The A-Files, Alcohol A-Z for Alcohol Awareness Month: Underage Drinking

(online video and article)

Twenty-six episodes of 'The A-Files' air throughout Alcohol Awareness Month on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Alcohologist.com and AddictedMinds.com, among other web and social media sites. Episode U looks at underage drinking. Impaired driving crashes are the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths among teens, but it is not the only underage drinking concern. Nearly two-thirds of deaths due to underage drinking are not related to intoxicated driving, according to data analysis MADD compiled. Thirty percent of alcohol-related deaths in people age 15 to 20 are from homicides.

Fourteen percent are from suicides. Nine percent are from alcohol overdose. Other causes, such as drowning and household accidents, comprise the remaining 15 percent.
The group's blog also notes, “Compared with non-drinking classmates, teens who drink are more likely get pregnant, fail in school, become sexually assaulted or take their own lives.” They also point to teen alcohol use as an indicator for alcohol use disorders later in life. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse andAlcoholism reports that teens who start drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop an alcohol addiction.

The European model of letting teens experiment with drinking at home – with meals or socially – doesn’t stand up to its alleged benefits of educating them about responsible use. Research from Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) studied 2000 families over four years and proved it doesn't work. Ian Hickie from the University of Sydney’s says "In fact, it's the opposite, you've probably increased the chance that they'll drink irresponsibly in another place. It normalizes the behavior of drinking a toxin and known carcinogen, in addition to injuring a developing brain.

The health consequence is the most severe and overlooked part of the equation. According to the Federal Trade Commission, teens don't just drink; they drink excessively. More than one in eight sophomores and one in four seniors report binge drinking. A report from the Surgeon General notes that since the brain continues to develop into a person's mid- 20's, frequent binge drinking can have long-lasting effects on intellectual abilities. The brain’s frontal lobes are among the final pieces of the brain to fully develop in our 20's. They are important for planning, forming ideas, making decisions, and using self-control. When alcohol damage the frontal lobes of the brain, it is permanent. It's like luggage, you're stuck with it forever.

The entire 26 episode HD series is available on disc, along with fact sheets, for helping professions. See the preorder special at tr.im/AFiles


Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Another interview is on Alcohol Awareness.  Syndicated radio program Savvy Central Radio did this interview, too. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud and the first for Adding Fire to the Fuel also can be found on www.alcohologist.com. Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today. Stevens also is the public relations officer with AddictedMinds.com 

The A-Files, Alcohol A-Z for Alcohol Awareness Month: Judgment and Reaction Time

(see online article)

Alcohol compromises judgment. Any given night in any tavern will prove that point spectacularly. When it comes to chronic use and the disease of alcoholism, the judgment problem manifests itself as a complete level of denial of any problem. It's the only disease that convinces the patient he or she isn't sick. A person with cancer or the flu feels and knows he's sick. A person with alcoholism doesn't feel sick until he tries to quit.

When I do community presentations, I haul a couple of participants up to the stage to demonstrate that the mind works best on the equation, Intellect over Emotion, but alcohol inverts the equation to Emotion over Intellect. That's what causes ordinarily smart people to do extraordinarily dumb stuff. Like getting behind the wheel. Judgment is impaired first, but reaction time suffers with the very first drink, too. It doesn't matter how big or experienced the drinker is, impaired reaction time is a function of alcohol being a central nervous system depressant drug. Motor skills begin to diminish at .02 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). The legal limit for driving is .08 BAC in the U.S.

The Oxford Journal demonstrated in a lab with a stopwatch what most drinkers deny with a vengeance. Inspection Time – the time interval between seeing something and accurately processing it – was measurably slower at even .05 intoxication. The drug narrows the field of vision, cuts color visibility, increases problems with glare and and difficulty moving from light to dark. Then reaction time – responding to what was seen – told the rest of the story of how poorly the central nervous system performs on the drug alcohol.

Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .05 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The SUV slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver. It's math and science and has nothing to do with driving or drinking experience.
The entire 26 episode HD series is available on disc, along with fact sheets, for helping professions. See the preorder special at tr.im/AFiles

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Another interview is on Alcohol Awareness.  Syndicated radio program Savvy Central Radio did this interview, too. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud and the first for Adding Fire to the Fuel also can be found on www.alcohologist.com. Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today. Stevens also is the public relations officer with AddictedMinds.com 

Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign encourages wiser parenting

The Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign draws attention to the legal and health reasons for not defying common-sense parenting. Share the YouTube video or read the transcript. 


Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Impaired Driving Awareness Month: 53 feet to safety

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a sponsor of the National Impaired Driving Awareness Month campaign, along with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association. New Year's Day is the deadliest on the roads: The second-deadliest is Thanksgiving Day. In between, the daily average is 45 impaired driving related deaths. The rest of the year daily average? Twenty eight per day.

In the United States the NHTSA tallied 10,322 people killed in alcohol-related collisions, representing a third of 2012 traffic deaths. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Operating While Impaired (OWI), accounting for 1 out of every 80 licensed drivers. The death toll is higher than the previous year, despite tougher penalties, safer cars and more enforcement.
Four more facts:

• In 2012, 29.1 million people admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol - that’s more than the population of Texas – according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
• Intoxicated driving involvement in fatal crashes was 4.5 times higher at night than during the day (36 versus 8 percent) – according to the NHTSA.
• Nine of 10 drinking and driving incidents happen after drinking with family, friends or co-workers – common during the holidays. “There is almost always somebody around who could be part of the solution,” says DrinkingAndDriving.org.
• Highway alcohol-related deaths are 100 percent preventable. Passive alcohol detectors can measure a driver's BAC before starting the vehicle and render it unable to start. If the driver is intoxicated, he isn't driving. Critics claim the technology has not been perfected. However, the technology already exists for the non-invasive technique (see related examiner article), although the public appetite for the device does not. The idea was suggested four years ago in the book What the Early Worm Gets as the way to conclusively eliminate all drinking and driving accidents.

“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

Drunk or buzzed driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while motor skills are impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the United States, the point of impairment is pegged at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). However, studies have demonstrated that motor-skill impairment begins at much lower BACs. Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The family minivan slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

Lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. A 2014 study demonstrated crash risk increases 42 percent after just a single drink. (See Crash risk jumps at 0.01 BAC) Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver.

Enveloped in the push to legalize marijuana today is the illusion that driving “high” is somehow safer. It's still illegal to drive under the influence of any drug, not just alcohol, even in states where marijuana isn't illegal to possess or consume. Smoking or ingesting weed impairs judgment and motor coordination and slows reaction time, and a stoned person has an increased chance of being involved in and being responsible for an accident. Research from the NHTSA indicates that when drivers are killed in motor vehicle crashes, drugs other than alcohol are involved about 18 percent of the time. That means that one in six drivers killed in traffic mishaps are under the influence of drugs other than alcohol.

Another 2010 study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that of all drivers involved in auto crashes, 6.8 percent tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. The same survey found that 21 percent of those drivers also were above the legal BAC level.

--See full article

www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Thanksgiving and New Year's Day are the two deadliest days on the road

Throughout the entire year, an average of 28 people are killed each day by intoxicated motorists: During the holidays, the average jumps to 45 per day. Thanksgiving presents a recipe ready-made for family tragedy as more people are on the road, and more of them are impaired.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a sponsor of the National Impaired Driving Awareness Month campaign, along with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association. In the United States the NHTSA tallied 10,873 people killed in alcohol-related collisions, representing a third of 2017 traffic deaths. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Operating While Impaired (OWI), accounting for 1 out of every 80 licensed drivers. The death toll is higher than the previous year, despite tougher penalties, safer cars and more enforcement.

