Did you know that alcohol trading contributes to the EU economy by around €9 billion annually through trade? It cannot be denied that drinking is part of European culture.
According to research carried out by the European Transport Safety Council, an average European consumes 12.1 litres of pure alcohol per year, far more than people in any other region in the world. In most of the Southern wine-producing countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal people tend to drink daily, and in the Northern countries (Finland and Sweden) people tend to drink only at weekends.
In Europe, at least 20% of all road deaths are alcohol-related whereas about only 1% of all kilometres driven in Europe are driven by drivers with 0.5 g/l or more of alcohol in their blood. So drink drivers are greatly over-represented in road traffic crashes, as researchers pointed out.
After drinking, the brain works inefficiently, taking longer to receive messages from the eye; processing information becomes more difficult and instructions to the muscles are delayed. Alcohol results in poor judgment, increased reaction time, lower vigilance and decreased visual acuity. The reaction time, for example, can be increased by 10 to 30% (IAS 2007). At the same time, alcohol reduces the ability to perform two or more tasks.
This is the scientific background of drunk driving. But what does a person feel when he or she drives under the influence of alcohol? How do they misjudge different situations?
Watch this video to understand the risks of drunk drive better.