1. Driving Under the Influence
Chapter 18

2. An average drunk driver has driven 80 times before their first arrest
This year, one person every 50 minutes will die in drunk-driving crashes
1 in 3 people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime
STATISTICS

3. 18-1 Alcohol and Other Drugs
Alcohol is the most widely abused drug
Most often linked to motor-vehicle collisions
Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among people younger than 25 years of age, and more than half of those are alcohol- related
Many are not under the influence themselves
Each year, an estimated 4 million innocent people are injured or have their vehicles damaged in drunk-driving crashes
DON’T DRINK & DRIVE!
18-1 Alcohol and Other Drugs

4. Types of Alcohol Variety of forms of Alcohol Concentration of Alcohol
Beer
Wine
Spirits (whiskey, vodka, rum, tequila)
Concentration of Alcohol
Beer – 3% for light beer, 12% Microbrews
Wine – 12%-14%
Spirits or “Hard Liquor” – 20%-95%
Types of Alcohol

5. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
The amount of alcohol in your body at a given time
Measure of the percent of alcohol in your bloodstream
For example, if you have a BAC of 0.10%, it means your bloodstream contains 1% alcohol
Can be measured using chemical test that analyze breath, blood, or urine
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

6. BAC Level
Affect on Body
0.02%
Reactions start to slow and the first signs of poor judgment appear
0.05%
Driving skills begin to noticeably deteriorate. Reasoning is less reliable muscles are too relaxed, and coordination is decreased
0.08%
Judgment and inhibitions are affected, as are coordination, balance, vision, hearing, and speech
0.10%
All mental and physical skills are extremely affected. Performing ay task with your hands or feet, including walking without stumbling, is difficult
0.30%
Pass out, coma, or death

7. What Determines a Person’s BAC
The amount of alcohol consumed
The amount of time over which the alcohol was consumed
The amount of food in your stomach
Your body weight
Whether the alcohol is mixed with a carbonate beverage
Whether you are a man or a woman
What Determines a Person’s BAC

8. How the Body Gets Rid of Alcohol
Liver turns alcohol into oxygen and carbon dioxide through oxidation
It takes 1 hour to oxidize 1 ounce drink
Some people think you can “sober up” by:
Taking a cold shower
Drinking coffee
Exercising
These may make you feel more alert but will not lower your BAC – only time will!
After some time has passed, you may feel as though you are good to go – this is a delusion because you are comparing your peak feeling of impairment with the return of only some of your physical or mental abilities
How the Body Gets Rid of Alcohol

9. The Physiological Effects of Alcohol
Vision
Alcohol relaxes the fine, delicate muscles that move the eyes and allow them to focus
Double Vision
An uncontrollable rapid vibration of the eye that makes it virtually impossible to see at all
Alcohol distorts your:
Depth perception – stopping distance, speed of oncoming vehicles
Peripheral vision – tunnel vision reduces field of vision by 70%
Night vision – impairs vision by 25%
The Physiological Effects of Alcohol

10. The Physiological Effects of Alcohol
Physical Reflexes and Coordination
Reaction time is decreased
The brain works less efficiently, and instruction to muscles are delayed
The effect of alcohol on your muscles is to decrease coordination
Muscles react more slowly to commands from your brain and function with less control
Tendency to oversteer, understeer, brake late, overbrake, or not brake at all
The Physiological Effects of Alcohol

11. How Alcohol Affects Judgment
Decision-making ability is decreased
Inhibitions
Elements of your personality that stop you from behaving without regard to possible consequences
Take chances you wouldn’t normally take
Magnify emotions
How Alcohol Affects Judgment

12. Alcohol is a drug, but what other people think of as “drugs” can affect the mind and body differently than alcohol
OTC drugs such as aspirin and other pain relievers, cold and allergy remedies, and medicines for back pain and arthritis can cause drowsiness, dizziness, slower reaction times, reduced coordination
Prescription drugs usually have more powerful effects on the body, with higher dosages of the same active ingredients found in OTC drugs
Most OTC and prescription drugs come with warnings not to drive
Other Drugs

13. Other Drugs (cont.) Illegal Drugs
Depressants produce side effects similar to alcohol, including irritability, confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, and poor eye-hand coordination
Narcotics can slow reaction time, impair motor skills, cause dimness of vision. Stimulants make people more aggressive and overconfident (caffeine & nicotine)
Hallucinogens can make a person confused or unable to think clearly or concentrated and can have an altered sense of direction, space, and time
Marijuana can impair ability to see, steer, brake, and make correct driving decisions. Can cause drowsiness, fragmented thought patterns, and problems evaluating spatial relationships and the passage of time
Other Drugs (cont.)

14. Mixing any drug with another or with alcohol can lead to serious impairment
Synergistic Effect - The enhancement of a drug’s side effects caused by mixing it with alcohol and other certain drugs
When drugs are combined with alcohol, you body focuses on getting rid of the alcohol first
Because a normal dosage assumes your body will eliminate part of the drug, the effects of the drug are multiplied
Other Drugs (cont.)

