NCJ Number
117134
Date Published
1985
Length
160 pages
Annotation
This book discusses alcohol's effects on the body, how it impairs driving skills, and community resources to help drinking drivers and others with alcohol-related behavioral problems.
Abstract
After reviewing alcohol's effects on various body organs, a chapter considers the relationship between alcohol use and automobile crashes, profiles drinking drivers, summarizes data on arrested drunk drivers, and recommends measures for deterring drunk driving as advocated by U.S. insurance companies and nonprofit public-concern groups. A chapter reviews the findings of road tests that have measured the degree of driving impairment related to various blood alcohol levels. Overall, the chapter concludes that alcohol impairs the emotional, psychological, and physiological requisites for safer driving. Another chapter focuses on 'Young People and Alcohol,' addressing alcohol use in fatal accidents for various age groups, problem drinkers among adolescents, prevention, and treatment. Two chapters on various helping agencies and groups describe the activities of the National Council on Alcoholism; Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Alateen; Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID); Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD); and Students Against Driving Drunk (SADD). Practical advice covers how to host a party such that the guest go home sober and how to make a difference in reducing drunk driving in your community. Appended summaries of drunk-driving laws in the United States and other countries, glossary, 43 notes, 9-item bibliography, subject index.