Drunk Driving{ CAUTION:Drinking and then driving is very dangerous. Yourreflexes, perceptions, attentiveness, and judgmentcan be affected by even a small amount of alcohol.You can have a serious — or even fatal — collisionif you drive after drinking. Do not drink and drive orride with a driver who has been drinking. Ride homein a cab; or if you are with a group, designate adriver who will not drink.Death and injury associated with drinking and driving isa global tragedy.Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive avehicle: judgment, muscular coordination, vision, andattentiveness.Police records show that almost 40 percent of all motorvehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,these deaths are the result of someone who was drinkingand driving. In recent years, more than 17,000 annualmotor vehicle-related deaths have been associated withthe use of alcohol, with about 250,000 people injured.For persons under 21, it is against the law in everyU.S. state to drink alcohol. There are good medical,psychological, and developmental reasons forthese laws.The obvious way to eliminate the leading highwaysafety problem is for people never to drink alcohol andthen drive.Medical research shows that alcohol in a person’ssystem can make crash injuries worse, especiallyinjuries to the brain, spinal cord, or heart. This meansthat when anyone who has been drinking — driveror passenger — is in a crash, that person’s chance ofbeing killed or permanently disabled is higher than if theperson had not been drinking.Control of a VehicleThe following three systems help to control the vehiclewhile driving — brakes, steering, and accelerator.At times, as when driving on snow or ice, it is easy to askmore of those control systems than the tires and road canprovide. Meaning, you can lose control of the vehicle.See Traction Control System (TCS) on page 4-6.Adding non-dealer/non-retailer accessories can affectvehicle performance. See Accessories and Modificationson page 5-3.4-3
