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The Influence of Alcohol on Driving

Author: Melissa Bailey
by Melissa Bailey
Posted: Sep 20, 2017

Many car owners will probably agree that the main reason for not driving a car when drunk are often their fear toward alcohol testers, fines or even jail time in some cases. In fact, in addition to the aforementioned, alcohol is much more dangerous due its inevitable influence on the driver's brain. And often this influence is difficult to spot for both the driver and their passengers. However, alcohol influence can suddenly kick in in the most critical and inopportune moment. Let us consider what the difference is between a sober driver and a drunk driver, and how alcohol influences the reaction speed as well as the behavior of the person at the wheel.

If you need some legal help, though, in the DUI matter, we suggest you turn to this Kitchener DUI lawyer.

Thus, even with a slight degree of intoxication - after a couple of glasses of vodka, whiskey or a beer, when the alcohol dose in the blood is only 0.2-0.5 ppm, a driver's craving for risky, aggressive driving increases. Furthermore, in this case, the driver can no longer accurately determine the speed of other cars, for example, when overtaking or taking a turn; the perception of the volume and size of the surrounding objects deteriorates.

When the alcohol dose reaches 0.5-0.8 ppm, the rate of adaptation of pupils to the change of illumination decreases, the reaction speed to the change of light is low. This all leads to the fact that a motorist can easily be blinded by the incidental light of oncoming traffic while being unable to properly adapt to the sudden darkness after well-lit areas and vice versa and they also do not notice any dangerous maneuvers on the road while reacting more slowly to the maneuvers of other drivers.

At an alcohol dose of 0.8-1.2, all of the above negative processes in the driver's brain increase. At the same time, the driver ceases to adequately perceive the process of driving, the awareness of danger goes away and it becomes more difficult for them to determine the distances to the oncoming cars as well as to those directly ahead of them. The angle of view narrows dramatically with coordination and balance deteriorating. The driver is slower and less reactive to what is happening and they can also confuse the pedals etc.

At a rate of alcohol above 1.2-1.5 ppm, it is simply impossible to drive a car, as many are experiencing difficulties even when trying to start up the engine let alone perform any maneuvers at the parking lot.

In conclusion, we would like to say that before you get behind the wheel after a couple of glasses of wine or whiskey, it is worth remembering that even the smallest dose of alcohol can be fatal and irreversible, so it's best to use TAXI services instead without jeopardizing your own life as well as the lives of others. However, if you did happen to drive a vehicle when drunk, we recommend you turn to some professional Guelph drunk driving lawyers.

About the Author

I'm an experienced blogger who wants to share interesting and useful information. I swim, cycle, and run a lot. When i'm not doing all those, I love to read and try new things.

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Author: Melissa Bailey

Melissa Bailey

Member since: Sep 20, 2017
Published articles: 3

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