How does alcohol impact a person’s ability to drive?

It is a scary sight to see on a Baton Rouge highway: a vehicle traveling too fast for traffic and conditions, swerving in and out of its lane, following too closely to other vehicles and passing with too little space in between it and other automobiles. A likely reason for the vehicle’s erratic and dangerous actions is the condition of the driver, as when alcohol is in a driver’s system, it can cause them to make these and other dangerous driving decisions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even a small amount of alcohol in a person’s system can cause them to make poor driving choices. With a blood alcohol concentration of .02 percent a driver may have a decline in visual capacity and a decline in their judgment processing. When their blood alcohol concentration rises to .05 percent they may also experience a loss of muscle control, a decrease in their alertness and other serious complications.

Once a person’s blood alcohol concentration reaches .08 percent, the legal limit in the state, their concentration may be impacted and their memory may be impaired. They may be unable to recognize and regulate their speed and their coordination may be significantly affected. As their blood alcohol concentration continues to go up, their capacity to safely drive will go down.

Alcohol affects all people in different ways but generally will affect all drivers. When drunk drivers cause vehicle accidents, innocent lives can be lost in preventable but tragic instances. Though law enforcement officials watch for intoxicated drivers, serious collisions do occur when individuals choose to drink and drive. Personal injury claims may be available to those individuals who are victims of drunk driving crashes.