Driving under the Influence By: Timmy Davis

Thesis statement My articles were about the effects of drinking and driving

Source 1 In this article it is talking about under-age drinking and driving. It is saying how it is unsafe for the driver, the passengers, and all others in the neighborhood. Having a drivers license, is supposed to be a privilege but most drunk drivers are teenagers who recently got their license.

Source 1 cont. “Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for youth in the United States.” “Among licensed drivers, adolescents (16-19 years of age) have the highest collision involvement rate, to any other age group.” Alcohol figures are high in underage deaths arising for motor vehicle accidents due to drunk driving

Source 1 cont. “2004 in the United States, 23% of more than 2400 driver fatalities among youth years of age had a blood alcohol concentration equal to or greater than 0.08.” “5000 motor vehicle fatalities that occurred in 2004 among adolescents years of age in the United States, 46% were passengers and, of those, 62% were passengers in vehicles operated by drivers who themselves were years of age and under the influence.”

Source 2 “Drinking and driving presents a serious public safety problem in the United States with over 2 million crashes involving alcohol each year.” “One in every 140 miles traveled in the United States is driven by someone with the blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or higher behind the wheel (measured in grams per deciliter of blood).

Source 2 cont. “Deterrence theory suggests that governments can discourage drinking and driving by increasing the certainty of conviction and the severity of the punishment so that perceived costs of the activity exceed the perceived benefits.”

Source 2 cont. “Understanding the behavioral impact of laws aimed at drinking and driving requires testing, the relationship between laws, enforcement, and perceptions, and the underlying criminal propensity of individuals and how this propensity conditions individual responses to deterrence efforts.”

Source 3 “Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are significant cause of injury and mortality worldwide and are leading to the cause of death among people age 16 to 20.” “In Canada, the incidence of DUIA has declined consistently since the 1980s.”

Source 3 cont. “The prevalence of DUI among drivers 18 years and older has increased from 14.7% in 2005 to 19.0% in 2009.” “It is well documented that alcohol affects numerous driving-related skills- including reaction time and cognitive skills such as tracking, attentive, and psychomotor or coordination- and impair driving ability in a dose-dependent manner.”

Source 3 cont. “Alcohol impairment significantly increases one’s chances of being involved in a MVA.” “Researchers indicate that having alcohol is associated in one’s collision culpability.” “Individuals who drive under the influence of alcohol increase their odds of having a serious or fatal accident by times and times.”

Source 4 “In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that approximately 1.4 million people in the United States were arrested for driving while under the influence/driving while intoxicated (DWUI/DWI), with one third of those being repeated offenders.”

Source 4 cont. “In 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 17,448 people had been killed in alcohol-related crashes, the highest number of deaths in a decade. Also, alcohol related traffic crashes were identified as a leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 6 and 33 years.”

Source 4 cont. “NHTSA also found that enforcement, treatment, and educational efforts have had some success in reducing drinking and driving problem, but more research was needed to investigate.” “Criminal justice regulatory agencies in most states have used a variety of testing instruments to identify DWUI/DWI recidivist.”

Source 5 “According to NHTSA, approximately 18,000 people die each year in the U.S. as a result of drunk driving.” About 3 and every 10 Americas will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some point in their lives.”

Source 5 cont. “The recidivism rate for drunk driving now stands at 33% in the U.S. In other words, of those arrested for drunk driving, on third will be arrested again for the same offense. These numbers prove that drunk driving is a habitual offense.”

Source 5 cont. “Some people routinely drive while intoxicated. Many of these drivers believe that since they are “experienced” drinkers, the effects of alcohol do not apply to them. Reaction time is the biggest thing effected by alcohol.”

Source 6 “In the early 20 th century, only a very small minority motorist were charged with being incapable of controlling a vehicle as a result of alcohol-associated incompetence.” “The Licensing Law (1872) made it an offence to be drunk in charge of any vehicle on a highway.”

Source 6 cont. “In 1925 the Criminal Justice Act out-lawed being ‘drunk while in charge on a highway or other public place of any mechanically-propelled vehicle.” “The Road Traffic Act 1930 addressed the numerous definitional problems to which this measure gave rise and stated that a driver must not be ‘under the influence of drink or a drug to so and extent as to be incapable of having proper control of a vehicle.

Source 6 cont. “In 1984 the path-breaking Police and Criminal Evidence Act passed into law. A two- tier system, which had required that positive breathalyzer test be confirmed by additional back-up analysis of blood or urine, was dropped.”

Bio of Sources 1.Adolescent passengers of drunk drivers: a multi-level exploration into the inequities of risk & safety Authors: Christiane Poulin, Brock Boudreau, & Mark Asbridge. 2.The Behavioral Impact of Drinking and Driving Laws Authors: Anthony M. Bertelli & Lilliard E. Richardson Jr. 3.Driving under the Influence of Alcohol in a Cohort of High-Frequency Authors: Fraser McGuire, Megan Dawe, & Kevin D. Sheild 4.The Association of Sensation Seeking and the Impulsivity to Driving while Under the Influence of Alcohol Authors: Matthew F. Curran. Jairo N. Fuertes, Vincent C Alfonso, and James J. Hennessy 5.Managing Unsafe Drivers & Their Unsafe Habits Author: Phillip R. Moser 6.Anti-drink driving Reform in Britain, c Author: Bill Luckin