Category: Alcohol

Critical Analysis of the Harmfulness of Drunk Driving Behavior

Drunk driving has been proved to be one of the major causes of road accidents consuming thousands of lives. Driving under the influence of alcohol makes many people fail to obey the traffic rules accordingly or even fail to see the road signs at all. The large numbers of deaths resulting from drunk driving indicate the seriousness of the problem to society. However, despite the seriousness of the problem, there exists viable marketing solutions for Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) that when implemented could result in lower frequency of alcohol-related accidents (Kubacki et al., 2015).

According to the research data above, the features of RTA’s target audience should be mostly men, who lived in a rural area, between 25 to 40 ages, may have a divorce issue, or people who families are split. The problem of driving under the influence of alcohol is closely related to all Drivers. Not only limited to the target audience. And also, it should be for people who are preparing to get a driver’s license in the future. So in order to reduce drink-driving, it is better for RTA to develop a series of advertising that circulates on TV or radio broadcasting. This media promotion can influence positive behavioral changes among the targeted audiences. It is an efficient tool for educating people about the risks associated with drinking and driving (Lee & Kotler, 2015).

When RTA creating an attention-grabbing advertisement, it requires knowledge in marketing or advertising, the development of specific objectives, communication of the message, stipulating a timeframe for implementation as well as an approach for evaluating this initiative (Who.int, 2007). In most cases, mass media campaigns have high social relevance to the targeted population. Individuals need to be persuaded for them to positively change their attitude of the behavioral component in such as drink driving is concerned. Persuasive public education through the use of media campaigns is one effective way of addressing such kind of issues since it is designed to reinforce the road safety advocacy so that the desired goal can be achieved among the targeted population. In carrying out such a media campaigns, the media is strongly used and marketing principles are also utilized (Kubacki et al., 2015).

Based on the theory of Elaboration likelihood model (ELM), (PPT) When RTA decided to create a series of ad, the final goal for RTA should be to influence cognitively based attitudes of the target audience successfully. People with a high or low effort should adopt completely different marketing strategies. Based on the target audience and most drivers in NSW, it is better for RTA to develop a credible communication source and strong arguments in the ads. Because they should consider that some drivers who have suffered accidents are not the first time for drunk driving. But after getting through many times of drunk driving, they became more and more careless and eventually, accidentally involved in an accident. This kind of target audience can be regarded as the audience who have a high effort on this problem. For them, they always leave the accident to chance and feel confident when they drive under alcohol. In this situation, RTA should consider central-route processing. For example, RTA can design an ad based on a real event and includes a narrator who has experienced a drunk driving accident but was eventually successfully rescued. And when we want to influence cognitively based attitudes when the effort is low, follow peripheral-route to persuasion. For example, designed advertising with a clear and straightforward message which can be impressive and easy for people to remember. And it is the key that RTA should repeat the advertising over and over in a period on TV or radio broadcasting, in order to let people keep in mind the seriousness of drunk driving. Moreover, use an emotional appeal of fear in the ad to create anxiety is also a way to make people remember the message. Besides, RTA should also develop ads with an emotional appeal of love in order to improve the sense of self-caring of the target audience. It can be a very different ad compare with the fear one, which intended to attract their interest and their attitudes become more positive toward the ad. Generally speaking, the goal for the series of ads is to raise customers’ awareness and improve attitude so that they truly realize the harmfulness of drunk driving behavior (Huang & Preston, 2004).

Severity of Problems with Drunk Driving and Ways to Solve Them: Analytical Essay

Every year loads of teens across America receive their license to drive and join the thousands of other people already traveling the roads. For teens, it is necessary that they understand the importance of driving safely as it is a huge responsibility that they are being trusted with. In order to ensure that teens are properly trained on how to handle themselves on the road, all teens have to go through some type of program, be it online classes, or a traditional classroom setting, before being allowed to legally drive a vehicle. Most of these new students learning how to drive are teens so the main goal for this program is to help teeangers from 15 to 22. With that in mind, teens need to take these classes seriously and learn about the right way to drive to make sure they understand all the laws involved with driving. Not only do they need to know that important information, but they also need to be wary of the dangers of driving. According to studies conducted by Driver Knowledge, there are an average of six million car accidents a year, a good amount of them involving drivers who were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that “every day, 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.” (CDC). Information like this brings to light the severity of problems like drunk driving out in the open and gets everyone looking. It has become more and more of an issue lately in the recent years, and with newer drivers joining the road each year, there comes a point where there needs to be a whole new look at how to solve these accidents caused by driving under the influence. The big solution this will be over is to help decrease the number of drunk driving collisions by increasing awareness through mandating drunk driving to be included in driver’s ed courses.

