DISTRIBUCIÓN DE RIESGOS ENTRE LA SOCIEDAD CONCESIONARIA Y EL ESTADO

Impaired dri ving is a serious social concern! In Québec, alco hol use is a fac tor in about 32% of fatal acci dents, 16% of acci dents cau sing serious inju ry and 5% of acci dents cau sing minor inju ry. On average, between 2002 and 2006, alco hol accoun ted for 200 deaths and 2,900 injured.

Alcohol com pels a dri ver to take risks. Today, it is com mon kno wled ge that alco hol impairs a person’s abi li ty to drive. The more a per son drinks, the poo rer his/her abi li ty to exer ci se safe judg ment.

Driving under the influen ce of alco hol signi fi cant ly increa ses the risk of a serious acci dent, with its dire conse quen ces and increa sin gly hars her penal ties.

Just one glass of wine may pro du ce the effects des cri bed above. Even if a person’s blood alco hol level is below .08% these effects may appear, since at .05% the facul ties of an ave ra ge adult are signi fi cant ly affec ted. It is impor tant to note that young dri vers are more easi ly affec ted, and by smal ler amounts of alco hol. A dri ver aged 16 to 19 with a blood alco hol level of .03 is three times more at risk of beco ming invol ved in a fatal acci dent.

The effects of alco hol sur fa ce rela ti ve ly quic kly if a per son is All

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Some recom men da tions : • drink very litt le and slo wly ;

• have some thing to eat when drin king ;

• serve non-alco ho lic beve ra ges (inclu ding water) ; • space your drinks ;

• stop ser ving alco hol at least an hour befo re the end of the recep tion ;

• take steps to ensu re that you do not ope ra te a vehi cle if you have had a drink – have ano ther per son drive or take a taxi or bus;

• allow a guest who has had too much to drink to stay over; • plan ahead.

Many peo ple belie ve that a per son who is used to drin king will be bet ter able to “hand le” alco hol and avoid being impai red. While it is true that the habi tual drinker’s body adjusts, the impres sion of sobrie ty is illusory, leading the per son to ove res ti ma te his/her abi li ty to drive.

Popular reme dies for redu cing the effects of alco hol rare ly work. Some peo ple belie ve that eating while drin king helps the eli mi na tion pro cess. The pre sen ce of food in the sto mach, howe ver, mere ly slows down the absorp tion of alco hol into the blood; it does not pre vent the per son from rea ching a higher blood alco hol concen tra tion.

The fact remains that the liver breaks down 90% of alco hol consu med by an indi vi dual. A heal thy individual’s liver works at a stea dy rate, pro ces sing a given num ber of mg in an hour, regard less of the amount consu med. It takes at least 5 hours for the body to eli mi na te the amount of alco hol consu med by someo ne with a .08% blood alco hol concen tra tion.

Taking a walk or sho wer will not speed up the alco hol eli mi na - tion pro cess. There is no mira culous method for increa sing the body’s abi li ty to meta bo li ze alco hol. Time is the only reme dy.

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MAIN EFFECTS OF ALCO HOL ON A VEHI CLE OPE RA TOR On obs er va tion

• Rather than scan ning the road ahead, to the sides and occa sio nal ly behind, a dri ver under the influen ce of alco hol tends to focus on one spot or object ahead: he/she pays less atten tion to vehi cles, per sons and objects on or near the road.

• The dri ver is less able to esti ma te dis tan ces bet ween objects. • The dri ver is less able to adapt to dark ness.

• At night, a dri ver has dif fi cul ty focu sing after encoun te ring the glare of an onco ming vehi cle and the time it takes to adjust after the vehi cle has pas sed is lon ger than nor mal. • There is a decrea sed sense of dan ger and the dri ver the re fo re

takes more risks. On deci sion- making

• Brain acti vi ty is slo wed.

• The dri ver is less able to reco gni ze a pro blem situa tion. • Making a quick deci sion is dif fi cult.

On exe cu tion

• The sti mu la tion pro vo ked by alco hol results in over con fi - den ce of one’s abi li ties.

• Slower brain acti vi ty results in a loss of mus cu lar coor di na - tion. Since a dri ver is slow to rea li ze that he/she must act, limb move ments are often abrupt and impre ci se. He/she finds it dif fi cult to stay in the lane, go through an inter sec tion, chan ge lanes, make a turn, control the vehi cle and even come to a stop. Alcohol will also affect the sense of balan ce

of a motor cy cle rider. _All rights

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