DRUNK & IMPAIRED DRIVING
HOW DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
AFFECT TEEN DRIVERS
While many teenagers handle the responsibility of driving just fine, others end up in accidents.
In many cases, these accidents occur because the driver is impaired by drugs or alcohol or perhaps distracted by other things. Even if the driver survives the accident, passengers or people in other cars involved in the collision may end up seriously injured or even dead.
Imagine the horror of having to say goodbye to a best friend or sibling.
Imagine waking up in a hospital and finding out that you killed somebody because you insisted on driving after drinking. The results of an accident due to careless, impaired or distracted driving can never be undone. You cannot bring someone back to life or undo an injury that left a person permanently paralyzed.
However, these things can be avoided through safer driving practices.
A car isn’t just a vehicle or a convenience. It is a large, powerful machine that is capable of causing death or horrific injuries if it is not handled safely and responsibly.
We all owe it to ourselves and others to help keep the roads safe.
Alcohol and Driving
- For many teens, being able to drink alcohol seems to symbolize the fact that they are growing up. However, the hard truth is that it is illegal to drink if you are still under 21 years of age.
- Underage drinking can result in a fine and, in some cases, jail time. If you are of age, there is a big difference between enjoying alcohol responsibly in a legal manner and bingeing on alcohol or drinking and driving.
- Alcohol affects everybody in a different way, based on individual tolerance and physical build. For example, a small female might feel much more drunk after two drinks than a tall, muscular male.
- Drunk driving accidents can cause permanent physical damage and result in death.
- Driving while intoxicated should never be an option.
Drugs and Driving
- Many teens end up taking drugs because their friends pressure them into it.
- They may feel that they will be left out if they don’t participate when everyone else is doing drugs. Even more dangerously, they may drive while still under the influence of drugs.
- Drugs affect our judgment, perception, reflexes and other abilities in many different ways.
- Remember that even prescription drugs can have strong effects on our minds and bodies. It is for this reason that many medications warn people not to operate vehicles while consuming them. Despite this, many drugged drivers mistakenly insist that they feel fine enough to drive.
- The best way to avoid drugged driving is by not taking drugs at all. If you do encounter someone on drugs, don’t allow them to drive. Instead, offer to drive if you are sober, call a taxi or take a bus.
Why is Drugged Driving Dangerous?
The effects of specific drugs on driving skills differ depending on how they act in the brain.
For example, marijuana can slow reaction time, impair judgment of time and distance, and decrease coordination.
Research studies have shown negative effects of marijuana on drivers, including an increase in lane weaving, poor reaction time, and altered attention to the road.
Use of alcohol with marijuana makes drivers more impaired, causing even more lane weaving.
Drivers who have used cocaine or metham-phetamine can be aggressive and reckless when driving.
Certain kinds of prescription medicines, including benzodiazepines and opioids, can cause drowsiness, dizziness, and impair cognitive functioning (thinking and judgment).
It is difficult to determine how specific drugs affect driving because people tend to mix various substances, including alcohol. But we do know that even small amounts of some drugs can have a measurable effect.
As a result, some states have zero-tolerance laws for drugged driving. This means a person can face charges for driving under the influence (DUI) if there is any amount of drug in the blood or urine.
Many states are waiting to develop laws until research can better define blood levels that indicate impairment, such as those they use with alcohol.
Read more about other commonly abused drugs that can effect driving, at
DRUGGED DRIVING VIDEO
Explores the dangerous trend of driving under the influence of illegal drugs and prescription medications.
On any day, at any time, the person driving next to you could be impaired. Safety and law enforcement experts point to a dangerous new trend — driving impaired from illegal drugs, pills or even common prescription medicines.
The threat is the greatest during the evening hours on weekends when as many as one in four drivers could be impaired, according to studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NET’s newest documentary “Drugged Driving” addresses this new and dangerous trend and what is being done to improve safety. It explores how medications can impair vision and balance, cause drowsiness or even render a driver unconscious.
Distracted Driving
Even if you are not impaired by drugs or alcohol, there is another factor that can cause unnecessary accidents: distracted driving.
Think about how many times you or other drivers have driven while talking on a cell phone, texting or being distracted by passengers in the car. Some drivers only pay half attention to the road because they are busy applying makeup, unwrapping a hamburger, setting details on their GPS or changing the radio station.
You might only take your eyes off the road for a split second, but that’s all it takes to fail to see a car suddenly cutting into your lane or a child darting across the street.
Another factor that causes accidents is when people drive even though they are tired. If you are tired, take a break from driving or don’t get in the car in the first place. It is better to pull over on the side of the road, lock the doors and even nap for a little while rather than continue to drive and endanger yourself and others