Cause and Effect: Driving While Intoxicated.
Driving while under the influence is one if the most dangerous things someone can do. When someone drinks and drive, they are dangerous to themselves, their passengers, to other road users and pedestrians. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's reactions and the working of the brain. The risks of driving are alcohol related accidents and violence. The effects of alcohol are poor coordination, slurred speech, double vision, decrease of self-control, loss of consciousness and death. The more a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions become harder to do. After one drink a driver can lose their ability to drive a car. A driver can become illegally intoxicated and can be arrested for trying to operate a vehicle. .
There is a lot of research and evidence that shows that the driving performance and reaction times are seriously affected by alcohol. Every thirty minutes someone dies in alcohol related crashes. Last year alone, more that one million people were injured from alcohol related accidents. Each year drunk driving is responsible for about 25% of these deaths. There are legal consequences due to drinking also. In every state there is a legal limit to how much alcohol someone can consume, if you are driving. If you drink too much and drive you can lose your licenses and even go to jail.
Traffic crashes area the leading cause of deaths for teens and young adults. There are more than five thousand young people killed every year from car crashes and thousands are seriously injured. Young drivers are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash. There are two main reasons why young people are at a higher risks for being in a car crash, 1) Lack of driving experience, and 2) Their tendency to take risks while driving. Young people drive faster and do not control the car as more experienced drivers. In addition most teens and young adults do most of their driving at night, which can be more difficult.
