At Reeder & Nussbaum P.A., one of the most tragic calls we receive into our personal injury law office is a distraught family member asking for representation in a claim that results from a drunk driving accident or death.
While science continues to show that drinking alcohol and driving impaired is incredibly dangerous, individuals across Florida continue to engage in this risky behavior. When a drunk driver is involved in an unnecessary accident due to negligence, it can lead to injury, costly repairs, a loss of one’s license, and even death.
Understanding how alcohol impairs your ability to think and operate a motor vehicle can help you avoid making a decision that may ruin your life and the lives of others who share the road with you every day.
Why Do People Choose To Drive While Intoxicated?
If driving under the influence of alcohol is so hazardous, why do men and women continue to do it year after year? There are a few reasons that individuals choose to drive after they have consumed alcohol – and none of them are good:
1. A Misplaced Sense Of Ability
Many choose to drive after drinking because they have placed far too much confidence in their ability to drive safely regardless of their physical state. This is understandable, as many long-term drivers have learned to operate a motor vehicle with muscle memory.
If you have ever driven the same path from work to home and can’t seem to remember the details once you arrive in your driveway, you can relate to this sense of “innate skill.”
Unfortunately, feeling that you are too skilled to have an accident while driving impaired can be a deadly belief. Even those who have never been involved in a traffic accident can find themselves impaired enough to risk a collision that can result in significant injury or death.
2. A Lack Of Impaired Awareness
Alcohol can also impair one’s awareness that they are too impaired to drive. As we will read below, the chemical changes that occur when consuming alcohol can lower your ability to react, respond, and recognize the inability to drive safely. Often, those under the influence of alcohol will falsely believe that they are in a state of mind to drive safely.
This lack of awareness is why many hosts will require party-goers to offer up their car keys when they arrive, preventing them from leaving a location without proving that they are of sound mind to operate a vehicle safely.
3. Statistics Don’t Convince
Sadly, no matter how many studies report that driving while intoxicated is dangerous, many simply aren’t convinced to change their behavior. It is only when a tragedy strikes that the reality of the dangers of driving drunk. Some believe that if they have driven drunk or buzzed before, then they can do it again without risk.
However, if even a single statistic can help prevent the tragic consequences of drunk driving, then it is worthwhile to continue to collect and report findings.
Regardless of one’s belief in their ability to drive while under the influence of alcohol, the truth remains that driving drunk puts yourself and others in danger of accident, injury, and potentially death. To avoid putting yourself and others in danger, it can be beneficial to learn how alcohol can impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle safely.
How Drinking Alcohol Impacts Drivers
At Reeder & Nussbaum P.A., we are proud to offer professional legal help for those who a drunk driver has impacted. However, our team of attorneys would much prefer never to have to represent in a drunk driving case ever again.
With the help of the latest information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, here are the main ways that consuming alcohol can make it difficult to operate a vehicle properly:
Alcohol Can Impair Your Vision
Some individuals already have trouble driving during bad weather or at night. Drinking a single alcoholic beverage can reduce your vision vastly. As alcohol enters your bloodstream, it begins to relax your muscles and make you increasingly tired – which can lead to a blurring of your vision and slower response times.
You may find that objects in the distance begin to become indistinguishable from the environment, and you may experience a “halo effect” from oncoming headlights. With a higher alcohol content in your bloodstream, you may begin to experience double-vision, which can make it increasingly difficult to drive within the lines and judge distances between yourself and other cars.
Your Judgement Will Become Poor
Many will admit that they have made foolish decisions when they have been drinking. Poor judgment calls in a safe environment are one thing – on the road, they can be fatal.
When your judgment drops due to alcohol, you may find it increasingly difficult to react and respond to distances, speeds, other motorists, and more. Even getting behind the wheel while intoxicated is a sign of poor judgment. Many who have been the cause of injury accidents due to drinking are the first to admit that they have shown poor judgment in driving while drunk.
Your Ability To React & Respond Will Slow Down
Similar to making proper judgments, alcohol will reduce your ability to react and respond to changes quickly. As a driver, this can be dangerous, as responding to fast changes can mean the difference in narrowly avoiding accidents.
Why does this occur? As your blood alcohol content rises, the metal acuity responsible for noticing and making snap decisions to respond to environmental stimuli will slow down. For some, they may find it challenging to react even when their vehicle begins to veer out of lanes or into oncoming traffic.
Being unable to react or respond at the moment is one of the leading causes of accidents – whether the intoxicated driver is at fault for the accident or another motorist is not paying attention while driving. Driving requires complete focus and attention to the car and the road – and alcohol is the worst enemy of staying in control.
Inability To Tell Apart Colors
Like impaired vision, drinking alcohol can also lead to a temporary issue that many compare to color blindness. As your eye’s muscles begin to relax, it can become difficult to tell apart different colors and react accordingly.
This can be an issue when trying to operate a motor vehicle, as changing traffic lights require you to make quick judgments on whether to come to a stop, slow down, or keep moving. Similarly, you may miss another car’s brake lights or turn signals, as drivers are conditioned to notice these changes based on color.
The Consequences Of Driving While Intoxicated
As seen above, the impact of alcohol on your ability to respond and react can have consequences that put you or other’s lives in danger. If you have ever been stopped at a DUI checkpoint or seen an intoxicated driver pulled over to the side of the road, you will likely notice that police officers use several tests to check for the impairments listed above.
Those who drive while intoxicated immediately increase the chances of causing an accident that can lead to catastrophic injury or death. Those who are charged with drunk driving can face consequences ranging from fines and the suspension of their license to jail time.
Are You A Victim? Contact St. Petersburg’s Top Drunk Driving Attorneys
Have you been the victim of a drunk driving accident? Whether you or someone you love has had their life altered by the poor decisions of another who chose to drive under the influence of alcohol, you need professional representation to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
At Reeder & Nussbaum P.A., our skilled and experienced personal injury attorneys work with drunk driving victims and their families to ensure that they are compensated for lost wages, medical bills, and any potential injuries.
You should never assume that you will receive automatic compensation worth your pain and suffering. Contact the personal injury law firm that St. Petersburg trusts to handle drunk driving claims. We will walk you through the process of filing a claim against a drunk driver and discover how to find hope for moving forward after an injury.
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