Four more facts:

• In 2017, 29.1 million people admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol - that’s more than the population of Texas – according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
• Intoxicated driving involvement in fatal crashes was 4.5 times higher at night than during the day (36 versus 8 percent) – according to the NHTSA.
• Nine of 10 drinking and driving incidents happen after drinking with family, friends or co-workers – common during the holidays. “There is almost always somebody around who could be part of the solution,” says DrinkingAndDriving.org.
• Highway alcohol-related deaths are 100 percent preventable. Passive alcohol detectors can measure a driver's BAC before starting the vehicle and render it unable to start. If the driver is intoxicated, he isn't driving. Critics claim the technology has not been perfected. However, the technology already exists for the non-invasive technique, although the public appetite for the device does not. The idea was suggested four years ago in the book What the Early Worm Gets as the way to conclusively eliminate all drinking and driving accidents.

“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

Drunk or buzzed driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while motor skills are impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the United States, the point of impairment is pegged at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). However, studies have demonstrated that motor-skill impairment begins at much lower BACs. Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The family minivan slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

Lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. A 2014 study demonstrated crash risk increases 42 percent after just a single drink. (See Crash risk jumps at 0.01 BAC) Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver.

www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

The Sobriety :60 for Red Ribbon Week covers teen drinking risks

There isn't one, single, age group of people more affected by alcohol than young people. Why is this risky co-called 'rite of passage' a big deal? For centuries teens have been lured to that first drink by curiosity, kicks, or aping what they see at home. New studies identify a few things about the harm of the words, “what's one gonna hurt?” Watch episode #12 of The Sobriety :60 at http://youtu.be/HLdTL4BNWpA  for a minute (give or take) on teens' top drug of choice.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

New research: Crash risk jumps 46 percent with just one beer

Drivers who drink alcohol, but not enough to reach the legal threshold of 0.08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), are still more likely to cause traffic collisions than those who are sober, according to a University of California San Diego study. The research published in January's Injury Prevention, examined crash data in what is being considered the first nationwide research on actual fatal and non-fatal car crashes caused by minimally buzzed drivers.

UCSD sociologist David Phillips and his team found drivers with a BAC of 0.01 percent are 46 percent more likely than a sober driver to be officially and solely blamed by accident investigators for causing a collision. They found that blame increases steadily and smoothly from 0.01 (a single drink) to 0.24 (three times the legal limit).

"We find no safe combination of drinking and driving—no point at which it is harmless to consume alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car," Phillips said. "Our data support both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) campaign that 'buzzed driving is drunk driving' and the recommendation made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to reduce the legal limit to BAC 0.05 percent. In fact, our data provide support for yet greater reductions in the legal (BAC)."

Phillips said police and judges -- along with the public at large -- treat 0.08 as "a sharp, definitive, meaningful boundary," and authorities don't impose severe penalties on those below that standard. "The law should reflect what official accident investigators are seeing," Phillips said.

During the entire year, an average of 25 people are killed each day by intoxicated motorists according to data from the NHTSA. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Operating While Impaired (OWI) – above the 0.08 standard – accounting for one out of every 80 licensed drivers.

Earlier lab studies find reaction time to be 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. A heavy drinker or one with the disease of alcoholism may not "feel" impaired at minimally buzzed BACs, but the lab shows a definite deterioration of reaction time. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at 0.06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The car slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

Yet another study indicated at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over 0.08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver. The increase bears out in the new UCSD study of actual crashes as well.

A May 2013 hearing by the NTSB produced ideas for reducing drinking and driving deaths, among the ideas, lowering the limit legal for driving from 0.08 to 0.05 BAC. One hundred other countries have lower BAC limits for driving than the U.S. The idea is being debated around the country because the board has no authority to make the recommendation a law.

The last time the NTSB recommended a blood alcohol limit change, from 0.10 to 0.08, it took two decades and the threat of Congress withholding highway funds for the idea to become law in all 50 states. An Indiana state legislator, Senator Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, predicts that is what it will take again. "If you look at the percentile drops, it's a pretty significant drop in the legal driving limit for drunk driving. It's going to be something not necessarily real popular, based on what I saw last time."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), an expected ally of the proposed lower limit, is not behind it, instead focusing on its own three-pronged agenda for reducing impaired driving. The NHTSA also opposes the change to 0.05. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say, "Leave it to the states to decide."
--from examiner.com (see full article)


www.alcohologist.com

Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK

AAA poll: 96 percent against drinking and driving but 20 percent do it anyway

A not-so-surprising disconnect exists between the public attitude toward driving while impaired and the personal responsibility to do something about it.  "No way should THEY drive like that, it's dangerous.  But me?  I'm fine."


