Drinking and Driving: The Consequences and Interventions

Thousands of vehicular fatalities each year result from drunk driving. This aspect of alcohol consumption is probably the one that most mobilizes the general public against alcohol abuse. Programs such as MADD (Mothers Against Drugs Driving) have been founded and staffed by the parents and friends of those killed by drunk drivers. Increasingly, the political impact of these and related groups is being felt, as they pressure state and local governments for tougher alcohol control measures and stiffer penalties for convicted dunk drivers.

Moreover, hosts and hostesses are now pressured to assume responsibility for the alcohol consumption of their guests and for friends to intervene when they recognize that their friends are too drunk to drive. But this can be a difficult task to undertake. How do you know when to tell a friend that he or she is too drunk to drive and to intervene so that the drink individual will to drive? Knowing the driver well, perceiving that he or she had conversation in the past that encouraged intervention all enhance the likelihood that an individual will intervene in situation when a peer is drunk. However, the norms to control others' driving, though growing stringer, still fly in the face of beliefs in individual liberty and personal responsibility. Consequently, many drunk drivers remain on the road.

When drunk drivers are arrested and brought to court, they are typically referred to drinking programs not unlike those we have just discussed. How successful are these referral programs? A review examining these programs suggested that light drinkers did well in most of them. Unfortunately, heavy drinkers typically did very poorly. As yet, iyt seems there is no good rehabilitation program for the heavy drinking driver, other than getting him or her off the road through stiffer penalties.
With increased media attention on the problem of drunk driving, drinkers seem to be developing self-regulatory techniques to avoid driving while drunk. Such techniques involve limiting drinking to a prescribed number, arranging for a designated driver, getting a taxi, or delaying or avoiding driving after consuming alcohol. Thus, although prevention in the form of eliminating drinking altogether is unlikely to occur, the rising popularity of self regulation to avoid drunk driving may help reduce in this serious problem.

Be responsible for the life of your loved ones, as well as others', and your own, have awareness and take action to avoid on the issue of drunk drinking. Do not drive after you drink.