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Running head: Drinking and Driving
Drinking and driving and its Dangers: A review of the literature
Freddy Tinoco
University of Texas at El Paso
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Running head: Drinking and Driving
Abstract
Drinking and Driving is by far the leading deaths in the United States. It’s been seen
through all fifty states in the United States with Montana being the highest DWI rates in
the country. This literature review will inform the reader with what actually is drinking
and driving, statistics of death, and arrest. Graphs and statistical data will be contributed
to the research of Drinking and Driving.
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Running head: Drinking and Driving
Drinking and Driving and its Ratability: A Review of the Literature
Drinking and driving is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Drinking and driving occurs when a person is driving under the influence of alcohol or
over the state limit. DWI is a leading cause in the United States “Over forty percent of
fatal automobile accident is alcohol-related.” Drinking under the influence usually
happens when the driver of the automobile doesn’t have any other way of getting home,
so their only options are for them having to drive. The driver under the influence faces a
lot of problems when it comes to driving, you can jeopardize your life and somebody
else, or End up behind bar and pay a high number of fees.
Drinking and driving is one of the biggest existence the government has it hardest
to stop, If there is a party at least thirty fiver percent of people driving will leave above
the influence of alcohol. Lately the Government and police department have tried to stop
all the Drinking and driving going on by setting up random road stops, and having to take
breathalyzer test if not they have the right to get a blood sample from the individual,
however in order to learn more about facts, statistics, and dangers about drinking and
driving four important questions need to be intended:
1. What factors influence drinking and driving?
2. what are The danger of teens drinking and driving? And what are they doing to stop
it?
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3. What happens after you are issued a DWI or DUI?
4. What precautions are being taken to try and prevent drinking and driving?
The following literature review will: Provide knowledge about drinking and driving,
discuss the issue of Drinking and Driving and what causes it to occur more often than
ever.
What factors influence drinking and driving?
Drinking and driving is by far one of the foremost causes of death in the United States,
Many individuals see drinking and driving as a tragedy and some others see it as not a big
deal, Which are the ones that are likely to get caught or even cause an accident. One
Factor that influences drinking and driving is depression. Depression is a feeling of
hopelessness or shame, due to the fact of the actions that happened in the past. According
to Chris M Alexander, “Individuals that are depressed are more prone to accidents
because their mind is always on other matters rather than focusing on driving alone.”
(Chris M Alexander, Causes of Drunk Driving, August 18, 2009). Other than being
depressed, stress is another factor the influences drinking and driving. Stress is the
tension that is build up by a problem you are having that can’t be solved or even
problems with the family. Stress can cause someone to drink more than they can handle
just to forget about the problem’s they are having, another words “Drink their problem’s
away”. According to Chris M Alexander, “When you have no tension in your mind, you
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Running head: Drinking and Driving
are not going to consume too much alcohol and therefore possibility of any accident
happening is going to be lot lower.” (Chris M Alexander, Causes of Drunk Driving,
August 18, 2009). There is many reason an individual might consider drinking and
driving, Either the individual think the destination is right up the street nothing will
happen, Too drunk to even care how they get home, and have no other option to do other
than drive home under the influence. According to Chris M Alexander, “One of the main
reasons responsible for drunk driving is that large numbers of people does not know how
to manage their drinking habit.” (Chris M Alexander, Causes of Drunk Driving, August
18, 2009). When they get start to get drunk due to their careless actions they are more
like to drive under the influence since they don’t care about what’s going on. Figure 1
illustrates the blood alcohol concentrations vs. the risk of causing others and yourself. In
figures one it shows that car crashes start to happen when the individual has at least .7 of
blood alcohol concentration percent. The risk of danger people becomes an extremely
large problem when the blood percentage starts to pass .11 and cause a lot of more car
crashes. Figure 1| A chart showing alcohol blood percentage vs. the risk.
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As of now the drinking and driving rate have gone up since 2009 there is helpful way to
prevent you having to drink and drive and danger someone’s life or even your own life.
Having a designated driver can be the biggest way to prevent a crash or and DWI Arrest.
According to David J. Hanson, “ Volunteer to be a designated driver. It could save your
life and the lives of your friends” (David J. Hanson, Young Drivers & Alcohol, 2011).
Do teens get a lot of DWI or cause drinking and driving accidents? And what are
they doing to stop it?
