With recent high profile drink driving cases in the news it might be timely to discuss the risks and relevant laws.

How does alcohol affect your driving?

Alcohol slows reactions and even very low amounts of alcohol will impair the skills needed for safe driving. It slows down the brain, impacting upon your judgement, reason, self control and reaction times. Drivers feel a false sense of confidence, lose their inhibitions and are more likely to take risks. Evidence shows that drivers who have been drinking tend to focus more on the most basic activities, such as steering, and less on other key driving skills. This increases their risk of crashing.

Is everyone affected the same way?

No. How the body processes alcohol differs from person to person. It can depend on a number of factors:

Amount and type – how much alcohol has been taken how quickly

Age – younger people have lower alcohol tolerance coupled with a lack of driving experience

Weight/size – the smaller you are, the lower your blood volume is likely to be and alcohol may affect you more

Gender – women are typically smaller and have proportionately more body fat and less body water than men so drinking the same amount of alcohol is likely to result in a higher blood alcohol concentration

Water intake – dehydration leads to a higher concentration of alcohol in the blood

Food intake – alcohol is absorbed more slowly if there is food in the body

If you take drugs as well as alcohol your ability to drive safely will be affected even more, increasing further your risk of being involved in a collision.