“Do as I say, not as I do,” is the prevailing mindset among motorists when it comes to intoxicated driving. The annual American Automobile Association (AAA) survey, The 2013 Traffic Safety Culture Index, was released online Dec. 17. In it, one in five U.S. motorists who drink say they’ve driven at least once in the past year when they thought their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) might have been close to or above the .08 legal limit.

About 19.5 percent said they took the wheel impaired, according to a statement from AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety. The percentage is up over the prior two surveys, and contradicts another AAA finding that 96 percent of drivers believe it’s somewhat or completely unacceptable for people to drive when they think they might have had too much to drink.

Intoxicated driving – or drunk driving – killed 10,322 in 2012 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA figures also represent a year-over-year increase. (See related Impaired Driving Awareness Month alcohologist.com post)

The AAA survey also showed that two thirds of respondents are in favor of requiring new cars to have built-in devices that would test drivers to make sure they are sober before the ignition starts. Similar technology is in use today to monitor those with intoxicated driving arrests and people abstaining due to the disease of alcoholism. About 63 percent approve of lowering the legal BAC limit to .05 from .08. Both measures were among 20 recommendations in a May 2013 report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on how to reduce or eliminate drinking and driving deaths.

AAA advises drinkers to stay overnight, designate a sober driver or use public transportation or a taxi rather than get behind the wheel impaired. One out of 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Operating While Impaired (OWI), accounting for one out of every 80 licensed drivers. The AAA also revealed its estimate for 2013 year-end holiday travel is 94.5 million travelers, an increase for the fifth consecutive year. The holiday travel season is when alcohol-related travel deaths peak at an average of 48 per day. The average for the entire year is 25 per day.

-- from examiner.com, see full article

www.alcohologist.com

Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK. 

10,000 deaths, 100 percent preventable

Bookended by Thanksgiving and New Year's Day – the two deadliest days on the road – is National Impaired Driving Awareness Month. During the entire year, an average of 25 people are killed each day by intoxicated motorists. During the holidays, the average jumps to 45 per day. All are preventable with existing technology.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a sponsor of the campaign, along with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association. In the United States the NHTSA estimates the nearly 10,000 people killed in alcohol-related collisions, represented a third of total traffic deaths. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Operating While Impaired (OWI), accounting for 1 out of every 80 licensed drivers. The death toll is higher than the previous year, despite tougher penalties and more enforcement.

Most addiction professionals prefer the term “Operating While Impaired” over “Drunk Driving” because often “drunk” is a subjective term, but there's an objective legal standard for impairment. No distinction is ever assessed whether the driver is an alcohol abuser or has the disease of alcoholism: If you are impaired, you are under arrest.

Drunk or buzzed driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs while motor skills are impaired. In the United States, the point of impairment is pegged at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). However, studies have demonstrated that motor-skill impairment begins at much lower BACs. Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The Jetta slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

The specific criminal offense is usually called driving under the influence (DUI), and in some states driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while impaired (OWI), or operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI). The first jurisdiction in the U.S.to adopt laws against drunk driving was New York in 1910, with California and others following. Early laws simply prohibited driving while intoxicated, requiring proof of a state of intoxication with no specific definition of what level of intoxication qualified.

The first generally-accepted legal BAC limit was .15. In the US, most of the laws and penalties were greatly enhanced starting in the late 1970s, and through the 1990s, largely due to pressure from groups like MADD, leading to a national standard of .08 as the definition of impairment.

A May 2013 hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) produced ideas for reducing drinking and driving deaths, among the ideas, lowering the limit legal for driving from .08 to .05 BAC. One hundred other countries have lower BAC limits for driving than the U.S. The idea is being debated around the country because the board has no authority to make the recommendation a law.

