and it’s shocking how 50-75% who had their licenses revoked were found illegally driving without their license. This can also build up the amount of money you pay, and even lead to jail time.

       Ten thousand lives were lost during the mid 2000s. Ten thousand people is a lot, and what’s even more appalling is the fact that 1.5 million people are arrested every year due to impaired driving. So what’s one way to prevent these big events from happening? An ignition interlock. An ignition interlock is proven to save tons of lives. Ignition interlocks is a tool where drivers blow into a breathalyzer device. 

       On January 17, 2017, a report from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported that traffic fatalities have declined by 7% due to ignition interlocks. Another report from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says that an extra additional 16% of fatal crashes were prevented from happening, and another additional 500 lives a year can be saved due to ignition interlocks.

       
       So what can you do to prevent impaired driving yourself? Well think twice before driving under the influence of alcohol. Always think of the bad consequences, like fines that can reach up to an astounding amount.  Think of always having a designated driver you know if you’re drunk. This can have a big save on your life, along with the people around you in traffic. Always think twice before driving drunk.