The Dangers of Driving Under the Influence and Teaching Young Adults How to Avoid Them.

John P. Ortiz

Phone # 713-299-3642

8017 Errington Dr. Houston, TX. 77049

[email protected]

University of Houston Main Campus

Freshman

GPA 4.68-5.00 High School = 3.75-4.00 College

The Dangers of Driving Under the Influence and Teaching Young Adults How to Avoid Them

For many years, it has been shown through past and recent incidents that beverages and drugs have been involved in being the cause of 40% of most lethal roadside accidents, but more importantly, they are mainly caused by young people under the age of 21. Drunk driving is only one of the countless consequences of alcohol addiction that affects behavior that threatens one’s own well-being, as well as the well-being of others.

Here is a simple fact: absolutely no one can drive safely after drinking alcohol or taking other drugs. Even the legal prescribed medications that you get from your doctor can affect the way you drive. Drugs and alcohol affect the body through absorption by the internal organs and through the stimulation of certain glands. People need their bodies and brains to be sober and clean of chemical stimulants in order to be able to coherently control vehicles. If the brain is affected by drugs or alcohol, it is not alert enough to make decisions that could keep your life or the lives of others safe. Such substances can render drivers aggressive, blind, drowsy, hyperactive, nauseous, numb, deaf, catatonic, or unconscious on the road. Because of these effects, intoxicated drivers can make the critical mistake of running over pedestrians and construction workers, falling off bridges and ledges, straying from the road and proper lanes, driving aggressively, passing red lights, missing and disobeying street signs, crashing and destroying their own vehicles as well as other people’s vehicles, damaging property and architecture, severely injuring or killing themselves or passengers or other drivers, or even causing a lethal explosion from disturbing fuel tanks. Alcoholics and drug-addicts from adulterated social parties and common fraternities are at a high risk of being involved in a road accident, every day they are behind the wheel, even if they were pressured by their peers to intoxicate themselves. Driving under the influence is just asking for more problems, and it can very likely ruin one’s own life, as well as the lives of friends and family, or even that of other families who have the need to drive daily to go to work or study. Drunk driving is a serious crime that can even affect law-abiding citizens.

Being charged or prosecuted for a drunk-driving offense can lead to a lesser or greater criminal charge that has major consequences such as costly legal and financial bills, and even going to jail for life, but all of this can be avoided if it basically boils down to idea that people cannot properly operate any vehicle while drunk or under the influence of an intoxicant. Regardless of the circumstances, everyone must always be conscious of the consequences of driving while intoxicated and seek out any opportunity to try to minimize the risk of it. It is greatly beneficial to talk to an expert when experiencing problems with any type of addiction that alters one’s own life, and to not let something like vices and drugs determine the fate of those who want a bright future. Caring families want to see their children grow up to be thriving with minimal interruptions, but if such an interruption were to occur, it should never be one’s children resorting to the influence of toxins, whether they are still very young or all grown up.

Although there are many penalties established by law regarding this problem, youths under the age of 21 should be placed in rehabilitation programs whenever it is deemed that they have been charged and found guilty for driving while intoxicated. These rehabilitation agencies are to be paid by the relatives of the drivers, or by the convicted drivers themselves. Rehabilitation for minors should be mandatorily provided for a minimum period of time; the first time being a period of 6 months, so that they can become aware of the consequences of driving in a state of drunkenness or under the control of illicit substances.

Consulting a professional is always the best way to seek help from an unhealthy addiction if necessary, but those who have yet to develop such dangerous addictions should leave it for another time and for now, they must put their own life and the lives of others first.

A final message to the audience: if you drink, do not drive; if you are drunk, stay home for safety.