The last time the NTSB recommended a BAC change, from .10 to .08, it took two decades and the threat of Congress withholding highway funds for the idea to become law in all 50 states. An Indiana state legislator, Senator Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, predicts that is what it will take again. "If you look at the percentile drops, it's a pretty significant drop in the legal driving limit for drunk driving. It's going to be something not necessarily real popular, based on what I saw last time."

MADD, an expected ally of the proposed lower limit, is not behind it, instead focusing on its own three-pronged agenda for reducing impaired driving. The NHTSA also opposes the change to .05. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say, "Leave it to the states to decide."

The states so far have voiced resistance. The Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices, says expect push back because, “It was very difficult to get .08 in most states so lowering it again won’t be popular,” according to Jonathan Adkins, an official with the states' group. “The focus in the states is on high content offenders as well as repeat offenders. We expect industry will also be very vocal about keeping the limit at .08.”

The industry, via the American Beverage Institute, expectedly called the proposal "ludicrous."

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead told the Associated Press he would prefer to increase penalties for drunken drivers, but he is willing to study the recommendation. However, Mike Moser, of the State Liquor Association, said the change could criminalize social drinking. Moser said it makes more sense to crack down on heavy drinkers who are more dangerous behind the wheel, an idea that does not register with a Chicago trauma surgeon who notes impairment begins far earlier than severe intoxication. Dr. Thomas Esposito, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center, says, "The rationalization by critics that it penalizes the person who only occasionally has 'one too many' or who only drinks 'socially' makes no sense. One too many is just that; it's about impairment, not the number of drinks."

Lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver.

Highway alcohol-related deaths are 100 percent preventable. Passive alcohol detectors can measure a driver's BAC before starting the vehicle and render it unable to start. If the driver is intoxicated, he isn't driving. Critics claim the technology has not been perfected. However, the technology already exists for the non-invasive technique (see related examiner article), although the public appetite for the device does not.

Mandating these in-car alcohol detectors – the way seatbelts and airbags are required in U.S. cars – was among the 20 ideas the NTSB proposed at the same time as lowering the BAC threshold for drinking and driving. Detroit automakers have been testing in-dash systems since June 2012. The idea was suggested three years ago in the book What the Early Worm Gets as the way to conclusively eliminate all drinking and driving accidents.

“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

In 2011, 9,858 people were killed, 350,000 injured and $132 billion spent as a result of "alcohol-related" crashes. To Esposito's point, such classification does not mean the driver was over the .08 BAC limit, although usually that is the case, only that alcohol was present at the scene or detected on the breath or blood. No determination has to be made regarding level of intoxication, alcohol abuse or the disease of alcoholism but 4 million motorists admit to driving while impaired, according to NTSB estimates.
--from examiner.com (See full article)
www.alcohologist.com

Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK. 

SATURDAY REWIND: Impaired driving, what 53 feet means

There will be increased enforcement of drunk driving laws this month and through the remainder of the year. It is an act of courage on behalf of law enforcement, with many officers waging a never-ending and usually dangerous battle of tagging intoxicated drivers.  The following article from the alcohol research news archive demonstrates what a couple of drinks means to avoiding collisions.

Most alcohologists prefer the term “Operating While Impaired” over “Drunk Driving” because often drinkers don’t feel drunk, but they are impaired. No distinction is ever assessed whether the driver is an alcohol abuser or has the disease of alcoholism: If you are impaired, you are under arrest.

 

Drunk or buzzed driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs while motor skills are impaired. In the United States, the point of impairment is pegged at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). However, studies have demonstrated that motor-skill impairment begins at much lower BACs. Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The Jetta slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

 

The specific criminal offense is usually called driving under the influence (DUI), and in some states driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while impaired (OWI), or operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI). In the United States the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 10,000 people died last year in alcohol-related collisions, representing 40 percent of total traffic deaths. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for OWI, compared to 1.9 million such arrests during the peak year in 1983, accounting for 1 out of every 80 licensed drivers in the U.S. NHTSA is a sponsor of National Drunk and Buzzed Driving Awareness Month along with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association.