Context

There have been many different attempts at solving the issue with drunk driving. For example, the American Public Health Association had brought up the introduction of “[reducing] the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit from 0.08 to 0.05.” (AJPH). They thought this would be a good solution “We concluded that BAC 0.05 laws are not only ethically defensible but desirable. States and Congress should work to promote them.” Yet the only problem that occurred with this solution was there seemed to be a restriction to liberty in their article: “Critics objected to these laws because they restrict individual liberty and fail to consider that individuals value social drinking.”(AJPH). When adding more restrictions to something that is never planned to be bad surely makes it seem the people of America have less freedom in simple things. Instead, the most logical solution of addressing the problem would to make it part of a new program, or add it to the already existing programs for driver’s education courses. By increasing awareness on the severity of the problem before the person even enters a vehicle, the number of damage drunk driving accidents occur each year will eventually become lower.

Another solution that was implemented was from the National Highway Traffic Safety Admissions where they applied ignition interlock requirements in 18 states and 32 did not require it. From the results they found some interesting information. “The adjusted rate of alcohol-involved crash deaths was 4.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.0, 5.4) per 100 000 in states with the universal interlock requirement, compared with 5.5 (95% CI = 5.48, 5.53) in states without, an absolute reduction of 0.8 (95% CI = 0.1, 1.5) deaths per 100 000 per year.” (AJPH) This all came to an interesting solution that it did help stop drunk driving but only a small percent was changed so this solution could still be implemented to the whole nation but will never be a big impact to stopping drunk driving.

Not only is there information about ways people have researched on finding solutions but researchers have found that some teens are now adding alcohol to energy drinks and making it worse when they are in a car and sometimes not even the driver. In an article in the journal “Substance Use & Misuse” called “High-Risk Driving Behaviors Among 12th Grade Students: Differences Between Alcohol-Only and Alcohol Mixed With Energy Drink Users” they did a study to find out teenagers in 12th grade that engaged AmED-use, which is alcohol mixed with energy drinks, and students that only used alcohol and found some interesting research, “12th grade AmED users were significantly more likely to be in a motor vehicle accident (p

Legal Consequences of Drunk Driving: Analytical Essay

It is a criminal offense to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In case you find yourself drunk, it is advisable not to be in control of a car. Whenever you find yourself pulled over by the police you take a sobriety test. The test is done to establish whether or not the alcohol level in your system has exceeded the legal limit. An exceeded limit has legal consequences. You face jail time, paying a fine or losing your drivers license.

Whenever you commit the offense of drunk driving, it is advisable to get the services of DWI Attorney in Las Vegas. The legal system is complex and confusing for anyone. Drunk driving law is not any different. You will likely get misinformed about the whole process. What if you can avoid the entire situation altogether? This article will guide you on how to avoid the hassle of hiring a lawyer.

The most obvious way is to avoid drinking at all. The main reason for breaking such a law is because of alcohol. If you can eliminate alcohol intake from the equation, then there is no crime. Have a limit of the alcohol you consume when you know you will be driving. As mentioned earlier, there is a limit of liquor that is legally acceptable. For example a glass of light wine or a light beer is no cause for a drunk driving charge.

Secondly not having a car is another way to avoid needing the services of a drunk driving lawyer. There are many other means of transport. There is cycling for example. Riding a bicycle is considered one of the most economical ways of getting around. You can save money when you use a bike. Additionally it helps to keep you fit.

It may be impossible to avoid alcohol altogether. The next thing you can do is get a designated driver. It refers to a person who is in charge of driving you, and has not consumed any alcohol. In case you get pulled over, there is no need to worry about a drunk driving charge. In a group, there is always a teetotaller who is the right person for the job.

There is also the option of leaving your car and getting yourself a taxi. Ensure the parking area that you have left your vehicle is safe. There are different taxi applications to choose from to get you safely home. You can smoothly go back for your car the next day. By doing this you avoid the consequences of needing a lawyer.

Having a charge like drunk driving on your record is scary. It has a way of affecting several things in your life. To avoid this you can choose to have a drink at a bar near your home or even drink at home. You being within walking distance of your residence is advantageous. There is no risk of getting caught drunk driving.

Finally many people go through their entire lives without breaking this law in particular. Simply because of following a few steps, for example getting a designated driver. Avoiding alcohol altogether and enjoying their favorite drink at home or in a bar near home. Not having will also save you the stress of breaking the law.

Drunk Driving: Observing Legal Background of Sobriety Checkpoints in US

Sobriety checkpoints are checkpoints that are randomly set up on the roadway and there is no fixed location when it comes setting them up. They happen randomly but more so on certain days of the year where there are high chances of DUI incidents such as Patrick’s Day, New Year’s, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, etc. Although they have no fixed location, they tend to set up at locations that have history of roadway incidents. During the checking process, they have a predetermined pattern of checking cars and they do have rules they follow: brief stops with few questions and no prolong search, stops may not necessarily require a physical search unless there’s reasonable suspicion, there must be sufficient warning of the stop (in media, news, or road sign), drives have the right to lawfully avoid the stop, placements of checkpoints must be based on experience/history of DUI incidents at these locations, and decisions to check which vehicle to stop must be predetermined.

