Driving Under The Influence of Drugs and Alcohol and other facts about alcohol use.

Drinking alcoholic beverages and other drug use is widely accepted in our society. Advertisers often portray drinking as glamorous and sophisticated. Yet the abuse of drugs is costly. It takes its toll in broken relationships, poor health, wasted lives and sometimes death.
This problem is greatly compounded when someone who uses drugs also drives. For several years, a growing number of collisions involved drivers who used alcohol and or other drugs.
During more recent years, however, the rate of alcohol related fatality crashes has declined. All states now enforce a minimum drinking age of 21. Nevertheless alcohol related crashes are still a top safety problem.
Many people who use alcohol do not realize that it is a drug. The word alcohol is the commonly used term for the chemical substance ethanol, grain alcohol, or ethyl alcohol.
The effects of alcohol vary from person to person. Equal amounts of alcohol affect different people in different ways. Even though the severity of its affect varies, alcohol affects everyone who uses it. One of the most serious problems of alcohol is that of the drinking driver. The demands of the driving task are so great that every driver needs to be in the best condition possible. A person cannot afford to increase the risk of driving by having his or her skills reduced by alcohol.
Everyone needs to know how alcohol affects the mental and physical abilities needed for safe driving. Even non-drinkers will interact with impaired drivers on the roadway. People who drive need to know the importance of non-drinking.
When you consume alcohol, most of the alcohol is not digested. It is absorbed directly and quickly into the blood stream through the walls and lining of the stomach and small intestines. Once alcohol enters the blood stream it is soon circulated to the brain. Alcohol has its greatest effect on the parts of the brain that control judgment and reasoning, the most critical skills needed by drivers. Physical abilities also become impaired soon after.
A driver affected by alcohol has a decreased ability to reason clearly and to make sound judgments. However, the driver may feel as though thinking and judging abilities are sharper and quicker than usual. Some people believe that they can do things better after they have a drink or two. People will tell you that they can dance or even play pool better after a drink or two. There is nothing a person can do better after having a drink than he could do before he had the drink. Drinking does not increase your ability to do anything better than you could before.
In addition, alcohol quickly diminishes the ability to concentrate. A decrease in the ability to concentrate greatly increases a driver's level of risk. A person's driving ability can be reduced after only one drink. A person's driving ability decreases as the amount of alcohol in a person's body increases. An alcohol- impaired driver is less apt to interpret correctly what he or she sees.
Alcohol also weakens a driver's inhibitions, which are the inner forces of personalities that hold back or restrain one's impulsive behavior. A driver's inhibition weakens as the alcohol content in the body increases. This is why men buy ladies drinks.
The person who is drinking may drive too fast, take needless risks or even drive into emergency situations without knowing or even caring.
As more alcohol enters the bloodstream, the area of the brain that controls muscular movements and body control begins to slow down. Even after the driver recognizes danger, the brain takes longer than normal to process the information and react to the danger. Messages the brain sends to different parts of the body might become confused.
The muscular reaction of a driver who has been drinking can become slow and clumsy. Steering and braking movements can become uncoordinated. The driver might over-steer, brake late or not brake at all. The driver might not be able to negotiate turns properly and safely. Such actions cause drinking drivers to be involved in serious crashes.
Alcohol affects a driver's ability to see clearly. Night vision, peripheral vision, color vision, and depth perception are all impaired. Visual acuity, sharpness of vision, and peripheral vision are also reduced.
Alcohol also affects the reflex action of the eyes. At night, this impairment can be critical. As headlights of oncoming vehicles come closer, the pupils of the eyes normally become smaller to shut out excess light. This reflex keeps the driver from being blinded by the glare of headlights. When the lights have passed, the pupils enlarge again to let in all available light.
After only a few drinks, this reflex action is impaired. The pupils do not become small rapidly as the bright lights approach, and they are slow to open after the bright lights pass. As a result, the driver can be blinded temporarily and may continue to have blurred vision some time after meeting each vehicle. Example if you are traveling 70 miles per hour and it takes 3 seconds for your pupils to return to normal you have driven over the length of a football field (100 yards) not being able to see.