 

The first jurisdiction in the U.S.to adopt laws against drunk driving was New York in 1910, with California and others following. Early laws simply prohibited driving while intoxicated, requiring proof of a state of intoxication with no specific definition of what level of intoxication qualified. The first generally-accepted legal BAC limit was .15. In 1938, the American Medical Association created a "Committee to Study Problems of Motor Vehicle Accidents". At the same time, the National Safety Council set up a "Committee on Tests for Intoxication". In the US, most of the laws and penalties were greatly enhanced starting in the late 1970s, and through the 1990s, largely due to pressure from groups like MADD, leading to a national standard of .08 as the definition of impairment.
-- from examiner.com

Among recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this year:  An even LOWER BAC threshold of .05.  While it has met some resistance, the NTSB this week reinforced its commitment to a lower limit for U.S. drivers.  Keep in mind, it took two decades to lower the BAC limit to .08 from .10.
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Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK.

 

New .05 BAC proposal for drinking and driving: Too restrictive vs. not tough enough vs. not doable

Drinking and driving arrests could spike, temporarily, while drivers get used to new regulations if alcohol limit is lowered, according to one view of the NTSB's recommended lowering of the intoxicated driving threshold.  Some restaurant owners want what is safest for their customers (so they return), while some are looking at reduced margins if fewer diners imbibe with their meals.  Here's a synopsis of developments in the two weeks since the board suggested the change from .08 to .05, from today's article.
 
 
A May hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) produced ideas for reducing drinking and driving deaths, among the ideas, lowering the alcohol limit legal for driving from .08 to .05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC). One hundred other countries have lower BAC limits for driving than the U.S. The idea is being debated around the country because the board has no authority to make the recommendation a law.
 
The last time the NTSB recommended a BAC change (from .10 to .08) it took two decades and the threat of Congress withholding highway funds for the idea to become law in all 50 states. An Indiana state legislator, Senator Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, predicts that is what it will take again. "If you look at the percentile drops, it's a pretty significant drop in the legal driving limit for drunk driving. It's going to be something not necessarily real popular, based on what I saw last time."
 
Georgia lawmakers are perusing data from an Atlanta Journal Constitution series that showed in 2001, when the state was at a .10 limit, there were 406 alcohol-related road deaths and in 2008, at .08, there were 416. There were fewer motorists in 2001 however.
 
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), an expected ally of the proposed lower limit, is not behind it, instead focusing on its own three-pronged agenda for reducing impaired driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also opposes the change to .05. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say, "Leave it to the states to decide."
 
The states so far have voiced resistance. The Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices, says expect push back because, “It was very difficult to get .08 in most states so lowering it again won’t be popular,” according to Jonathan Adkins, an official with the states' group. “The focus in the states is on high content offenders as well as repeat offenders. We expect industry will also be very vocal about keeping the limit at .08.”
 
The industry, via the American Beverage Institute, expectedly called the proposal "ludicrous."
 
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead told the Associated Press he would prefer to increase penalties for drunken drivers, but he is willing to study the recommendation. However, Mike Moser, of the State Liquor Association, said the change could criminalize social drinking. Moser said it makes more sense to crack down on heavy drinkers who are more dangerous behind the wheel, an idea that does not register with a Chicago trauma surgeon who notes impairment begins far earlier than severe intoxication. Dr. Thomas Esposito, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center, says, "The rationalization by critics that it penalizes the person who only occasionally has 'one too many' or who only drinks 'socially' makes no sense. One too many is just that; it's about impairment, not the number of drinks."
 
Lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver. (See the article “What 53 feet means” for more on driver impairment.)
 
Highway alcohol-related deaths are 100 percent preventable. Passive alcohol detectors can measure a driver's BAC before starting the vehicle and render it unable to start. If the driver is intoxicated, he isn't driving. Critics claim the technology has not been perfected. However, the technology already exists for the non-invasive technique (See "Fingerprint scanner lets employers check workers for alcohol"), although the public appetite for the device does not.
 
