It’s a plain and simple fact: drunk drivers are much more likely than other drivers to cause accidents. With even a minor amount of alcohol in their system, drunk drivers may start to lose their decision-making abilities and struggle to control their vehicles. Driving drunk can cause:
Loss of judgment. Drivers with alcohol in their blood may make poor choices, including everything from attempting to run a red light to ignoring the speed limit. A person’s decision-making ability deteriorates rapidly as alcohol intake increases, which means the more they have to drink before getting behind the wheel, the worse their decisions get.
Slower reflexes. Drunk drivers may struggle to stop the vehicle before an accident occurs or to turn away from a potential accident in time. Slower reflexes can make it difficult to avoid hazards in the road or even to steer the car correctly.
Poor muscle coordination. In addition to slowed reflexes, drunk drivers may struggle to control their vehicles at all. Coordination goes out the window when you’re drunk, making it tough to get a car to move or stop properly. It also becomes incredibly difficult to steer, leading to everything from driving off the road to over-correction.
Compromised vision. To prevent an accident, drivers have to see it coming. Not only can drunk drivers miss potential hazards, they may struggle with tunnel vision, blurry vision, or other difficulty focusing on the road, which can make it hard to navigate properly. A drunk driver may not even notice another vehicle on the road until it’s too late. Worse, drunk drivers may fail to note vulnerable pedestrians or cyclists, who often suffer more serious injuries in accidents than vehicle occupants.
Inability to pay attention to the road. Drunk drivers become distracted more easily. They pay less attention to the road and may try to engage in other tasks while driving – but even chatting with a passenger can become a fatal distraction.
As a result of these conditions caused by alcohol intake, drunk drivers are at a greater risk of causing an accident in general. They cannot control their vehicles properly, they make poor choices, and they might not notice the things around them. On the road, this is a recipe for disaster.