Drinking and Driving: Find Out The Effects of Alcohol on Your Body

As a society, we all know that drinking and driving is a bad idea. However, people still get behind the wheel on a daily basis after consuming alcohol, but why? Some of the reasoning might come from that fact that people don’t truly understand the effects alcohol has on your body. They might be drinking and driving, but they feel they are more “sober” than they actually are.

Drinking and driving effect of alcohol

Drinking and Driving

When a driver gets behind the wheel, they are not just sitting there and doing nothing. They are using their hands, eyes and feet to help navigate the way to their destination. Because of that, all of those elements need to be at top-top shape, or the drive might not go as planned. Adding alcohol into the mix just slows down all of the abilities to function at 100%.

Effects of Alcohol

So, you have had a drink or two and want to get behind the wheel? You think you are fine, but what effect has that alcohol had on your body? Here are some body functions effected by alcohol:

  • Vision – Alcohol can slow down eye muscle function and alter eye movement. It can also alter visual perception, which can possibly bring in blurred vision. Most drunk driving incidents happen in the evening. With that in mind, alcohol can impair night vision and color perception.
  • Reaction Time – Alcohol can slow reflexes. This can decrease your ability to react swiftly to changing situations (or issues on the road).
  • Concentration – Alcohol can cause your attention to driving to decrease. You are less focused and may cause drowsiness to occur.
  • Tracking – Alcohol can decrease your ability to judge the car’s position on the road. It can also effect your judgement on the location of other vehicles, the center line or road signs.
  • Coordination – Drinking alcohol can reduce your eye, hand and foot coordination. As we stated, these are all used while driving!
  • Comprehension – Alcohol can hinder your ability to make rational decisions.