Peripheral vision is also impaired by alcohol. When peripheral vision is narrowed, a driver must turn and look to the sides for potential problems. After a few drinks, though, drivers are usually not aware of restricted side vision. Therefore, they do not make the effort to aggressively look to the sides. They are creating a hazard.
As judgment and reasoning become affected, a person's actions and behavior change. Just one drink can affect a person's behavior. The same amount of alcohol does not affect all people the same way. Alcohol does not even affect one person the same way in all situations. The same person could have two different reactions to alcohol on two separate occasions.
One common effect of alcohol on behavior is a feeling of well-being. This feeling is known as euphoria. Some people with this euphoric effect think they can do anything. This feeling is only a state of mind, because alcohol depresses, or slows down, the working of the nervous system.
Alcohol-induced euphoria can cause people to take chances they normally would not take. This behavior can be deadly behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Alcohol can also change other types of behavior. People who drink often become angry or sad. Many become silly or even rude. Some of this resulting behavior depends on the person's personality as well as the mood they are in when they begin to drink. Alcohol has been said to be a mood enhancer in most cases. This means that when a happy person drinks, in most cases he will be happier. The best way to avoid these changes in behavior is to decide not to drink.
People who drink and drive can be a hazard to themselves and to others on the highway. Even a small amount of alcohol can increase the driving risk.
One of the most dangerous behaviors drivers can participate in is what has become known as "Impaired Driving." When a driver is impaired and operating a motor vehicle, more often than not, it is because the driver has been consuming alcohol. You may be impaired using other drugs that are both legal and illegal. Let us look at what impaired drivers are doing to others on our highways.
Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes in the US declined by 2.4 percent from 2003 to 2004. The 16,694 alcohol-related fatalities in 2004 (39 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year) represents a 4 percent reduction from the 17,308 alcohol-related fatalities reported in 1994 (43 percent of the total).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that alcohol was involved in 39 percent of fatal crashes and in 7 percent of all crashes in 2004 in the US.
The 16,694 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2004 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes.
An estimated 248,000 persons were injured in the US in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present - an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes.
In 2004, 14,409 traffic fatalities in the US occurred in crashes in which at least one driver, passenger, or non-occupant had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or greater. Sixty-nine percent of the people killed in such crashes were themselves impaired. The remaining 31 percent were passengers, non-impaired drivers, or non-impaired non-occupants.
The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than 3 times as high at night than during the day (60 percent vs. 18 percent). For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is more than 5 times as high at night (16 percent vs. 3 percent).
About 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.
In 2004, 30 percent of all fatal crashes in the US during the week were alcohol-related, compared to 51 percent on weekends. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate was 5 percent during the week and 12 percent during the weekend.
The highest impairment rates in fatal crashes in 2004 were recorded for drivers 21-24 years old (32 percent), followed by ages 25-34 (27 percent) and 35-44 (23 percent).
Impairment rates for drivers in fatal crashes in 2004 were highest for motorcycle operators (27 percent) and lowest for drivers of large trucks (1 percent).
Motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes in 2004 had higher impairment rates, with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater, than any other type of motor vehicle driver. Impairment rates for vehicle operators involved in fatal crashes were 27 percent for motorcycles, 21 percent for light trucks, 22 percent for passenger cars, and 1 percent for large trucks.1
Forty-one percent of the 1,672 motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle crashes in 2004 were impaired. Three-fifths (60 percent) of those killed in single-vehicle crashes on weekend nights were impaired.
Motorcycle operators killed in traffic crashes at night were nearly 3 times as likely to be impaired as those killed during the day (42 percent and 13 percent, respectively).
The reported helmet use rate for impaired motorcycle operators killed in traffic crashes was 41 percent, compared with 63 percent for those who were sober.2
More than one-third (36 percent) of all pedestrians 16 years of age or older, killed in traffic crashes in 2004, were impaired. By age group, the percentages ranged from a low of 9 percent for pedestrians 65 and older to a high of 52 percent for those 21 to 24 years old.3
Section 5.2. Relationship of the amount of alcohol consumed to BAC and the equivalence of different types of alcohol beverages
WHAT IS AN AVERAGE DRINK?
