Why Do People Drink and Drive?

Things aren’t always as black and white as we’d like to believe, especially when we see people drinking and driving. On the sober side, it seems pretty ridiculous that anyone would choose to put their lives at risk, or the lives of others. But people aren’t usually sober when they choose to drink and drive, they’re intoxicated, making those black and white decisions a lot grayer.

Common reasons people drink and drive include:

• Sometimes people drink and drive because their car is just outside the door of the bar. It’s easy to hop in and drive home without worrying about returning to the parking lot and pick up your car, pay for a taxi to bring you there.
• Alcohol relaxes the nervous system, a double-edged sword. We like being relaxed, but we also make less strategic decisions as a result. You may feel OK to drive or you think you’ll just be extra careful while you’re driving home.
• Alcohol also takes away your discernment of your level of intoxication. Because your head is foggy, you can’t really tell if you’re slurring your words or if you stumbled over something because you’re clumsy or buzzed. You also can’t be the ultimate authority in determining if you’re too drunk to drive, either.
• If you have lost count of the number of drinks you’ve had, you’re probably going to fail the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) math test in your head and on the road, too.

Once a person is hit with the reality of their choice to drink and drive, it becomes pretty impossible to make excuses. That’s why there are such strict penalties for DUI and why ignition interlock devices are quickly becoming a preventative tool in the fight to keep streets safe. The devices don’t take excuses and eliminate the choice to drink and drive each time a car is started.