Driving an automobile under the influence of any substance that impairs a person's .
judgment or reflexes is a very dangerous thing to do. Driving always should be done .
with a clear mind. A person's driving does not just involve just that person, but any .
.
other person that is on the road at the same time. In this paper I will attempt to give .
reasons and statistics about driving under the influence. I hope by the end of this paper I .
will have shown that everybody should take great care when driving. Most important, .
everyone will decide that they will not drive when they are drinking, etc.
In 1981, 49125 people were killed in traffic accidents in the United States. The year .
before 51,077 had been killed. This averages out to more than 130 deaths a day. About .
as many Americans die on U.S. roads every year as were killed during the entire Vietnam .
War.
About half of all this death and destruction was caused by drunk drivers, according.
to a 1982 congressional report called "Driver Safety-, prepared for the Committee on .
Commerce, Science and Transportation by the National Highway Traffic Safety.
Administration. The report also cited that "accidents involving drunk drivers cost our .
society up to $24 billion each year in medical, rehabilitation, insurance costs, property .
damage, lost work income and tax revenues, as well as police and emergency vehicle .
services.
On an average weekend night, one out of every ten drivers on the road is drunk. In .
fact, 80 percent of all fatal alcohol-related auto crashes occur between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 .
a.m. Sixty-five percent of drivers that kill themselves in single-car wrecks are drunk. .
One out of every two Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related auto crash in his .
or her lifetime.
3.5 million traffic accidents' injuries are directly caused by drivers stoned on marijuana .
or other drug substances. More kids are drinking and drinking more often today than any .