An average 12 ounce can of beer (5%), an average 5 ounce glass of wine (12%) and an ounce and a half of whiskey (40%) all contain about the same amount of alcohol. Remember, not all beer is 5% alcohol, not all wine is 12% alcohol and not all whiskey is 40% alcohol. Be careful, not all drinks follow this general rule of thumb. This is only a guideline. Some drinks, for example a Long Island Ice Tea contain more alcohol than a beer or a glass of wine or a shot. A Long Island Iced Tea contains rum, gin, vodka, tequila and triple sec. You are looking at almost three ounces of alcohol. Not your ordinary drink.
WHAT IS BAC?
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in an individual's body, measured by the weight of the alcohol in a volume of blood. The BAC determines the amount of alcohol that can be consumed before an individual is presumptively impaired.
There are a number of ways to test an individual's BAC. The most common method used by law enforcement officers is the breath-testing device, which measures the alcohol level in the breath from the lungs. BAC can also be determined by drawing blood and measuring the amount of alcohol in the blood itself. Blood alcohol concentration is directly correlated with the degree of impairment an individual displays when driving after drinking. Although an individual may not exhibit gross signs of impairment, he or she is nevertheless impaired, even at a BAC level lower than that allowed by most state laws.
There is no formula to determine BAC solely from the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed. BAC levels vary from person to person, and can vary within an individual on a case-by case basis. An individual's BAC depends upon that person's gender, weight, metabolism, the time period over which the alcohol was consumed, and the amount of food that was in the stomach prior to drinking. Although a person's BAC can be estimated, the level cannot be determined solely by the number of drinks consumed, and cannot be precisely calculated by a person's height and weight.
Blood alcohol concentration laws are different for drivers under the age of 21 because it is already illegal for these individuals to buy or possess alcoholic beverages. BAC levels reflect the level of alcohol in an individual's system. While BAC levels for underage drivers in Florida is .02; zero tolerance laws make it illegal for those under the age of 21 to drive after consuming any amount of alcohol.
Presumption of impairment is .08 BAC. The reason for such a presumption is because everybody reacts to alcohol differently. Some individuals can be the same sex, height, weight, have the same amount of alcohol and one individual can be visibly far more impaired than the other, while the other could recite the Gettysburg address. This may seem unfair but it is the law. A line has been drawn to which everybody must adhere.
HOW DO YOU SOBER UP?
Black coffee? Exercise? Cold shower? Sorry, these are not much help. Give an impaired driver a cup of coffee and you have a wide-awake impaired driver. Run him around the block and you now have a wide-awake, tired impaired driver. Put him in a cold shower and now you have a wide-awake, tired, cold, clean impaired driver. Time is the only way to sober up. About 90% of the alcohol will be oxidized by the liver and that takes time. 1-5% of the alcohol is given off unchanged in urine, perspiration, and expired air. That expired air is used by the police to measure your BAC. The remainder of the alcohol in the blood is oxidized or burned up by various organs of the body. Remember each drink of alcohol increases the number of liver cells destroyed and eventually may cause cirrhosis of the liver. This disease is eight times more frequent among alcoholics than non-alcoholics. The most dramatic and noticeable result of alcohol abuse is its effect on the brain. Alcohol depresses the brain centers, resulting in these progressive effects: lack of coordination, confusion, disorientation, stupor, anesthesia, coma, and death. Alcohol kills brain cells, and since the brain cannot grow new cells, any brain damage caused by alcohol is permanent. Alcohol abuse over a period of time causes loss of memory, judgment, and learning disability.
Section 5.3. Legal consequences, including the increasing severity with repeated offenses
PENALTIES FOR DUI:
First Conviction:
Fine: Not less than $250 to $500. With BAC level of .20 or higher or minor in the vehicle not less than $500 or more than $1,000.
