What is drunken driving?
When a person gets drunk beyond permissible limits and resorts to driving a vehicle on road on his own, against legal norms, he carries the possibility of being the reason behind a road accident.
The risk of his own life cannot be ruled out in such cases.
The pillion rider/riders seated along with the drunk driver is also at risk and innocent passersby and fellow riders on road may also be involved or targeted in unnecessary accidents, due to negligence on part of the drunk driver.
This in totality can be explained as drunken driving.
It’s not that every person who is drunk hits the road and becomes the reason behind some accident. There are permissible levels as well as levels beyond the permissible limits when one is not supposed to drive vehicles.
When a person is drunk to a mild level, he can still be aware of what is taking place in his surroundings. He remains connected to the happenings in and around him.
He would almost be in a normal state of mind and can perceive things quite normally as well.
When a person is drunk at a mid-range, he may or may not be able to gauge what’s happening in and around him. It depends entirely on the person how the actions of his drinking affect him personally.
If a person has taken to too much of drinking, then he sure may have lost his stability and may be in a state where he would require help or assistance in handling his own self.
This is the stage where one is not supposed to drive, because beyond a certain permissible limit, one cannot even walk on the road without help.
In a state of lost consciousness, one cannot judge between the various actions taking place in front of him. Due to excessive drinking, the person’s mind may not respond at a normal level.
He might take way too much time to decide how to react in a situation. He might not be able to avert warning signs.
The brain functioning for a certain amount of time would not entirely be in his own hands and he may look like a slave of his own actions.
Care and precaution have to be exercised when individuals resort to too much of drinking.
They would have to take someone along to bring them back home. They would have to be assisted by someone they rely on to be by their side to take care of them.
Why people resort to drunken driving?
The first question to be asked here is, why do people resort to excessive drinking when they know its harmful to their health, self being and to their dependents as well.
It’s a matter of individual choice whether one wants to drink to such a level that he gets totally intoxicated within his own world.
He gets involved so deeply that defies the ability to neither recognize the world around him nor himself and behaves unruly without a reason.
People usually drink when it’s an occasion. When they have achieved something and they want to celebrate it with their friends and family, they hang out at parties and celebrate by sharing drinks with each other.
When people are lazing out in the weekends, they wish to drink to spend lazy moments with their friends. After a week of hard work, it’s time to relax, so they may choose to drink.
When on a vacation with friends, they may choose to drink. When persons see failure in career and personal lives, they wish to take themselves away from the grief and pain for a while.
It’s a kind of temporary relief for the mind, wherein excessive drinking takes off the thought of pain from one’s mind for a certain period of time until the hangover recedes.
So there are just many factors why people choose to drink. But the reasons why people choose to drink excessively are again individual specific. It depends on their social status, their upbringing, their cultural norms, societal make up and a whole lot of other significant factors.
Let’s imagine a late night party at a pub where friends are enjoying themselves after their final exams in college. Students, who are soon going to be professionals, are celebrating their victory over their exams.
It’s a matter of time. They want to celebrate all the hard work they put in to complete their exams.
After a whole lot of hard work and smart study, they wish to rejoice with dear friends before they say good bye to each other, when they would be taking different career paths after this.
So on such an occasion, students especially in this case, may or may not know about the extent of their indulgence in drinks.
Due to pressure from their friends, they may even be drunk twice the normal levels and may not realize it also.
So, it would be a normal case for any student from that enjoying bunch to drive back home after the party gets over and that’s what everyone tends to do.
But not realizing the amount of alcohol intake, not realizing whether they have drunk too much and resorting to drive back home on their own could throw many risks at sight.
In a fit of enjoyment, they fail to realize the long term repercussions that may occur. Driving back on their own may lead to accidents.
They may not be able to see light in front of them since visibility reduces when a person has drunk excessively. He may not be able to judge traffic or spot vehicles nearby.
The normal way of driving becomes an unnecessary burden; the usual effort with which a person drives now becomes a heavily purposeful act.
It may be supported by uneasiness, lack of interest to drive, inability to see things clearly, not able to judge things, everything appearing hazy and inability to make timely decisions.
All these situations lead to unseen and unknown incidents. The person’s life is majorly at risk. He may even forget to wear his helmet while driving.
The rider riding pillion along with the front rider also carries the risk of his life. Passersby who may be innocent may be victims when the drunk driver unknowingly hurts them or causes any injury.
When the drunk driver himself becomes a victim of some accident, his family members and dependents have to suffer along with him.
They would have to shell out money exorbitantly for treatments depending on the extent of injury.
Consequences of drunken driving
Drunken driving leads to many undesirable events, sometimes even proving fatal to one’s life. The families of the drunk driver along with his dependents are the sufferers in this case.
Most of the times, drunken driving leads to grievous injuries.
The affected persons including those affected by the drunken driver, like his own friends who were with the drunken driver while riding on a vehicle would also be considered victims in this case.
When there is no visibility due to excessive drinking, the clarity of vision reduces. Due to reduced visibility at night times, accidents often occur, sometimes leading to head injuries and sometimes taking away one’s own life.
The innocent family members are the ones who suffer without a reason. They are forced to bear the brunt of the irresponsible actions of the drunken driver.
Many families fall apart and divorces turn a common issue in many homes where drinking and irresponsible driving is part of a person’s life.
The Solution
Police personnel have woken up during recent times and have come up with an amicable solution that may not be a solution for drunken driving, but definitely discourages the act.
Police employ breath analyzers, a handy device that they use to detect if a person is drunk beyond permissible limits.
Police personnel employed during night times at traffic signals stop any suspicious person and would ask the person to take the breath analyzer test.
If the alcohol content in the test is detected beyond a permissible limit, then the person is definitely held back for payment of fine.
If after repeated warnings, the person does not obey rules, then his license may be cancelled and the law may take further course of action on such victims.
Conclusion
Happiness is definitely a state of mind. A person who is healthy is considered the most wealthiest person on this earth.
To stay happy and lead an enriched life, one need not derive that happiness by drinking and falling victim to drunken driving.
There are people who strictly do not drink, but still perceive happiness.
Happiness need not necessarily come from drinking alone, it is just an activity to relax one’s mind and should definitely not be taken beyond that.
We should be responsible for our own actions.
We should give a thought to our family members and think of the consequences before being drunk too excessively, and secondly riding vehicles from our own hands when we are in a state of inability and confusion, not letting us drive with ease and confidence.
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