According to the 1994 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts, "every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in an alcohol-related crash".
Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is one of the most dangerous things you can do. There is a mass of research evidence to show that driving performance and reaction times are seriously affected by alcohol. If you drink and drive, you are not only a danger to yourself but also to your passenger, other road users and pedestrians. First this paper will cover the long term effects of alcohol on a human and then this paper will cover the short term effect of alcohol. The effects of alcohol on the body will be discussed and the cause of drinking will be discussed last.
There are factosr that could cause you to drink and drive before you even get in the car and begin to drive. Some examples of these long-term causes could be alcoholism and peer pressure. The alcoholism could be hereditary. This means that since you have a greater chance of becoming an alcoholic, this could in turn make you more likely to drink and drive. Peer pressure could also cause you to drink and drive. You could be the designated driver for the night and be pressured into drinking and then since you would probably have had the least to drink that night you would still be the one to drive and you have still fallen into the category of drinking and driving. This leads me to the short-term causes.
Going to a party and having a good time is a common practice among young adults today. To enhance their good time, they will use alcohol. They will drink and drink until they are extremely intoxicated. Then when the time comes for them to leave they just jump in the car and start on their way home. That is a common cause of drunk driving, probably one of the most common. The source entitled Vital Statistics Rates in the United States quoted that last year alone "more than one million people were injured in alcohol-related traffic accidents".