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  • Alcohol and Driving
  • Awake!—1986
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Awake!—1986
g86 3/8 pp. 6-9

Alcohol and Driving

YOU SLIP behind the steering wheel, start the engine, and off you go. Driving may become second nature to you, especially if you’ve been doing it for years. But it is not as simple as it may seem.

It has been estimated that under normal circumstances you make about 20 major decisions for each mile you drive. Decisions about what you see and hear in connection with other cars, traffic signs, and pedestrians must be translated into actions involving the brake, the accelerator, the clutch, and the steering wheel. And you don’t have much time to decide​—often just a split second.

So driving requires a delicate coordination between decisions and actions. Alcohol makes this driving task especially dangerous. Why? Because alcohol affects the driver in several ways that significantly impair his ability to drive safely.​—See the box, “BAC and Behavior,” on page 8.

Alcohol and Vision

When you drive, it has been estimated, 85 to 90 percent of the information you obtain regarding the traffic situation is received through your eyes. Your vision is controlled by a very delicate system of muscles that move and focus your eyes. Alcohol slows the function of these muscles and thus impairs vision in several ways.

For one thing, alcohol reduces the ability of the eyes to control the amount of light entering the retina. That’s especially critical at night. Why? Because it increases the amount of time it takes for the eye to recover from the glare of oncoming headlights. Explains Alcohol, Vision & Driving, distributed by the American Automobile Association: “Normally, it takes one second for the pupil to constrict and respond to the glare of oncoming headlights. It takes seven seconds after exposure to headlight glare for the pupil to once again adapt to the dark conditions. This recovery action is slowed by alcohol.”

Consider the potential danger: It is late at night. You are driving on a winding, narrow highway​—just one lane in each direction. The glare of the headlights is blinding for drivers on both sides of the road. How safe would you feel if you knew that the driver of an oncoming car had been drinking?

Alcohol also reduces peripheral vision​—the ability, when looking straight ahead, to notice things on either side of you. This is especially dangerous when mixing alcohol and high-speed driving. Explains Alcohol, Vision & Driving: “Most drivers fail to realize that at 30 MPH [48 km/​hr], a driver has reduced his side vision by 25%. At 45 MPH [72 km/​hr], he has reduced his side vision by 50%. And at speeds over 60 MPH [97 km/​hr], he is literally driving down a ‘vision tunnel.’”

Just imagine the possible consequences when the drinking driver speeds through intersections or past parked cars where a small child may suddenly dart out.

Moreover, alcohol can cause double vision, so that the drinking driver may see two cars approaching him instead of one. Furthermore, it can affect a person’s ability to judge distance. From all of this, it is evident that alcohol and driving, like oil and water, just don’t mix. Indeed, the Bible has it right when it says: “Who has dullness of eyes? Those staying a long time with the wine.”​—Proverbs 23:29, 30.

But accurately seeing the traffic situation around you is only part of what is involved in safely driving a car.

Alcohol and Judgment

Once you perceive the traffic scene, you must judge, or decide, what action you are going to take. For example, suppose you’re traveling on a two-way road, and the car in front of you is moving very slowly. You must decide if and when it is safe to pass.

Here, too, alcohol can be deadly. How so? Often, as the drinker’s blood alcohol level rises, so does his self-confidence. Explains the manual Alcohol and Alcohol Safety: “A person at this stage [.04 to .06 percent blood alcohol content] is likely to consider himself more alert and even more capable than normally even though there has been a reduction of his reaction time, his judgment, and his ability to respond to emergencies. Thus, as his actual ability to perform decreases, his confidence in this ability increases.”​—Compare Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35.

As a result, the drinking driver may take more chances in passing or speeding. Why, if the person is a poor or an inexperienced driver to begin with, even the slightest effect on his judgment could be dangerous!

Alcohol and Reflexes

It’s bad enough that the drinking driver has trouble seeing and takes more risks. What further compounds the problem is that alcohol also slows down his reaction time. As a result, it may take just a fraction of a second longer for him to move his foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal.

To illustrate how dangerous that can be, the report by Malfetti and Winter notes that if you have just two 12-ounce (355-cc) cans of beer within an hour, your reaction time may be slowed by two fifths of a second. Now, that may not sound like much. But the report notes: In two fifths of a second, an automobile traveling at 55 miles per hour (90 km/​hr) will travel an additional 34 feet (10.4 m)! Why, that could be the difference between a near-miss and a fatal accident!

When you consider how alcohol affects a person’s vision, judgment, and reflexes, it is easy to see why drinking and driving are a deadly combination. But what can be done about the problem? And how can you protect yourself and your family from the driver who has had too much to drink?

[Chart on page 8]

(For fully formatted text, see publication.)

BAC and Behavior

If a person consumes and absorbs alcohol faster than his body can oxidize, or “burn,” it, the level of alcohol builds up in his bloodstream. Researchers refer to this as the BAC (blood alcohol content). For example, a BAC of 0.02 percent means that 0.02 percent of one’s blood consists of alcohol. As the BAC rises, the person gets increasingly intoxicated, as the following chart illustrates.a

BAC of 0.02 percent: The “depression of the nerve centers controlling the inhibitions and judgment centers begins to a mild degree when the blood alcohol level reaches .02%, which, for a person of average weight [154 pounds (70 kg)], would require the ingestion of 1/2 ounce [15 cc] of alcohol. This is the amount usually contained in one drink of beer, whiskey or wine.”​—Alcohol and Alcohol Safety, a manual prepared for The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U.S.A).

BAC of 0.05 percent: “Driving skills are impaired at blood alcohol concentrations (.04-.05 percent) one might observe after drinking only two to three alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach.”​—Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health.

“Changes in mood and behavior appear at a BAC of 0.05 percent. Judgment, thought and restraint also are usually affected at this level.”​—Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults, by James L. Malfetti and Darlene J. Winter.

In some areas this is the level at which a person can be arrested for driving while ability impaired (DWAI).

BAC of 0.10 percent: “At a BAC of 0.10 percent (five average drinks in one hour) voluntary motor actions​—walking, hand movements, speech may become clumsy. Blurring and split vision may occur at this level. So also might tunnel vision: on a highway, for example, a driver or pedestrian sees only what is directly ahead, not those dangers that may be to the side.”​—Senior Adults, Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program Leader’s Guide, by Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

“Drivers with blood alcohol concentrations above 0.10 percent have been estimated to be 3 to 15 times more likely to have a fatal accident than nondrinking drivers.”​—Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health.

In many places, this is the level at which a person can be arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI).

One does not have to be staggering drunk before his or her ability to drive diminishes. So why mix drinking and driving at all? The safest rule to follow is: If you drive, don’t drink; if you drink, don’t drive.

[Footnotes]

a It should be noted that what is presented here is intended as a general description of blood alcohol levels and behavior. The same amount of alcohol may produce slightly different BAC in different people, depending upon such variable factors as age, sex, stomach contents, and type of alcoholic beverage consumed. Also, the same BAC may produce slightly different behavior in different people due to such factors as mood, fatigue, or the concurrent use of other drugs.

[Picture on page 6]

How safe would you feel if you knew that the driver of an oncoming car had been drinking?

[Picture on page 7]

The effect of alcohol on your reflexes could mean the difference between a near-miss and a fatal accident!

[Credit Line]

H. Armstrong Roberts

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