How is drunk driving bad

A motor vehicle may include car, truck, bicycle, golf cart, snowmobile and jet skis. Each state has its own laws surrounding DWI convictions such as the fines involved, jail time and possible revoked or suspended license. Depending on the legal charges, some states may also require community service time or alcoholism treatment.

Many states have enacted various laws in an effort to reduce the dangers of drinking and driving. For instance, zero tolerance laws are aimed at adolescents who get behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol.

Drinking under the age of 21 is illegal in the United States and comes with strict punishment. If you are charged with underage drinking and operating a motor vehicle, you could face severe legal penalties. Consequences of drinking and driving can hurt your family and relationships, cost you employment opportunities, cause financial difficulties, high insurance rates and possible time in jail.

For more information about alcohol treatment, speak with a treatment provider today. Learn more about David Hampton. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Impaired Driving. Get the Facts. November National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol-Impaired Driving.

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But significant differences were found for some indicators between normal state and drinking driving states. It was indicated that the indicators in urban straight roadway segment might support the discrimination of two states: normal and drinking driving, but they were difficult to support the classification of different BAC levels.

To explore the discriminant ability of the driving performance indicators, firstly, the data at the three BAC levels were integrated into one group to distinguish normal state; then, drinking driving states at the three BAC levels were considered one group, respectively, to identify normal state. Therefore, four different discriminant functions were established based on the significant indicators.

It was confirmed that each indicator in the drinking driving states and normal states was significantly different. The data met the conditions of using Fisher discriminant method based on the statistical results. For the discriminant of drinking driving states including all BAC levels and normal states, the standardized discriminant function is where is the discriminant score and means the standardized indicator.

The result showed that the discriminant function was statistically significant at the significance level 0. Discriminant score of each driving state can be calculated through the above function directly.

Similarly, the standardized discriminant function to identify drinking driving states at BAC level of 0. The standardized discriminant function to identify drinking driving states at BAC level of 0. Each function was used to classify the corresponding groups of driving states to validate the accuracy. The accuracy rate included classification of original group and cross-validated, in which each case is classified by the functions derived from all cases other than this case. The accuracy rates of the four functions were shown in Table 3.

It showed that the higher the BAC level was, the higher the accuracy rate of the corresponding function was. The accuracy rate of function 3 , which was used to classify the normal state group and drinking driving state group with three BAC levels, was close to the middle of the accuracy rates of other three functions.

The statistical results of the questionnaire showed that most of the participants admitted that they were affected by alcohol on many aspects. Under the influence of alcohol, drivers exhibited the characteristics of being impulsive, sensation-seeking, adventurous, and moving faster. At the same time, the ability of judgment, recognition, reaction, and operation were impaired. Therefore, drinking driving will produce a high probability to serious accidents.

The analysis of accident rate showed that the accident rate increased with the BAC level and it was significantly higher for drinking drivers than for normal drivers.

It indicated that even in the simple environment, drinking driving had a high probability to result in an accident. Although the accident rate may differ from the actual situation, the trend is credible. Sensation-seeking makes drivers show the high-speed traveling state. Because of the decline of perception, more than half of the participants felt the speed slower which was another reason of high-speed travelling. The decline of driving ability decreases the steadiness of vehicle travelling speed.

In a word, alcohol will cause high vehicle speed and unsteady travelling both in vertical and transverse movement. They are the direct reasons of traffic accident caused by drunk driving. All of the indicators had statistically significant linear trend as the function of BAC. It also proved that driving at higher BAC level would be more dangerous. Therefore, we can try to classify the drinking driving state from normal driving state according to the above indicators.

The results of Fisher discrimination showed that the function had a certain ability to classify driving state, especially classification of drinking driving states at higher BAC level from normal states. It also indicated that higher BAC level impaired more seriously driving performance and made more differences contrasting with normal driving. At the same time, the imperfection of the classification might be also because that, on one hand, the driving scenario was so simple that the indicators could not fully express enough differences; on the other hand, drivers may have obvious individual differences, and it is difficult to set a certain discrimination standards for all drivers.

But the result provided reference for discrimination of driving state based on driving performance. The results have a great potential application in traffic safety research. On one hand, the study on the effects of alcohol is the foundation for the detection of drinking driving. Wang et al. There were still some imperfections for the study. First, the measurement of driving performance in this study is not comprehensive. Second, we only analyzed the driving performance data on urban straight roadway segment, which was only a specific road type.

The study on them is representative and the research method can be generalized. In future studies, the parameter of driving performance should include more aspects, such as brake, accelerator, and steering wheel. The study should also consider more road geometries, such as curve and intersection.

The accident rate in different BAC levels was statistically analyzed, and ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze the signatures of driving performance under the influence of alcohol.

Discriminant analysis with significant performance indicators was used to classify drinking driving states from normal driving states. According to the results in this research, the following conclusions can be obtained. Driving at higher BAC level will be more dangerous, even in simple driving environment. They all had statistically significant linear trend as a function of BAC. The higher the BAC level is, the more accurate the discrimination is.

These conclusions are the basis of the study of drinking driving. They can provide some references for the discrimination of drinking driving state and making countermeasure to it. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article of the Year Award: Outstanding research contributions of , as selected by our Chief Editors.

Read the winning articles. Journal overview. Special Issues. Academic Editor: Wuhong Wang. Received 26 Nov Revised 14 Jan Accepted 16 Jan Learn More.

BAC is the percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream. If someone has a BAC at or above the legal limit, they are legally considered impaired. If someone drives drunk and survives a crash that injures or kills other people, they must live with the consequences.

That emotional burden can be worse than any bodily harm. But the physical perils of drunk driving are immense too. Impaired driving can cause accidents that lead to paralysis, disfigurement, brain damage, and even death. Impaired driving is also a crime. Drunk drivers often pay significant fines, lose their license, and face higher insurance costs. Common punishments for conviction of a drunken driving-related offense can include:.

An impaired driver lacks the ability to quickly and decisively avoid an accident or even perform routine driving maneuvers. Drunk drivers endanger themselves and everyone on the road, increasing the risk of automobile crashes and deaths. Drunken motorcyclists, boaters, and jet-skiers are all at risk of causing accidents and injuries. Drunk driving is as prevalent as it is lethal. According to the US Department of Transportation, nearly 4 million American adults committed an estimated million drunk-driving incidents in alone.

Despite the high volume of drunk driving episodes, only a small percentage of impaired drivers are arrested. There are almost , drunk driving incidents in America each day. Arrests are made in only 0. Make a Call Drunk driving may be the symptom of an alcohol addiction. Continuing to drink in spite of a DUI conviction or a stint in jail is often a telltale sign of addiction. Learn More. Is your loved one struggling with addiction?

Get Help. Frequently Asked Questions How does treatment work? What is inpatient rehab? What is outpatient rehab? How much does rehab cost? How can I pay for rehab? How do I know if my loved one needs help? How do I convince my loved one to get help?

Call now for: Access to treatment centers Caring, supportive assistance Financial assistance information Find the life you deserve to live Get Help. Featured Treatment Center. The Dangers Of Drunk Driving Drunk driving is more than a bad decision, it is a criminal act that often results in unnecessary loss of life.

Help is out there Reach out to a dedicated treatment provider and learn how you can create the life you want. What are you struggling with? After working as a freelance script and blog writer, she began writing content for tech startups. Maintaining a passion for words, she took on a variety of projects where her writing could help people especially those battling mental health and substance use disorders. Today, she enjoys science fiction, trivia, and the beach.

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