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  • Essay / Informative Essay on Drunk Driving - 1166

    I interviewed him to find out why he made the mistake of driving drunk twice. In an interview with Park, he believed that drinking had nothing to do with his driving. He could drive in a straight line no matter how much alcohol he drank. As proof, the two times he was caught, he thought it was not because his driving was dangerous. He drove through a yellow light once and the other night one of his tail lights was out. He said, “If I hadn't made those mistakes, the police never would have arrested me” (Park, personal interview). Like this driver, many other drivers also believe that alcohol does not affect their driving. Unfortunately, this is not the case. According to the National Center on Alcohol and Drug Information's Alcohol Impairment Chart, people can drive safely with only a blood alcohol content (BAC) of zero percent. Even though the legal limit for drunk driving is a blood alcohol content of 0.08 (about two to three drinks), the symptoms of drunk driving affect an individual well before this limit (mawsac .org). “A review of the literature on the effects of low doses of alcohol on driving skills” from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), shows that people who drink within the legal blood alcohol limits also have impaired driving cases. The study found that a blood alcohol level between 0.01 and 0.019 can lead to impairments such as drowsiness, tracking, cognitive tasks and psychomotor skills. A blood alcohol level between 0.02 and 0.029 can cause impairments related to reaction times, visual functions and alertness. These very subtle changes may be barely noticeable to the individual or people around them, but in a vehicle emergency situation, they could end up being the deciding factor in a fatal accident (Moskowitz , Fiorentino,