WHAT IS DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE?
It is drinking alcohol and taking certain drugs that affect your ability to safely operate dangerous equipment such as automobiles, motorboats and industrial equipment. In every state it is against the law to operate an automobile and even a bicycle, if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol that you can not safely operate the motor vehicle.
HERE ARE SOME STATISTICS ABOUT INCIDENTS INVOLVING IMPARED DRIVING?
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, "MADD,"in the years from 2000 - 2005:
· In 2002, an estimated 17,419 people DIED in alcohol-related traffic crashes-an average of one every 30 minutes. These deaths constituted 41 percent of the 42, 815 total traffic fatalities ;
· About 1,058,990 were INJURED in alcohol-related crashes - an average of one person injured approximately every 30 seconds. About 30,000.00 people each year will suffer permanent work-related disabilities;
· Every weekday night from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., 1 in 13 drivers is drunk (with a blood alcohol content of .08 or more). Between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on weekend mornings, 1 in 7 drivers is drunk;
· Approximately 18 million Americans - 8.5 percent of the population - meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism ;
· About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives;
· Alcohol-related crashes cost an estimated $45 billion yearly. An additional $70.5 billion is lost in quality of life due to these crashes;
· The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is three and one-third times as high at night than as during the day. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is nearly five times as high at night;
· Thirty-two percent of drivers 21 - 24 years old involved in fatal crashes were intoxicated, followed by ages 25 - 34 (27 percent) and 35 - 44 (24 percent) ;
· In the past decade, four times as many Americans died in drunk driving crashes as were killed in the Vietnam War;
· Drunk driving is the nation's worst frequently committed violent crime.
Please Don't Drink and Drive. Save a Life! It could be yours.
I f you choose to drink and drive you could kill someone, maybe even someone you know or love. If you don't believe me read my story and other stories that are included in some of the links on this page.
I have some links to news articles that I think are worth reading. It's just amazing how stupid people are. I think that may if people can't be responsible then maybe we should take away their privileges. What would be better but will never happen is to not sell alcohol anymore then maybe it would then send a clear message that it will not be tollerated. Way too many people have died that could have been alive today if there was no alcohol.
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