Teens drinking and driving is one of the most dangerous things that can happen behind
the wheel. Teens often do not drink in moderation which adults almost always drink in
moderation and always have a sober driver. According to AlcoholAlert!, “In the United
States, 12.8% of all fatal traffic crashes were alcohol-related, and 40% of that number
involved teens driving while drinking alcohol. “(AlcoholAlert!, Teenage Drunk Driving
Risks, 2011). Most parents do don’t worry about their son or daughter drinking and
driving until the reach high school, but even then parent would not like to accept the fact
that their teenager is drinking at an early age. According to AlcoholAlert!, “Statistics
show one out of every ten teens between the ages of 12 and 13 drink alcohol at least once
a month. “(AlcoholAlert!, Teenage Drunk Driving Risks, 2011). Teen drinking and
driving is one of the top leading causes of teen’s death. Every year more and more teens
start partying which cause them to start drinking and driving. There is only so much to try
and stop a teenager from doing what they are doing. According to AlcoholAlret!, “In
1984, President Ronald Reagan increased the legal drinking age to 21 and enacted more
severe penalty legislation against bars and other establishments that get caught providing
potential underage purchasers with alcohol.” (AlcoholAlert!, Teenage Drunk Driving
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Risks, 2011). Teenager’s always find everything easy even drinking and driving. Most
teenagers like to brag about how good they are at drinking and driving when in reality no
one is good at drinking and driving. The government has also tried varies thing to stop
teenagers from drinking and driving. According to AlcoholAlret! “Sobriety checkpoints,
legislation, curfews, alcohol awareness programs like Mothers Against Drunk Driving
(MADD), and transportation education films are helping to inform the public of this
dangerous problem.” (AlcoholAlert!, Teenage Drunk Driving Risks, 2011).
What happens after you are issued a DWI or DUI?
A DWI occurs when you’re driving over the state limit which in all state the legal limit is
0.8. After you are arrested for Drinking and driving there are a lot of consequences due to
the fact that you got caught. Nowadays after your second offense of DWI or DUI they
have to put a breathalyzer in their car, so in order to drive they will have to blow into and
be sober of course. Some consequences are, According to Drunk Driving Consequences,
“Jail Time, Court cost, Loss of job/ loss of income, Attorneys fees, increased insurance
rates, car impound and towing fees, loss of driving privileges, cost of drivers education
classes, cost and inconvenience of ignition interlock device installed on car, Community
service time, and the worst consequences of drunk driving is injuring or killing
someone.” (Drunk Driving Consequences, 2010), DWI can be extremely expensive not
only for the lawyers fee but for court fees! A DWI can cost you up to $24,000. According
to Dallas TexasDWI, “The Texas Department of Transportation recently conducted a
study which found that a first time offender could expect to pay between $9000 and
$24,000 for DWI arrest and conviction.”(Dallas TexasDWI, SO, HOW MUCH
EXACTLY WILL YOUR DWI ARREST COST YOU?, 2008). This is the estimated
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charge for a DWI. According to Dallas TexasDWI, “ Bail: $185-$5000, Attorney fees:
$275-$10,000, Court Cost: $25-$1500, DWI fine: 2000 *first offense* (Second offense
garners a $4000 fine and a third offense a $10,000 fine) Course in alcohol education: $25
$185 Fee to keep driver’s license: $3120 ($1040 a year for three years) (Surcharge by
Texas Department of Public Safety).” ( Dallas TexasDWI, Texas Department Of
Transportation’s Drunk Driving Fees, 2008)
What precautions are being taken to try and prevent drinking and driving?
Drinking and driving will always be a leading cause of death in the united states no
matter what society tries to do or even the laws that the government tries to put. There is
many things to do to prevent drinking and driving. The average person drinks and drives
a lot of times before they end up in an accident or get arrested for DWI. Having a
designated driver is perhaps the best choice when it comes to preventing drinking and
driving. For second offenders of DWI there is a new technology that will end up in their
car, A breathalyzer to start the car. According to Ben Forer, The new technologies are
built right into the car and are invisible to the driver. They can include a breath
analyzer that can sense alcohol on a driver's breath, or touch sensors on the car's
starter button that can detect alcohol levels through the skin.”(Ben Forer, Abc
World News, New Dashboard Sensors Can Stop Drunk Drivers, 2011)
Conclusion
Drinking and driving has been a problem for years now, no matter what society, cops,
and the government try to do to stop it there will still be people that drive under the
influence. As of now all we can do is not drink and drive and don’t let anyone else drive
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if you see them drunk..
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Reference
Alexander, C. M., (August 18, 2009). About DWI, Causes of Drunk Driving,
http://www.aboutdwi.com/blog/causes-drunk-driving/ .
Js Ielts, JS Ielts, JS Ielts Academic Writing task 1- Combined Diagrams,
http://www.jsielts.com/_docu/IELTS%20AW1-Combined%20Diagrams.pdf .
Hanson, D. J., (2011), Potsdam, Young Drivers & Alcohol,
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YoungDriversAndAlcohol.html .
Alcohol Alert!, (2011), Drunk Driving Consequences,
http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-consequences.html .
Dallas TexasDwi, (2008), How Much Will a DWI Arrest Cost You?,
http://www.dallastexasdwi.org/cost/ .
UpDike, D., (December 3, 2010), New York Time, Drinking, Driving and Paying,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05lives-t.html?_r=1 .
CBSNEWS, (August 2, 2009), Cbs News, DWI Deaths: is it Murder?,
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/31/60minutes/main4694666.shtml
Ben Forer, (January 27, 2011), Abc World News, New Dashboard Sensor Can Stop
Drunk Drivers, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/technology-prevents-drunk-driversstarting-vehicle/story?id=12781499#.T2lr47yF8ok