Traffic > Drunken driving and drugs > Drunken driver in traffic

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    • Drug abusers in traffic
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      • Driving ban
    • Drunken driver in traffic
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Drunken driver in traffic

Alcohol impairs a driver’s ability to handle situations that require speed and accuracy. Reaction times are longer, more errors are made in evaluating situations and the judgement is impaired. The risk of traffic accidents grows.

Alcohol is eliminated from the body by the liver at a rate of one gram of pure alcohol per hour per ten kilograms of body weight. This is a steady process and cannot be speeded up by, for example, having a sauna or drinking coffee.

Every fifth traffic fatality involves a drunken driver. Usually it is the drunken driver or a passenger in the same car that dies. On average, some 10 per cent of all fatalities in drunken driving accidents are bystanders.

The commonest type of accident for a drunken driver is to drive off the road. The results are usually serious, because drunken drivers do not generally wear seat belts. Over 20,000 drunken drivers are caught annually.

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