Sobriety checkpoints were ratified and enforced during the 1990s as a result of Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz. The Court justified that enforcement of sobriety checkpoints met the 4th Amendment standard of “reasonable search and seizure”. The purpose of sobriety checkpoint, asserted at the time, was reducing drunk driving in the states and promoting road/highway safety. Over time, these assertions and motive behind this law was put into debate multiple times and have been unconstitutional – violating citizens’ individual rights or freedoms. It’s important to remember that the 4th Amendment protects citizens from “unreasonable” searches and seizures and for the search & seizure to proceed, the law enforcement must have a warrant issued by a gov’t official authorizing the search. This is a constitutional right that must not be violated as part of the due process – from the 5th amendment, it acts as a safeguard for the citizens, that their individual freedoms should not be denied and violated. Citizens are free from arbitrary and unnecessary governmental intrusion into their private space and personal matters.

However, this is not the case here when it comes sobriety checkpoints especially when it comes detaining a driver to perform extensive DUI testing, which would require reasonable suspicion. In the case of City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 2000, the case was ruled unconstitutional because Edmond posed no threat to public safety. The police had K-9s to sniff out Edmond for narcotics (even though Edmond had NO drugs on him and his vehicle) and this “unreasonable” search forced Edmond to sue the city violation of his rights. The court then ruled it unconstitutional as they have stated that their sole purpose of these checkpoints is to promote road safety, not detect evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Although unconstitutional, was it for the interests of the community? When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-to-3 at Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz case, it was deemed constitutional and that it met public interests in arresting drunk drivers and deter them from drunk driving for the sake of public safety. Community interests dealt with public safety and system efficiency – concerned with preserving the health and security of individuals within the community and the competence of the operation in the criminal justice process. By keeping the community in mind, this allowed them to enforce the law and in turn, making the community feel safe as it would deter individuals driving while intoxicated and possibly could harm someone.

Solutions To Issues Related to Drunk Driving

Alcohol related crashes kill about ten thousand people per year in the United States. That is thirty people a day that’s one person every forty-eight minutes. When under the influence of alcohol can have a slowed reaction time and the ability to act gone. In the United States the legal limit is zero point eight Blood alcohol Concentration (BAC) yet problems start at zero point two BAC. Drunk Driving is a major problem in my opinion that causes injuries and financial issues the problem can start with you as the solution.

Since 1980 the number of alcohol related crashes has decreased because of public awareness and law enforcement campaigns. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that there are about eleven thousand fatalities per year due to alcohol related crashes. In 2017, alcohol was a factor in twenty-nine percent of all fatal motor crashes in the United States nineteen percent of those crashes involving children fourteen and under. Alcohol related crashes carry about a fifty-two billion dollar burden according to the NHTSA. This estimate accounts for medical expenses, legal expenses, court costs, property damage, insurance administration, lost employee productivity, workplace losses, and traffic congestion resulting from the incidents and subsequent investigations. The NHTSA reports that approximately eighty-four percent of these costs are incurred from crashes involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equal to or exceeding the standard legal limit of 0.08 grams of alcohol per decilitre of blood.

Though road safety has improved impaired driving still has an involvement in more than ten thousand traffic casualties every year. More than one point four million drivers were taken into custody with the influence of alcohol or drugs and only one hundred and twelve million admitted to being impaired while driving. With a cost of more than fifty billion dollars alcohol-related crashes are still a problem. Young people between twenty-one and twenty-four years of age make up the majority of drivers above the legal limit this means they make up ninety percent of all crashes with fatalities. More than half of them are driving on a suspended drivers license. Forty-four states, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands impose mandatory license suspensions for a driver’s first alcohol-related offense. In most cases these suspensions range from thirty to one-hundred days but the one enforced most often is just ninety days.

Law enforcement may also impound or confiscate vehicles if necessary. States also require an ignition interlock program where a breathalyzer test is required to start the car. Serious offenders may have to surrender their tags for special ones that indicates that they are previous offenders of drunk driving. Some steps already taken to stop drunk driving are for one sobriety checkpoints. At sobriety checkpoints police will stop some or all drivers to test driver sobriety. Other steps taken to stop drunk driving are public awareness campaigns and student awareness campaigns.

My way of solving this issue is to set the legal all to 0.05 or lower and maybe a slightly harsher punishment. Another good way is to always have a designated driver. But really the best way to prevent it is to not do it at all.