Driving

Drunk driving is one of the leading causes of death in the United States of America. A large number of drivers who have had their licenses revoked due to prior violations, continue to drive under alcohol influence. Indeed, since the time cars have been on the road, regulating the traffic safety aspect by curbing alcohol abuse has been the biggest challenge for various jurisdictions. In this essay, I will highlight various issues surrounding the social problem of drunk driving and examine its causes and consequences. For this, I will assume the position that one of the leading causes for it is the social stigma attached to alcohol-consumption. The aim is to prove that alcohol beverages per se aren’t the real problem but the unnecessary restrictions in place regarding its sale and availability, which forces people to do whatever it takes to purchase and consume alcohol, leading to a rise in drunken driving incidents. If we have to curb alcoholism and the menace of drunk driving incidents, we need to relax the social rules regarding alcohol beverages, removing the stigma attached to them. The Causes of drunkenness: At an institutional level, drunk driving is a fall-out of the important role played by beverage alcohol in American life and culture. Wherever we go, alcohol consumption has become an integral component of leisure activities and celebrations. From cocktail parties to sporting meets, dining outs to christening ceremonies, from fraternity bashes to even charity events, alcohol consumption has become the center-stage of social life for many; a trend which is unlikely to abate anytime soon. The sad part is that these events have often become a flashpoint for people to test their capacity of stretching consumption limits. Apart from their role in causing psychological impairments due to depression, frustration, agony and loneliness, large-scale alcohol consumption triggers an instant melt-down of consciousness which leads to reduced inhibitions, which can cause any extent of damage in the immediate aftermath. Out of them, a large percentage comprises of underage drinkers which goes with our previous observations on the growing importance of alcohol in high school learning environments. Recent studies have shown that the alcohol fever is also catching in fast with middle-schoolers as evidenced in growing popularity of stoner and underaged drinking genre movies such as Superbad which seem to advocate that nothing’s really wrong with consuming alcohol “as long as you don’t hurt anybody”. The problem begins when kids lose their temperance and sobriety under alcohol influence despite initial misplaced beliefs that they can handle it quite well. Indeed, a culture which puts the premium of “cool” on substance and alcohol abuse is the most prominent factor which has led to the present state of affairs.So far, we have outlined the major factors which cause the problem of drunkenness in this country, especially among teenagers. From here, it would be easier to follow the complexities of where the problems of drunk driving originate. The following root causes are identified. The most important reason behind drunk driving in both teenagers and adults can be attributed to the lack of availability of a driver who will remain sober in these cocktail parties. Although it is generally recommended and agreed on among participants in one of these binge drinking sessions, as soon as the alcohol starts flowing, people tend to forget their obligations, roles and responsibilities if they happen to be drivers. A common tendency is to underestimate the damaging consequences which may be caused by having even a little trace of alcohol in the bloodstream. Indeed, the tendency among binge drinking participants to overestimate their drinking capacity proves a recipe for disaster when seen on the road from a driver’s perspective. If we are to stomp out the perils of probable accidents due to drivers being drunk at any point of time, we will have to enact swifter and stricter legislation with breath-analyzer tests to ensure drivers do not consume any alcoholic beverages while on the road. An associated reason behind drunk driving is the lack of use of public transportation and carpooling services. Almost all Americans are behind the wheels which ensures minimal availability of transportation services except in big cities. Even remote suburbs within these city limits are not easily accessible by public transport which lends itself to over-reliance on drivers, many of whom see nothing wrong with being under influence while driving. The main reason for the current spate of alcohol consumption incidents can be attributed to the strong puritanical associations which characterize the American alcohol consumption scene. From a historical point of view, there is a perceived taboo against alcohol consumption due to diktats from the religious Right, anecdotes of events such as the Prohibition era and other governing aspects of our culture, which on one hand, demonize alcohol consumption as a social evil, while on the other hand, turns a blind eye to the everyday violation of those very principles. There’s a clear amount of hypocrisy in this picture.