Archive for May, 2009

DWI Accidents on Highways – Highly Predictable

Even though drunken driving accidents are on a decline in recent years, the predictability of highway deaths due to alcohol impaired driving has been constant and more during holiday seasons. The state highway control department’s projection of alcohol related driving accidents has always been true to the count.

Who Cares For Warnings?

No matter what you try doing, public awareness programs, strict penalties and punishments for a DWI offense, warnings, alcohol education programs, enforcement agencies for better control and diligence, people still have a willingness to drive their vehicle in a most vulnerable state of physical impairment. It is a sheer sense of irresponsibility they try to portray not only putting their life in danger, but also the life of others on road.

Alcohol abuse has become so common that 40% of Americans are subjected to alcohol related mishap at some point of time in their life. While most of accidents involving individuals below the age of 24 is due to motor vehicle accidents, 40% of those accidents are due to alcohol related impairment.

How Dangerous are Drunken Driving Accidents?

A relative study of a person who consumes alcohol and one who doesn’t with the level of danger he/she is exposed to.

How to Handle Drinking and Driving?

Well the answer is pretty simple. Do not drive if you are drunk. During weekends and holidays when the occasion to drink arises, it is advisable to hire a car driver or a boat driver in case you plan a boat ride in order to ensure safety of both you and others. Tabulating the facts and the comparing the levels of dangers involved is to drive home the point that no matter what you do, please do not drive when you are drunk. In all cases you see that one who abstains from drinking is under absolutely no risk. Do follow and tell others.

Influence of Impaired Employees Affecting the Work Place or Environment

Out of millions who hold a full time employment in the United States close to fifteen million of them are heavy drinkers of alcohol. Such employees pose a serious threat to the health and productivity of themselves and people around them.


Out of all who drink most of them belong to either

• Food service
• Construction
• Mining and Drilling
• Excavation
• Installation, maintenance and repair

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA ) has conducted a study on illicit drug users. The study reveals that illicit drug user’s account for 16.4% of those engaged in full time jobs and close to fifteen million of them satisfied the criteria for alcohol dependence.

Characteristics of Employee who suffers from Alcoholic Impairment

• Employees who drink a lot are absent from work very often
• They suffer from a lot of health problems
• They are at a greater risk of harming themselves and others.
• Job change and absenteeism are the traits of heavy alcohol users.
• Heavy drug users are likely to miss close to 3 working days in a month due to illness or injury in comparison with other workers who refrain from alcohol.
• A number of illicit drug users who absent themselves from school are twice as much as workers who abstain from drinking.
• Close to1/3rd of workers who consume illicit drugs where most likely not ready to work for employers who conducted random drug tests.

Statistics on Drunken or Impaired Employees

• Food service workers and construction workers were among the highest users of illicit drugs, each accounting for 17.4 and 15.1% respectively.
• They have a higher job turnover of 12.3% when compared to 5.1%of employees who do not consume alcohol. Such impaired employees work for more than 3 employees in a given year.

Remedial Action by Employers

National Drug Control Policy Director, John Walter is confident that taking into account the reports and hazards of impaired employees, every employer will consider implementing drug testing policies which not only helps in identifying employees who consume drugs and need drug treatment services but also prevent drug use before it starts. It will also help them in reducing employer’s liability in drug related accidents in workplace.

SAMHSA as an organization is actively engaged in helping both employees and other business organizations with any issue related to drug abuse. It has a helpline for both employees and employers through which it offers advice that bring dramatic difference in the lives of people and a better workplace atmosphere. Various programs such as drug tests, assistance to employees, supervisor and education for employee substance abuse and substance abuse policy development are used to treat alcohol abuse related problems.

According to the Department of Labor (DOL), Drug policy coordinator, Elena Carr, High rates of alcohol use in hazardous industries is definitely a cause for concern. DOL works with both employers and employees in preventing safety hazards considering the ill afford risk of workers in operating meat slicers, backhoes and other equipments under the influence of alcohol and other illicit drugs.

Is Your Workplace Environment Safe?

US DWI laws

According to the Drunken Driving Laws in the US, Driving under Influence is an offense. The offense is criminal in nature. Any person who is suspected to be driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol is stopped and subjected to the Field Sobriety Test. Where the person records a BAC level of .08 or more he is convicted under DWI offense. The law is the same whether the suspect is a man or a woman. The law is the same for both the genders.

Discrimination Against Women

As such the law does not have a single provision discriminating against women subject to drunken driving. But the following articles research articles give rise to the opinion may they should discriminate for better regulation and control. Legislatures may need to consider the sex differences in the DWI Laws in order conform to justice.

• An enzyme called gastric alcohol dehydrogenase that helps in breaking down alcohol is less in women than men. School of Medicine in Trieste, Italy had conducted a research both men and women both orally and intravenously and found that women reached same levels of blood alcohol content as men after drinking only half as much as men.
• Yet another study showed that women have lower partition ratios of blood to breath. This is based on the theory that one unit of alcohol in breath is equal to 2100 units of alcohol in blood.
• Canadian scientist have found that women who take oral contraceptive pills eliminate ethanol faster than those who do not consume such pills, which means they reach BAC faster and also loose them much faster. A breathalyzer test may prove futile in such cases.

The problem with law is that, with its wide wisdom, it assumes everybody is the same. But nonetheless I would like to hear from you my friends. What do you think about this? Do you really think there is any discrimination in DWI Laws against women? The prejudice exists or it is just case of over imagination? Your views are very important for me, so don’t forget to share your thoughts and opinions with me and your fellow blog readers.