Persuasion

Refraining from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

Michael Lackey

PSY285

January 30, 2011

Shannon Smith

Refraining from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

In all 50 states, the legal limit for drunk driving is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08. For example, a 120-pound woman can reach a .08 BAC level after only two drinks and a 180-pound man can be at .08 BAC level after only 4 drinks. What is considered a drink? A drink consists of either one shot of liquor, a five-ounce glass of wine or one beer, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol (Buddy T., 2010). Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in not only illegal, but extremely dangerous, and can ruin the rest of your life as well as the victims and/or their families.

As your blood alcohol concentration level increases your ability to react decreases. At .02 BAC level, individuals exhibit loss of judgment, begin to relax and feel good. But tests have shown that drivers at this level show a decrease in visual functions which affects the ability to track a moving object. Also, the ability to perform two tasks at one time begins to decline (Buddy T., 2010).

When your blood alcohol concentration level reaches .05, drivers begin to exhibit exaggerated behavior, experience loss of small-muscle control, such as being able to focus their eyes quickly, having impaired judgment, lowered alertness and a release of inhibition. If you were a driver that was operating a vehicle with a BAC of .05, you would have reduced coordination, diminished ability to track moving objects, difficulty in steering and a markedly reduced response in emergency situations (Buddy T., 2010).

Finally, when your BAC reaches the legal intoxication level of .08, the driver has poor muscle coordination, affecting their balance, speech, vision, reaction time and hearing, find it more difficult to detect danger, and exhibit impaired judgment,...