Mandating these in-car alcohol detectors – the way seatbelts and airbags are required in U.S. cars – was among the 20 ideas the NTSB proposed at the same time as lowering the BAC threshold for drinking and driving. Detroit automakers have been testing in-dash systems since June 2012. The idea was suggested three years ago in the book What the Early Worm Gets as the way to conclusively eliminate all drinking and driving accidents.
 
“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”
 
In 2011, 9,858 people were killed, 350,000 injured and $132 billion spent as a result of "alcohol-related" crashes. To Esposito's point, such classification does not mean the driver was over the .08 BAC limit, although usually that is the case, only that alcohol was present at the scene or detected on the breath or blood. No determination has to be made regarding level of intoxication, alcohol abuse or the disease of alcoholism but 4 million motorists admit to driving while impaired, according to NTSB estimates.
-- from examiner.com
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Are U.S. drivers – and lawmakers – ready for a .05 blood alcohol limit or even more severe mandates?

The NTSB adopted 20 recommendations May 14 aimed at getting intoxicated drivers off the road and reducing the number of alcohol-related highway fatalities.  Among the recommendations is a lower threshold for the definition of intoxication.  The NTSB's recommendations carry a lot of weight, especially when Congress gets behind them by linking highway funding with the proposals as they did when the legal limit dropped from .10 to .08 in 2004 and in the 1980s when the drinking age was increased to 21.

Here's the report from examiner.com, followed by a surprising response from Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well as some other observations on driving under the influence.


A hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) May 14 produced ideas for reducing drinking and driving deaths, among the ideas, lowering the alcohol limit legal for driving. “Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

Forty percent of U.S. highway deaths – or just under 9,900 lost lives – were attributable to driving while intoxicated in 2011, the most current year for which results are available.

The NTSB recommendation is based on results in other countries, 100 of which have limits below the .08 BAC limit in the U.S. In Germany, .05 is the limit, and 17 percent of traffic fatalities are alcohol related. In Australia, also at a .05 limit, 28 percent of motorists killed had a BAC over the limit. Fatal crashes decreased 18 percent in Australian states which lowered BAC limits from 0.08 to 0.05, despite having lower drinking ages and higher incidence of alcohol use disorders, such as the disease of alcoholism, than the U.S. Throughout much of Europe, the BAC limit also is .05 and alcohol-related traffic deaths were halved within 10 years of instituting the lower limit.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices, says expect push back from states on lower legal limits to curb drunk driving. “It was very difficult to get .08 in most states so lowering it again won’t be popular,” Jonathan Adkins, an official with the states' group, says. “The focus in the states is on high content offenders as well as repeat offenders. We expect industry will also be very vocal about keeping the limit at .08.”

Drinking may seem to affect individual drivers in different ways, however, lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver. (See the article “What 53 feet means” for more on driver impairment.)

The lower BAC limit is among 20 recommendations in the "Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate Alcohol-Impaired Driving" report adopted by the NTSB. Also on the table is a system of passive alcohol detectors in all motor vehicles proposed December 19, 2012. (See related examiner.com article). The passive technology could be similar to fingerprint scanning presently used by some U.S. And U.K. companies to monitor employees in high-risk or high-profile positions.

The NTSB is an independent agency which studies traffic safety issues and makes recommendations for law changes or safety improvements, but has no-law making authority of its own.

-- from examiner.com


Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), an expected ally of the proposed lower limit, is not behind it, instead focusing on its own three-pronged agenda for reducing impaired driving.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also opposes the change to .05.  Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say, "Leave it to the states to decide." The beverage industry, naturally, called the proposal "ludicrous."

Where the rubber meets the road here is the question:  How far are we willing to go to save 10,000 lives?  If drinking and driving is the burning safety issue, there would be no push-back given other countries' experience with lower limits as well as ample research that proves "impairment" begins at .02.  That level is where Swedes set their legal limit for driving... and they rarely have an alcohol-related traffic fatality.

Rarely.  But they still have them.

