The dangers of drinking and driving

Photo courtesy of www.muhealth.org

Every day, people drink and drive. In 2017, there were a total of 10,874 people who were killed because of drunk driving, according to www.responsibility.org. Choosing to drive while intoxicated, or choosing to ride with someone who is intoxicated, is putting not only your life at risk, but the lives of many others. Alcohol impacts a person's judgment, coordination, reaction time and vision. All of those factors are extremely important when behind the wheel. I am going to break down the five biggest reasons why drunk driving is so dangerous. Please take all of these points into consideration before going out.. 

5. Slow reaction time

When alcohol is in your system, your reaction time significantly decreases. This means you could be late to react to a situation that requires a quick reaction. For example, if you are approaching a stop light, and the yellow light quickly changes to red. Because you are intoxicated, you may not react and keep driving right through traffic. Having a slow reaction while driving could be very deadly. 

4. Decrease vision

While intoxicated, your vision can decrease severely and that can be very dangerous. You could drive right through a stop sign simply because you didn’t see it. You could also not see debris lying in the road, which could potentially lead to a car crash. 

3. Lack of concentration 

Drinking alcohol, no matter how much or how little, can affect your concentration. It is vital that you are concentrated on all aspects of the road when behind the wheel. If you are driving and you give your attention to something else, the results can be deadly. 

2. You could kill yourself

Think about your family; think about your friends. If you take the risk to drink while driving, you are risking putting your loved ones through trauma that could have been easily avoided. Next time you drink and you are about to drive, picture how your mom would feel if she found out you were killed in an accident because of the choices you made. 

1. You could kill someone else

Imagine this: you are flying down the highway after a night of drinking with your friends. You are so intoxicated that you are swerving all over the road. You end up hitting another car and killing a young kid on his way back home from a friend's house. You just took away his life and made his family suffer because of the decision you made to drink and drive. Always remember that it is not worth it. 

Overall, drinking and driving is a major problem that needs more attention. If we keep spreading the word of how dangerous it is to drink and drive, we will be saving lives. So the next time you drink, and you even consider for a second that you can drive, remember you could be not only ending you life, but the life of an innocent person.