When alcohol is served as a party, it is easy to have a drink or two and not realize the alcohol has affected your senses. Unfortunately, too many motorists in the Lone Star State are taking their life and the lives of others in their hands and are choosing to drive while intoxicated, leading to fatal drunk driving crashes.
The drunk driving problem in Texas
The Texas Department of Transportation reports that the state sees an average of three drunk driving fatalities daily. The number of people who lost their lives in drunk driving accidents went up 2% in 2022 from 2021. The TXDOT has instituted a “Faces of Drunk Driving” campaign to bring awareness to the issue of drunk driving fatalities in the Lone Star State.
Why is drunk driving so dangerous?
Most people are aware that the legal limit in Texas is 0.08% for good reason. A person whose blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) reaches that level is significantly impaired. Their coordination, reaction time, ability to judge distances, and awareness of their surroundings are all severely affected. This makes driving a vehicle inherently unsafe, increasing the chance that they could cause a drunk driving crash.
However, even a BAC below the legal limit can impair a motorist, making driving unsafe. For example, if a motorist’s BAC is 0.05%, they might feel sleepy or have trouble concentrating. They might find their reaction time is slowed and their coordination is affected by the alcohol in their system. One state in the nation, Utah, has lowered its legal limit to 0.05% to address the fact that motorists with a BAC of 0.05% are capable of causing drunk driving crashes.
Motorists who are considering driving after consuming alcohol must be very cognizant of their ability to do so safely. They might think they are able to meet their duty of care to drive reasonably under the circumstances, but it can be difficult to make such a judgement call if you have been drinking. It is safer to simply not get behind the wheel if you have consumed too much alcohol.
