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Sharp Drive Discuss Drugs, Alcohol & Driving

Tuesday 20 March 2018, 5:03PM

By Beckie Wright

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We should all know the facts about drugs, alcohol and driving. Your reactions and judgements tend to be impaired right from the first drink or hit, and your emotional state becomes unbalanced, overconfident, high or even angry, and your perception of realty is distorted. You think you are driving much better than your are and your vision becomes affected by tunnel vision and blurring. Alcohol, combined with fatigue causes drowsiness and is extremely dangerous.

As evenings are the time for social drinking and drug taking, even moderate use when tired is very risky. One of the most dangerous effects is that mentally you feel the opposite of what is actually happening, and most people won’t drive if they are feeling a bit tipsy or inebriated. However, they could feel ‘great’ after just a few but, in reality, be too physically impaired to drive safely, even if you think you are under the legal limit. Never drive if you are feeling the slightest effect of alcohol.

The law does not tell you whether you are fit to drive, only when it becomes illegal to drive. Remember, the rate alcohol is metabolised or burnt off is relatively constant. Sobering up can’t be sped up by coffee, caffeine drinks or even a vitamin booster ‘pick me up’. Food only slows the rate alcohol is absorbed into the blood and does not prevent its effects. You can still be too impaired to drive the morning after a heavy session.

Drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol are more likely to take risks, fail to recognise or avoid hazzards, drive erratically or make mistakes, and are less likely to wear seatbelts. The statistics speak for themselves. A recent five year study found that nearly half of all drivers who die in road crashes have drugs or alcohol in their system. Over 80% of those drivers were considered to be at fault. Twenty seven per cent of them have used alcohol alone, 19% use canabis alone. The rest have used a potentially more dangerous combination of alcohol, drugs and canabis. 

Alcohol or drugs are responsible for 23% of all serious injuries from road crashes, and for every 100 alcohol or drug impaired drivers killed in road crashes,  54 of their passengers and 27 other sober road users die with them.

It is now illegal to drive while impaired by drugs or legal prescription drugs. Your medication could slow your reactions, cause drowsiness or otherwise impair your driving. Ask a doctor or pharmacist whether the drugs you are taking could affect your driving ability.

Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol could affect your insurance cover, your licence and your income, your health, your freedom or even your life. Keep yourself safe, never drink and drive, never go with a driver who’s been drinking Try to avoid travelling in the ‘danger hours’ and make one hard and fast rule for yourself, if you drink, don’t drive.

For more information on driver training, advanced driver training NZ and fleet safety, please go to http://www.sharpdrive.co.nz .