Drivers in Chicago know that drinking and driving is dangerous but few are able to articulate exactly why alcohol poses a problem. In truth, the effects of alcohol on the human body are complex and the ways they interact limits a driver’s ability to control a vehicle, steer, and make informed decisions.
Almost every part of what makes us human can be affected to some degree by alcohol consumption but when it comes to safe driving, the central nervous system takes one of the biggest hits. Alcohol can so effectively alter the processes of the central nervous system that it can turn the best driver in the world into an open danger to herself and those around her. But how?
Alcohol enters the body and begins to be metabolized immediately. It is a depressant and can have psychoactive effects on users which leads to its popularity here in Illinois and across the nation. Globally, alcohol is one of the most widely and heavily used drugs among people of all ages and its popularity dates back thousands of years.
Prior to the invention of the automobile, people who drank alcohol in excess rarely posed a threat to strangers. While the effects of booze may harm a user personally, that individual rarely had the opportunity to let his actions influence others, harm others, or otherwise cause damage beyond himself. By 2014, nearly 1/3 of all traffic-related deaths in the United States happened in an accident involving a drunk driver and nearly 10,000 people lost their lives in drunk driving collisions in that year alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.