Drinking & driving: one American is killed every 22 minutes by a drunk driver. What can you do to change this?

DRINKING & DRIVING

Bored with college life by springtime, Marty, Tim, and Joe (*1) chose to liven things up with a Friday evening party. An off-campus motel reservation. Girls. Alcohol. Drunken fun.

Saturday morning the three guys headed back to campus. Headaches. Brains dulled by the alcohol. Less fun.

Joel was driving. Fast. At least 85 miles an hour. Two-lane, winding highway. The car ahead poked, so Joel decided to pass. He hit a truck head-on. Marty and Tim died instantly. Joel lives on, paralyzed, permanently incapacitated.

Drunk driving kills more people than any other alcohol-related situation. In 1988, the year of Joel's accident, 50 percent of the more than 47,000 Americans who died in crashes were drunk, according to legal definition. That was nearly 24,000 killed in alcohol-related accidents, or one every 22 minutes. Many times that number are maimed each year (currently about 534,000, or one every minute). Most states define legal intoxication as a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of more than 0.10 percent (0.1 gram per deciliter), which for most people would result from consuming about four drinks in two hours.

Injury and fatality figures do not include the innocent, nondrinking victims. For instance, Joel, again the driver, had escaped unharmed from a previous accident that left his girlfriend paralyzed.

Keep in mind, too, that these figures are very conservative estimates. The 1988 Surgeon General's Workshop on Drunk Driving recommended lowering the legal limit for BAC to 0.04 percent (0.04 gram per deciliter) by the year 2000. This would allow only about two drinks in two hours for most people. Drivers under age 21 should have a 0.00 percent BAC, since all states have made drinking under age 21 illegal. If the preceding injury and fatality statistics had been based on the 0.04 percent BAC level, the percentages would be much higher. Furthermore, BAC tests are not administered consistently and routinely in the United States, so more fatalities are related to alcohol than this data shows.

The fact is that any alcohol in a driver's blood increases the chances of an accident. Skills in brain information processing, visual perception, and ability to attend to multiple tasks are impaired at 0.01 to 0.02 percent BAC. In fact, researchers have not been able to find a BAC above 0.00 percent at which there is no impairment. Significant risk exists for even low BAC levels. The risk climbs especially fast for youthful drivers because of their inexperience (see graph). With only two drinks, a person's driving ability is impaired by about 30 percent.

When we realize that alcohol-related auto crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds, the tragedy is compounded. People like Joel, Marty, and Tim had the best part of life ahead of them; their college education was preparing them to make a worthwhile contribution to society. And they had supportive parents who looked forward to reaping some rewards on their investment. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says "The number one killer of young Americans is young Americans." Close to 7,000 youth ages 16 to 24 died in 1987 in alcohol-related crashes.

Two thirds of the drivers responsible for alcohol-related deaths have previously had serious problems with alcohol. Joel, for example, had received 11 tickets for reckless driving, and he'd had the earlier accident mentioned in this article. His parents had refused to enable him to get another car, but an older sister had signed for him in misguided sympathy. NHTSA estimates that one out of every 15 drivers on the highway has a drinking problem.

Statistics seem distant. But I had known Marty since babyhood. His parents are dear friends of mine. We worked together for several years. The next person killed by a drunk driver may be your friend, your child, or you.

We don't have to accept as inevitable this carnage on our highways, which outstrips murder and war as causes of death. What can we do about these alcohol-related accidents?

1. Know the facts. Remember that after even one or two drinks, depending on body size, the risk of a crash begins to increase. And it's the blood alcohol level that matters, not how a person feels. Alcohol affects concentration, visual acuity, judgment, and reaction time. There is no such thing as responsible drinking and driving.

2. Learn about law enforcement in your area, and support measures to keep drunk drivers off the roads. Does your police department have breath-testing equipment, which provides a simple, on-the-spot, objective evaluation? Let them know you support testing.

3. Know your state laws, and urge your lawmakers to redefine unlawful intoxication to be 0.04 percent BAC. Ask them to require testing of any suspicious driver, especially any involved in a fatal accident.

4. Join and support government and private agencies that are fighting against drunk driving.

5. Use your influence on local school administrations to ensure that new drivers are taught the facts about drunk driving.

6. Write letters to newspaper editors and managers of television and radio stations, reminding them of the dangers of drunk driving. Urge them (a) not to use ads or programs that glamorize drinking, and (b) to state publicly when alcohol has been involved in a crash.

7. Don't serve alcohol at your parties. Recipes for delicious nonalcoholic drinks abound. Experiment. Learn what fun a party can be without a hangover.

8. Teach your own young people, if you are a parent, how to refuse a drink graciously--or better yet, how to choose friends who don't drink.

Don't be afraid to ask questions about party plans and to set limits on social activity. Usually, deep inside, young people want their parents to do so. Give your children an out, if necessary, to save face with their peers--such as the chance to say "Yeah, I'd come, but my old man won't let me." Get to know their friends' parents. If possible, form a parent coalition that stands together on expectations about parties and driving. Don't be fooled by claims about what everybody else's parents allow.

9. Encourage your loved ones to call you anytime, day or night, that they need a safe ride home--either because of their own drinking or the drinking of a friend who drove them to the occasion where alcohol was served.

If you are at a party where a friend becomes intoxicated, insist on driving that friend home, calling a cab, or making arrangements for him or her to stay overnight. Don't hesitate to confiscate car keys or to call the police if your appeals fail. Your friend must not be allowed to drive. An intelligent friend will thank you after sobering up.

10. Start early to develop enough worthwhile skills and self-esteem in your children so that they won't need to use drinking as a crutch for peer acceptance.

11. Urge any friend with an alcohol problem to get help. Don't worry about losing the friendship--you'll lose it more permanently and regretfully if he or she dies in an alcohol-related accident.

Life itself is a two-lane, winding highway. Friends. Choices. Differing speeds and vehicles. I miss Marty on that road. Let's maximize the safety of our life highway by keeping drunk drivers off it.

Madeline S. Johnston, M.A., is a part-time secretary (in a university office) and part-time free-lance writer who lives in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

COPYRIGHT 1991 Review and Herald Publishing Association
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