15. 18-2 Preventing Drunk Driving
The best way to prevent driving under the influence is to prevent people impaired by alcohol or other drugs from getting on the road
Everyone at a place or event where there is alcohol consumed is obligated to take an active role in keeping drinkers from driving
18-2 Preventing Drunk Driving

16. Resisting Peer Pressure
The influence that others of your own age have on you
People do things they would never do on their own to impress friends, classmates, co- workers, or members of the opposite sex
If others decide to act irresponsibly, do not participate
If they don’t understand, they aren’t real friends
Resisting Peer Pressure

17. Setting Limits On Yourself
Ideally, you shouldn’t have any alcohol in your system when driving
If you do drink, consider the factors that can influence your BAC
Most of us have some idea when we have had too much to drink
Speech slurs
Become overly friendly
Voices get louder
Dizziness
Recognize these signs and stop drinking
Listen to your friends if they try to stop you or take your keys
Don’t try to match the drinking of others
If you are afraid to admit you do not want to drink, make up an excuse for not participating
Anything is better that drinking too much and later causing an injury or death on the road
Stay active and mingle
Setting Limits On Yourself

18. Alternatives to Drinking and Driving
Designated driver
Call a friend for a ride
Call a cab
Refuse to be the passenger of a drunk driver
Offer to drive if you are sober
Stay the night
Alternatives to Drinking and Driving

19. Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road
Depends on when you drive
Alcohol involvement is 5 times higher at night than during the day
Risk of colliding with a drunk driver is higher on weekends, holidays, and vacation periods
Remember that drunk drivers are on the road at all times
Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road

20. Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road
What to look for
Driving at inconsistent speeds, too fast or too slow
“Riding” the lane markers on the road or straddling the center line
Weaving back and forth across the roadway
Drifting into other lanes or opposing traffic
Driving at the edge of the roadway
Driving on or next to the shoulder
Traveling in a turn lane
Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road

21. Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road
What to look for: (cont.)
Braking erratically or stopping without cause
Stopping and starting suddenly
Responding slowly to traffic signals
Tailgaiting
Driving at night without headlights
Passing other vehicles recklessly
Almost hitting another vehicle or object in the road
Leaving turn signals blinking or signaling turns inconsistently
Making wide or abrupt turns
Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road

22. Other Indicators Drivers may also exhibit indications of being drunk
Tightly gripping the steering wheel
Slouching in the seat
Making strange or obscene gestures
Driving with windows open in cold weather
Sticking heads outside the vehicle
Driving with face too close to the windshield
Other Indicators

23. Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road
Keep your distance
Do not try to pass Or
Pull over to the side of the road
Get the color, make, and model of the vehicle and direction of travel
Get license plate number if possible
Notify police
Avoiding Drunk Drivers on the Road

24. You can be “legally impaired” without ever having a drink
Technology can prove if you are legally drunk even if your physical and mental capabilities appear in perfect working order
You can be charged with a DUI even if your BAC is well under the legal limit
Police can and do arrest people who they believe are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs before they start their cars or while they are sitting in a parked car
18-3 DUI and the Law

25. When you are arrested for drunk driving, you will be charged with either:
Driving under the influence (DUI)
Driving while intoxicated (DWI)
Average offender in Illinois is :
male (78 percent arrested are men);
age 34 (60 percent are under age 35);
arrested between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on a weekend; and
caught driving with a BAC of .16 — twice the illegal limit.
— Illinois Secretary of State
DUI and DWI

26. DUI Conviction Can be financially devastating
Fines and court costs
Impoundment of vehicle
Attorney’s fees
DUI education programs
Increase insurance premiums
Can be devastating to families as well
Parents may get sued or fined for negligently supervising your behavior
Can jeopardize employment
DUI Conviction

27. Any person driving a vehicle has given consent to have breath, blood, or urine tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs
By driving a vehicle, you have already “agreed” beforehand to allow the testing of your BAC if requested
Implied Consent

28. Tests for Intoxication
Breath Alcohol Test
Simplest and most common
Breath into a tube and your BAC is measured using infrared light
Field Sobriety Test
On the spot, roadside evaluation
DUI convictions can be based on this alone
Officer will conduct a series of tests that detect physical and mental impairment
“Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus” test
Divided Attention Impairment tests
Combine mental and physical tasks to be performed at the same time
Walk and Turn - walk a line, heel-to-toe, while counting off your steps
Say the alphabet backwards
Stand on one leg
Close your eyes and touch your nose
Tests for Intoxication

29. Tests for Intoxication
Urine and Blood tests
Blood test is administered by medical personnel
Potentially the most accurate
Urine tests can be given by the law enforcement official
Least accurate
Refusal will result in a failed test!
Tests for Intoxication

30. Beat the Breathalyzer? Can you beat a Breathalyzer test?
Breath mints?
Onions?
Denture cream?
Mouthwash?
Pennies?
Answer: No, there is nothing you can do to “beat” a breathalyzer test, but there are things that can affect the outcomes
Mouthwash
Breath spray
Beat the Breathalyzer?

31. Special roadside safety checks in which police officers stop drivers to determine whether any are impaired by drugs or alcohol
If alcohol is suspected, a field sobriety test will follow
Sobriety Checkpoints

32. Makes it illegal to have any kind of open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle unless it is kept out of the immediate control of the occupants, such as in the trunk
Any alcoholic beverage transported in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, including glove box, must be full, sealed, and unopened
Open Container Laws

33. Penalties for DUI Convictions
Will depend on whether it is your first offense or not
Can lead to these:
Revocation of your license
Sentence to perform community service
Installation of an ignition interlock device
Confiscation of your vehicle
Penalties can be enhanced
Sentence enhancement can occur if:
You were speeding
You refuse a chemical test
If a child under 16 was riding in the vehicle at the time
There is property damage
Injuries or death occurred, can be charged with a felony
Felonies are punishable by a heavy fine, automatic jail term, and extended probation
Zero Tolerance Laws
Penalties for DUI Convictions