EFFECT OF ALCOHOL ABUSE ON DRIVERS IN THE LONG TERM

It is a known saying that too much of anything is not good, and on this, alcohol intake is no exception. Drinking too much alcohol frequently is harmful to your health and, it is sad to say that alcohol abuse has become a growing issue in societies today with no exclusion to drivers.

Abuse of alcohol is the excessive intake of alcohol, and drivers who abuse alcohol will experience some of its effects in their body system, and worse ones when it is long term.

As a driver, long-term abuse of alcohol can damage your frontal lobe, which is the area of the brain that is responsible for judgments and short-term memory.

This part of the brain is of great importance to you because drivers are to have sound judgments, knowing fully well that driving involves calculations and instant decision-making. Thus, if your frontal lobe is damaged, you are at a high chance of breaking traffic regulations, exposing yourself to arrests, or worse, accidents.

Also, long-term alcohol consumption may lead to alcoholism whereby you become physically and emotionally dependent on alcohol. It has a high chance of reducing your productivity level, damaging your relationships with people, and exposing you to developing many chronic diseases and health problems. Some examples are liver disease, pancreatitis, cancer, brain damage, to mention a few.

Furthermore, long-term abuse of alcohol exposes you to the risk of suffering damages in your digestive system.

For example, the tissues in your digestive tract could be damaged by alcohol and cause malnutrition. It could also lead to ulcers or hemorrhoids which may cause dangerous internal bleeding or in the condition of ulcers, be fatal and cause death if not treated early.

Alcohol also impairs communication between your brain and your body which makes coordination, a necessary skill in driving, difficult for you. It exposes you to damage to yourself, another individual, or properties.

 

FOUR REASONS WHY DRIVERS NEED TO AVOID ALCOHOL WHILE DRIVING

Alcohol is a risk factor in several traffic accidents all around the world. Research has proved that many drivers are unaware of the risks involved in driving under the influence because they don’t suffer traffic accidents when they drink and drive.

Sadly, this is not the case because research has shown that an estimated 32% of fatal car crashes involve an intoxicated driver or pedestrian.

Your blood alcohol content level can affect your driving hence, once a person is caught driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or more, he is guilty of the crime of driving under the influence in some countries, the USA for example.

Driving is not as straightforward as it may seem because it requires concentration, coordination, the need to react quickly, and processing information fast.

These requirements are skills often impaired by alcohol which forms the foundation of the reasons why drivers need to avoid alcohol while driving. Below are four of these reasons:

  1. Slow response and reduced coordination: Alcohol slows your response time leading to difficulty in controlling a sudden situation because you may realize it late. It could also be that upon realization, your brain and body coordination in maneuvering the vehicle may be slow.
  2. Impaired vision: Alcohol causes blurred vision and it can impair peripheral vision, making things that are close seem like they are far and vice versa. It can cause miscalculations as it is the danger you see that you can avoid.
  3. Poor judgment: Driving under the influence affects your ability to make rational decisions. The alcohol may make you take unnecessary risks, breaking road rules.
  4. Grievous consequences: Driving under the influence can lead to accidents, loss or damage of lives and properties, no insurance in case of an accident, and a high insurance premium if you get arrested.

To avoid driving under the influence, you can have an alternative driver to return you home when you are on a drinking spree, or in the absence of one, call a taxi.