Drunk Driving By Deena Dahab 5/2/2014

Transcription

1 Drunk Driving By Deena Dahab 5/2/2014

2 DRUNK DRIVING This tragedy could have been avoided. Take a look at this headline and picture from the New York Daily News website on April 21, 2014: A driver crashed into the bedroom of a Palmdale, Calif. teen and killed her as she slept. The driver was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. An alleged drunken driver smashed into a Palmdale, Calif., apartment early Sunday, April 20, 2014 and killed a teenage girl sleeping in her bed, reports say This and thousands of other incidents like this one happen from a bad decision of getting in a car while under the influence of alcohol. Millions of people are arrested, injured or even dead driving under the influence of alcohol. Maybe some people think of drinking as something normal like brushing your teeth or washing your hair. Or maybe they do it because they are too drunk to understand what they are doing. Either way it s a stupid idea and the best way to prevent any accidents is probably, not to drink! What Is Alcohol? Have you ever wondered what alcohol is? You may think of it as something that makes you drunk. There is more to it than you think.

3 Alcohol is a depressant. Depressants are drugs that slow down your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure to the point where you may stop breathing altogether. Alcohol is the most popular drug next to caffeine (which has stimulants). It makes people do things they normally wouldn t do. Alcohol changes the way you feel. It can make you feel happy, talkative, or aggressive. You could want to fight, dance, or even do sexual things you wouldn t normally do. People who use alcohol too much build up a tolerance. Alcoholism is a deadly disease that progresses over time. Personally, after reading what I wrote, I wouldn t go anywhere near alcohol! You may enjoy it for the few hours you are high on it, but I m pretty sure that you won t enjoy the effects it impacts on your body. History Of Alcohol Alcohol is widely used these days. I wondered when alcohol started to be consumed. People used to think of alcohol as something that isn t a big issue. In most people s mind, the possible dangers of alcohol did not appear to be serious enough to need any government regulations, not even for the young! One possible reason for this is that people did not have cars, so drunk driving would not have been a problem. As late as 1886, children in England could buy an alcoholic beverage in the market, although it was assumed that they were buying them for their parents. In some states, the legal drinking age was 18, 19, 20, or 21. But alcoholic beverages are a tradition that dates back to prehistoric times. The Greeks and Romans have stories of Gods of wine. When

4 settlers came to America, they thought that alcohol was safer than water. Alcohol may have not been a big issue to many people before the first vehicles were invented, but when cars were invented, it was starting to be a bigger deal than before. What Is Drunk Driving? About 1 out of every 2 thousand trips is taken by those driving under the influence of alcohol. Almost 1 out of every 3 traffic deaths involve drunk driving, and every 53 minutes on average, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. I would feel bad for those people, but they chose their fate. They chose to drink more than they should have. They chose to get in a car while intoxicated. Also, how would you feel if your daughter or son got arrested, injured or even killed from a stupid choice? Not only are the drivers affected, but parents, friends, and family also get affected but in a different way. Some mom s made organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) is another group. This one is a student/teacher/parent organization. Drunk driving is not a joke. It is a serious issue that can be easily prevented. But that 1 stupid choice someone makes can change their lives and someone else s forever. Prevention Prevention is usually easy if you are not an alcoholic. If you are an alcoholic, there is treatment like rehab centers, medicines like ones that make people feel sick when they drink alcohol,

5 other medicines make alcoholics less interested in alcohol. Treatment isn t the only way to prevent it. DWI/DUI courts, Sobriety courts, and wellness courts are for those driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2013, with the most in America, California had a total of 214,828 arrests. District of Columbia (Washington D.C) had the least with only 32 arrests. In Pennsylvania, there were 53,319 arrests. Automatic license revocations are the most effective measure, but automatic license revocation and mandatory jail is even more effective. The two main treatment methods for alcoholism are detoxification centers and twelve-step or self-help programs, of which the most famous one is Alcoholics Anonymous. Drunk driving is very dangerous, but easily prevented: Don t drink and drive! Screech! Bang! Crash! That s the sound of a car hitting a tree. But the driver in the car (or under it) is not any kind of driver. It s a drunk driver. And unless you are completely bonkers, This chart shows the decrease in alcohol related crashes thanks to programs like MADD. you would not want to be that kind of driver. Over time, millions of people are arrested, injured, or even die driving under the influence of alcohol. And according to MADD (see my prevention section for more info), each day an average of 28 people die as a

6 result of drunk driving. That means that over 10,000 people lose their lives from a preventable problem each year. The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality - George Bernard Shaw Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough

7 Works Cited: Alcohol and your liver: The Incredibly Disgusting Story by:theresa Anne Booley 2000 New York, NY Teens And Drunk Driving by: Nathan Aaseng 2000 San Diego, CA Picture Work Cited: dui fatalities... uncle sam keys and glass g alcohol crashes... hol-crashes.gif messed up car. MDHIJQwfG_o/UkWGLIDEPWI/AAAAAAAAFN4/XmTKWRqz7GE/s1 600/drunk-driving-accident-bammel-n-houston.jpg go ahead drink and drive stick figure family mothers-against-drunk-driving-stick-family-grave-medium jpg