Community Service: Mandatory 50 hours or additional fine of $10 for each hour of community service required.
Probation: Not more than 1 year total period of probation and incarceration may not exceed 1 year. All persons convicted of DUI are placed on monthly reporting probation.
Imprisonment: Not more than 6 months. With BAC of .20 or higher or minor in the vehicle: not more than nine months.
Driver License Revocation Periods for DUI: minimum 180 days revocation, maximum 1 year. Individuals must complete 12 hours of DUI school before hardship reinstatement.
Treatment evaluation required to see if treatment is necessary
Impoundment: The court will order an impoundment of your vehicle for ten days.
Ignition Interlock device: Up to 6 months
If you are under 21 your license can be suspended for 6 months if your BAC is .02 or higher.
Second Conviction:
Fine: $500 - $1000. With BAC .20 or higher or minor in vehicle, not less than $1000 or more than $2000.
Imprisonment: Not more than 9 months. With BAC of .20 or higher or minor in the vehicle: not more than 12 months. If the second conviction is within 5 years, mandatory imprisonment of at least 10 days. At least 48 hours of confinement must be consecutive.
License Revocation: Minimum 180 days revocation, maximum 1 year. Second conviction within 5 years: minimum 5 years revocation. May be eligible for hardship reinstatement after 1 year.
DUI School: 21 hours. Must complete DUI school following conviction and remain in the DUI supervision program for the remainder of the revocation period.
Treatment evaluation required to see if treatment is necessary.
Impoundment: The court will order the car or any car that you own or lease to be impounded for 30 days and you will incur all fees related to impoundment. If your car was stolen or you purchased a vehicle that was involved in a DUI incident. You must petition the court
Ignition Interlock device: Minimum of 1 year
Third Conviction
Fine: not less than $1000 and not more than $2500. With BAC .20 or higher or minor in the vehicle, not less than $2000 or more than $5000.
Imprisonment: Not more than 12 months for the 3rd conviction within 10 years of first conviction. Mandatory imprisonment of at least 30 days. At least 48 hours of confinement must be consecutive.
License Revocation: Minimum 10 years revocation. May be eligible for hard-ship reinstatement after 2 years.
DUI School: 21 hours. Must complete DUI school following conviction and remain in the DUI supervision program for the remainder of the revocation period.
Treatment evaluation required to see if treatment is necessary.
Impoundment: The court will order your car to be impounded for 90 days, and you will incur all fees related to impoundment. If your car was stolen or you purchased a vehicle that was involved in a DUI incident. You must petition the court and prove that you were not involved in the incident and that this is not being done to circumvent the court. If the court finds this to be true, your car will be released with no penalties or fees.
The third conviction is now a felony if it is within 10 years of your previous conviction.
Ignition Interlock device: Minimum of 2 years
Fourth or More Conviction
Fine: Not less than $1,000
Felony: A conviction is a felony of the 3rd degree.
DUI School: The individual must attend 21 hours of DUI school
Imprisonment: Not more than five years
Revocation: The individual will have their license revoked permanently.
Treatment: Treatment evaluation required to see if treatment is necessary.
Section 5.4. Financial consequences of DUI
The average DUI will cost somewhere between $8,000 to $12,000 in fines and court costs. If you include attorney's fees, insurance increases, probation, restitution, driver license reinstatement and immobilization of your vehicle your costs will soar upwards into the thousands. The DUI will also become attached to your permanent driver license record for 75 years. Drinking and driving is not only a personal problem but also a societal problem. It may cost the drinker's family or whoever may meet a drinking driver on the highway.
The cost to society escalates as well. The cleanup process after a crash is a cost that the taxpayers must carry. This includes emergency services, police enforcement and maintenance.
Impoundment:
After being charged with a DUI, your car will be impounded for a period of to 10 to 90 days, depending on how many convictions that you have. The court will release the car upon payment of a bond or bail. Until the car is released the charged driver will be responsible for all fees associated with impoundment which will include towing and storage fees.