Driving decisions that must be made in a split second, like whether to swerve to avoid an obstacle, are far more challenging when intoxicated. Excessive drinking has numerous impacts on your body and mind, ranging from mild to severe. Learn which signs to look out for, and how to care for your well-being.
Emotional & Psychological Consequences
These younger demographics are more likely to take risks and generally have higher rates of alcohol consumption. In both cases, having a safe plan beforehand can eliminate a tough decision under stress. Talk to a trusted friend, family member, or healthcare professional about your concerns and ask for their support in finding treatment options. Your primary care doctor is a good place to start, as they’ll consider your overall health and needs in recommending treatment paths. During driving, the device may also require additional samples to continue driving. Using an IID has strict compliance rules and additional fees, so it further impacts a person’s finances and freedom.
Significant Financial Costs
This article serves as both a wake-up call and a resource for solutions meant to help mitigate these devastating outcomes. Drunk driving carries significant legal consequences, including fines, imprisonment, and license suspension. Repeat offenders may face more severe penalties, including longer jail sentences and higher fines. Alcohol impairs critical driving functions such as reaction time, coordination, and judgment. This impairment increases the likelihood of accidents, including collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians, and stationary objects. One of the best ways to protect yourself from the impacts of drinking and driving is to commit to never getting behind the wheel if you’re less than 100% sober.
Other Ways Alcohol Can Affect Your Life
Clear vision is essential for drivers, but excessive alcohol consumption can impair visual acuity. Drinking can cause blurred vision and, in some cases, uncontrolled eye movements. Vision impairment affects the ability to judge distances between vehicles on the road. Alcohol abuse can lead to a loss of peripheral vision, which is crucial for safe driving. The greater the alcohol consumption, the more likely it is for vision to be impaired.
States may also have enhanced penalties in place for those who drive with very high BACs, drive impaired with minors in the vehicle or have multiple convictions. The United States has a legal alcohol limit that drivers cannot exceed. Drivers who have enough blood alcohol content (BAC) in their system to exceed the legal limit can experience negative effects on their brain and body that can Halfway house lead to reckless driving behavior.
Treatment
- A driver under the influence is likely to underestimate risks, overestimate driving abilities, and misinterpret traffic signals.
- Yadav and Miwako (2015) document that 33-69% of fatally injured drivers in these countries have some alcohol content in their blood.
- Driving decisions that must be made in a split second, like whether to swerve to avoid an obstacle, are far more challenging when intoxicated.
- Driving while under the influence of alcohol not only endangers your life, but also those of others on the road.
Contact Morgan & Morgan for a free case evaluation and take the first step toward holding the responsible parties accountable. Alcohol use disorder (AUD), or alcohol addiction or alcoholism, is a chronic relapsing brain disease. It develops when you misuse alcohol despite knowing its adverse effects. An estimated 20 consequences of drinking and driving percent of adults in the U.S. drink alcohol to help them fall asleep.
- A driver under the influence will struggle with basic coordination skills.
- Whether you are a policymaker, law enforcement officer, community leader, or concerned citizen, your role in preventing drinking and driving is critical.
- Traffic accidents attributable to alcohol consumption place a heavy burden on healthcare systems, law enforcement, and society as a whole.
- The WHO (2015) documents that alcohol leads to impairment by either depressing or stimulating the brain.
High BAC levels and repeated drink–driving can be both a sign and a symptom of alcohol use disorders. Resources need to be available for identifying cases and making treatment available for them. The Recovery Village Kansas City offers comprehensive addiction treatment for drug and alcohol addictions and co-occurring mental health conditions. If you’re going out with friends, having a designated driver can keep everyone safe. If you choose this method, it’s important to select a designated driver before the night begins — not after the group is already out and about. The designated driver should agree in advance to remain sober and available to drive everyone home at the end of the night.
As a result, even a low level of intoxication can impair the ability to control a vehicle, leading to accidents and, in https://dna-dev.net/how-to-start-a-sober-living-home-in-ohio/ many cases, fatal outcomes. Alcohol-impaired driving remains a dominant factor in motor vehicle accidents across the nation. Statistics show that a significant proportion of traffic fatalities and serious injuries occur when drivers choose to operate their vehicles under the influence of alcohol. The consequences are staggering, with impaired driving accounting for a high percentage of fatal crashes, accidents involving drunk drivers, and significant property damage. The accidents caused by drivers who were on the road while under the influence of alcohol also have an economic impact. In case a person survives the crash, high medical costs might be incurred.
Breathalyzers and blood tests measure a person’s BAC level to determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood system. The higher the resulting number, the more likely the person is suffering impairments that make them a danger to themselves and others on the road. He has a nursing and business/technology degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. Mass media campaigns are an important component of national and local road safety strategies. Alternative transportation (public and private) should be available.
Last modified: January 14, 2026
