Drunk Driving
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Contents |
Causes
Drinking and driving has become one of the leading causes of car accidents nationwide. Many people, over and under the age of 21, have made the decision to get into a car and drive home under the influence of alcohol. Before going out, one must find a sober driver or decide not to drink. "Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as the amount of alcohol increases, so does the degree of impairment."1 Heavy drinkers may also blackout sometimes during the night and if that person is operating a car while a blackout occurs, a terrible accident could occur. Those who are irresponsible and get behind the wheel after a night of drinking are putting their life and other people's lives in danger.
Effects
Those who make the obvious wrong choice to drink and drive are putting themselves in danger, and in a situation that may lead to many consequences. "Revoking or suspending the licenses of persons convicted of driving while intoxicated has often been claimed to be uniquely effective in reducing subsequent dangerous driving, as indexed by crashes and violations."2 On a first time driving under the influence (DUI) charge, the license of the driver is automatically suspended along with other charges dependent upon the driver's personal situation. Not only do these car accidents effect the people involved, but it also effects the country. "Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion."4
Harm
The amount of deaths that result from drunk driving accidents is horrifying. "During 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths."5 There have been many car accidents that involve underage drinkers, as well as those ages 21 or above. Those who drive drunk and hit someone must deal with a lot of consequences, in hopes that one of those consequences is not killing the person, or persons, in the other vehicle. "In 2005, nearly 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics."6 If every person who drove under the influence got into an accident, many more injuries and deaths could occur. But, luckily a lot of them do get caught before causing any harm.
Prevention Strategies
There are a number of things that can be done to help reduce the number of drunk drivers. The enforced 0.08% blood alcohol content (BAC) law is always in effect, as well as the drinking age. There are also sobriety checkpoints along with mandatory substance abuse assessment and treatment for driving-under-the-influence offenders.3 The well-known Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has been a long-standing organization that also helps in spreading the word to reduce drunk driving. These causes, in addition to the laws, help the public understand the true effects of drunk driving. "Over the past 20 years, alcohol-related fatal crash rates have decreased by 60 percent for drivers ages 16 to 17 years and 55 percent for drivers ages 18 to 20 years, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."3
Alcohol Screening Measures
Many people who are intoxicated or who are under suspicion of being intoxicated are screened by police. When an officer stops a car and approaches the driver of the vehicle he may notice the smell of alcohol and it is his duty to undertake alcohol investigation. If the driver is asked to step out of the vehicle to perform roadside maneuvers, the officer will determine by his performance of these maneuvers whether there is enough evidence to conduct an arrest for driving under the influence. There are many observations and tests an officer must take to determine if an individual is intoxicated. These observations and tests are the smell of alcohol, color of the face, pulse rate, walking test, gait in turning test, Romberg’s test, the finger-finger test, the match test, speech and behavior observation, relaxation of inhibitions, pulling oneself together, counting backwards test, and the orientation of the time and place test.7 Usually people are screened for alcohol if they have been drinking and driving. There are three tests commonly known tests that are done to screen someone under the influence of alcohol.
The first test is a test of vision and reaction to smooth moving objects. This test is called HGN testing, which stands for Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus testing. Nystagmus is a rapid jerking of the eye when it is looking at an object in a peripheral angle. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) people under the influence of alcohol will have a more exaggerated jerking of the eye at less stressful angles, which indicates that this person has a blood alcohol level over 0.08, which is the legal limit. The NHTSA concludes that 88 percent of people who fail this test are under the influence of alcohol.8 The HGN test also can determine if an individual is consuming other medications, inhalants, or depressants.
The second test is the walk-and-turn (WAT). People who are not under the influence easily pass these tests. The WAT requires a suspect to take nine steps, heel-to-toe, in a straight line. After this is completed, they are asked to turn around on one-foot return to the area they started, doing the same heel-to-toe steps. The officer who is performing the sobriety test looks for eight signs that will determine if the suspect is impaired. These eight signs are if the suspect cannot keep balance while listening to the instructions, begins before the instructions are finished, stops while walking to regain balance, does not touch heel-to-toe, steps off the line, uses arms to balance, makes an improper turn, or takes an incorrect number of steps. Performing this test the NHTSA concludes that 79 percent of people who fail two or more indicators of this test are under the influence and have a blood alcohol level over 0.08.8
The third test that is performed is the one-leg-stand (OLS). The officer will ask the suspect to stand on one leg while raising the other leg about six inches off the ground. He will then ask the suspect to count by thousands until the officer has told him to stop, which is about 30 seconds. During this test the officer will look for four signs of impairment. These four signs of impairment are swaying while balancing, using arms to balance, hopping to maintain balance, and putting the foot down. Performing this test the NHTSA concludes that 65 percent of those who fail are impaired and have a blood alcohol level over 0.08.8
When all the field sobriety tests are combined the NHTSA tells us that officers are 91 percent accurate in determining whether a suspect is impaired or not.8 Also the original tests by Tharp, Burns and Moskowitz in 1981 only reported a combined 81 percent of officer’s arrest decision at a blood alcohol level over .10 were accurate when all three measures were combined. Compared to Stuster and Burns study in 1998 when they had greater accuracies of 91 percent when all three tests were conducted.8 Many of these tests are very affective and will most likely determine whether a suspect is under the influence or not. We can also determine that the officer’s awareness of alcohol influence has improved.
Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for officers, and alcohol related incidents are a big part of that. In 2005 sixty-three officers died in the line of duty due to drunk driving. To prevent drunk driving and to secure safety on the road the NHTSA has put into place sobriety checkpoints. This will help prevent numerous amounts of alcohol related traffic incidents. Though these check points may seem to slow traffic and cost money to set up, they affectively reduce the amount of people driving under the influence in those areas. In July of 2002 the state of Maryland decided to adapt a new program that would help prevent drunk driving. This new campaign was called the Checkpoint Strikeforce.9
The main purpose of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign is to show drivers that police will be likely to catch you and arrest you if you are driving drunk.9 It is a way for the police to make drivers more aware that they have a much higher risk of being pulled over and arrested for drunk driving now because of these checkpoints. It was a way for officers to effectively perform all field sobriety tests on the side of the road to keep drunk drivers off the roads. Since these checkpoints have been put in place they have been effective on reducing the amount of drunk driving in these areas. Mostly because of the people who were previously pulled over tell friends and relatives not to drive under the influence since the new checkpoints have been put in place and the risk of being caught is much higher. Since the Strikeforce has been put in place drivers who believe that they will have a much higher chance of being pulled over after drinking are much less likely to drink and drive.9
These checkpoints and field sobriety tests will help prevent drunk drivers from being on the road and will ultimately save innocent lives and protect people from being exposed to such danger.
References
1. Alcohol Alert. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. October 2004. [1] 2. Effects of License Revocation on Drunk-Driving Offenders. PubMed. [2] 3. Impaired Driving. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [3] 4. Blincoe L, Seay A, Zaloshnja E, Miller T, Romano E, Luchter S, et al. The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2000. Washington (DC): Dept of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); 2002. [4] 5. Dept of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic safety facts 2005: alcohol. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2006 [cited 2006 Oct 3]. [5] 6. Department of Justice (US), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Crime in the United States 2005: Uniform Crime Reports. Washington (DC): FBI; 2005 [cited 2006 Nov 3]. [6] 7. Burns, M. (1993). An Overview Of Field Sobriety Test Research. Perpetual and Motor Skills, 97, 1187-1199 8. "Standardized Field Sobriety Testing." National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1998 [7] Accessed February 28, 2008 9. Beck, K., & Moser, M. (2006). Am J Health Behav., 30(3):268-277