Passive alcohol devices, as proposed in the 20-item NTSB platform, are something I mentioned three years ago in What the Early Worm Gets IF America really is serious about drinking and driving.  That's because...
... intoxicated driving deaths are 100 percent preventable with such a mandate.
NHTSA is behind it.  The Automotive Coalition for Transportation Safety is on board.  The U.S. mandated airbags in the name of saving lives.  The states mandated seatbelt use in the name of saving lives.  If we're interested in eliminating 10,000 entirely preventable deaths in the U.S., a passive detector mandate saves lives.  Lowering the limit still lets an impaired driver turn the key. 
www.alcohologist.com
 

SATURDAY REWIND: Intoxicated driving no longer top killer of teen drivers, but being #2 is no merit badge

The no-kidding news this week was that texting behind the wheel is a bigger killer of teen drivers than drinking and driving. Teens killed texting and driving: 3,000. Teens killed drinking and driving: 2,700. A number of high-profile programs are aimed at avoiding crashes by stifling the distraction of the mobile phone. AT&T. AAA. The AdCouncil. All have top-of-mind messages about the texting-and-driving danger. Just because drinking and driving has slipped to the number two slot in the lethal list, does not mean it has become less hazardous... it just means more teens are tapping out messages instead of paying attention to the road.

 

Parents, schools and community leaders are mindful to not take the emphasis off the hazards of intoxicated driving just because a new killer has risen to the top of the list. But as the following article from my news archive points out, schools and communities have less of a role than parents in thwarting drinking and driving and underage drinking in general.

Parental involvement does more to discourage underage drinking than the school environment can, according to research released December 4 by three universities.

Specifically, the researchers looked at how “family social capital” and “school social capital” changed the chances for and/or frequency of alcohol use by children. Family social capital can be described as the bonds between parents and children, such as trust, open lines of communication and active engagement in a child’s life. School social capital captures a school’s ability to serve as a positive environment for learning, including measures such as student involvement in extracurricular activities, teacher morale and the ability of teachers to address the needs of individual students. Parenting is a better block to underage drinking than the schools, according to the North Carolina State University news release on the study.

"To be clear, school programs that address alcohol and marijuana use are definitely valuable, but the bonds parents form with their children are more important. Ideally, we can have both," says Dr. Toby Parcel, a professor of sociology at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work.

The researchers looked at data from a nationally representative sample that collected information from more than 10,000 students, as well as their parents, teachers and school administrators. The research, to be included in the quarterly Journal of Drug Issues, evaluated marijuana use and alcohol use separately.

“Parents play an important role in shaping the decisions their children make when it comes to alcohol and marijuana,” says Parcel. In both cases, researchers at NCSU (in conjunction with Brigham Young University and Penn State University) found that students with high levels of family social capital and low levels of school social capital were less likely to have used marijuana or alcohol – or to have used those substances less frequently – than students with high levels of school social capital but low family social capital.

More than 10 million American youth under the age of 21 drink alcohol, and more than a million of them are binge drinkers, according to the American Medical Association. One in four teens in the United States have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. "Underage drinking should not be a normal part of growing up. It's a serious and persistent public health problem that puts our young people and our communities in danger," said U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Pamela S. Hyde in a related November 26 examiner.com story. "Even though drinking is often glamorized, the truth is that underage drinking can lead to poor academic performance, sexual assault, injury, and even death." Teen drinking also can lead to alcohol abuse as an adult or the disease of alcoholism.
– from examiner.com


The news headlines this week to dangers specific to teens behind the wheel, whether texting or drinking. The above article begins to address the life risks stemming from underage drinking aside from traffic accidents. Earlier this year, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) commissioned study (see related article) concluded that two-thirds of alcohol-related underage drinking deaths were not from traffic accidents. Thirty percent of alcohol-related deaths in people age 15 to 20 are from homicides. Fourteen percent are from suicides. Nine percent are from alcohol overdose. Other causes, such as drowning and household accidents, comprise the remaining 15 percent.

Texting and driving might be the trending topic today, but as MADD points out, “Of all the dangers teens face, underage drinking is among the worst.” And it's not just behind the wheel.
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