The simulation was presented on a wide view display made up of three 42″ LCD flat panel monitors positioned side by side, each with a resolution of 1920 × 1080. Auditory feedback included the sound of the engine, braking, accelerating, and driving off-road. The 105-km highway driving scenario developed by Forum8 AU Pty Ltd resembled the Princes Highway, Victoria, and was tailored to Australian traffic situations, including common traffic signs, vehicles, and scenery.
The DOT study mentions other transportation reasons as well, such as not wanting to leave a vehicle somewhere or having to retrieve it the next day (4). Participants in the Montana study say leaving a car could “result in judgment or damage to one’s reputation” (9). For example, some people believe that coffee, water, sports drinks, or food can make them less drunk. These things might make you feel less inebriated, but only time can sober you up by lowering your BAC (6). For example, when encouraged by others, people may drink more than planned or drink when they didn’t plan to at all. Or they may drive drunk because their friends perceive them to be the least intoxicated person in the group (4).
People often think they are “fine” after several drinks – but in fact, the failure to recognize alcohol impairment is often a symptom of impairment. Alcoholism is a condition that can be treated with the help of a specialized treatment center. If you or someone you love is struggling with a drinking problem, it’s time to seek help and get your life back on track. “Very few people set out to become drunk drivers,” write the authors of an older U.S. “However, they do set out to drink when they know they are going to drive, and they do set out to drive when they know they are going to drink” (4). Drunk driving can lead to lives lost, jobs lost, severe injury, legal trouble, debt, and incarceration.
That emotional burden can be worse than any bodily harm; however, the physical perils of drunk driving are immense too. Impaired driving can cause accidents that lead to paralysis, disfigurement, brain damage, and death. NTSA road accident statistics reveal that poor road infrastructure is one of the leading causes of deaths and injuries on Kenyan roads. Although the state of the road network varies between rural and urban areas, it still plays a significant role. During the Labor Day holiday period, we typically see an increase in impaired-driving deaths — and that’s why you’ll likely see more law enforcement on the roads.
For instance, some people opt to drive even while drunk due to the unreliability of public transport, while others do it to avoid the high cost that comes with using alternative means such as taxis. Despite the prevalence of campaigns to educate people on the dangers of driving under the influence, there is still a need for more extensive awareness creation. Many Kenyan drivers aren’t fully aware of the risk they pose to themselves and other road users whenever they drive under the influence. The alarming surge in recent accidents in Kenya has been attributed to non-road-worthy vehicles that haven’t met the minimum basic driving safety and operational standards.
Driving decisions that must be made in a split second, like whether to swerve to avoid an obstacle, are far more challenging when intoxicated. The liver metabolizes most of the alcohol you consume, breaking it down into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a toxin that can damage the body’s organs and tissues before it is further broken down into acetate. Years of moderate to heavy drinking can cause liver scarring (fibrosis), increasing the risk of liver diseases like cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer.
A commonly used driving simulator assessment is the 100-km highway drive, adopted from on-the-road studies (Verster and Roth 2011). Sufficient time on task is essential to uncover effects of drinking and driving any potential adverse effects of alcohol on driving ability. Vigilance decrement is an important feature of driving assessment tasks, as drivers may put forth extra effort at the start of a task, thereby reducing the impairing effects of alcohol. As the task continues, it becomes increasingly difficult to counteract such impairing effects (Verster and Roth 2013). Although SDLP is sensitive to the effects of alcohol, lane-keeping performance does not encompass other higher-order demands in driving, such as route-finding and interactions with other traffic. Road traffic collisions (RTCs) cause more than 3700 fatalities globally per day, with up to 35% being alcohol-related (World Health Organization et al. 2018).
A person’s level of alcohol impairment is determined by what’s called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol content (BAC). An effective road safety transport policy should be in place to address drink–driving, together with road safety measures to reduce the severity and risk of drink–driving crashes. Such measures might, for instance, address infrastructure and speed limits. The risks of driving under the influence of alcohol far outweigh any potential benefits. It’s already challenging enough to drive safely when you’re sober, and drinking can only worsen the situation, putting not only yourself but also other road users in peril. Many states have enacted various laws in an effort to reduce the dangers of drinking and driving.