"You may think that alcohol puts a spring under you, but it always lets you down", according to a huge billboard on Salt River station in the seventies. The billboard may be old, but the message is not.

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When it gets to drinking and driving, the message is very clear: 40% of drivers who die on the road have alcohol levels in excess of .08gms/100ml, according to Dr Charles Parry of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Group of the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Other disturbing statistics provided by the MRC include:

• South Africans consume over 6 billion litres of alcohol per year, which makes us one of the highest alcohol consuming nations in the world
• 50,5% percent of people who died non-natural deaths in the Cape metropole in 1995, had blood alcohol levels above .1gm/100ml
• Alcohol misuse costs South Africa approximately R9,5 billion per year – 2% of the Gross National Product
• South Africa is estimated to have 240 000 shebeens
• More than 60% of hospital trauma cases are linked to alcoholic consumption
• 26% percent of women in the Western Cape consume enough alcohol to put their babies at risk for foetal alcohol syndrome.

So when it gets to drinking and driving, statistics speak for themselves. But how exactly does alcohol affect the brain, and why does this make driving dangerous?

Alcohol and your brain
Despite the fact that a drink or two cheers up most people, alcohol is actually a nervous system depressant – the more you drink, the more difficult it is for your brain to function properly.

The brain consists of three major parts: the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the medulla.

The cerebrum controls advanced functions, such as reasoning, vision, recognition and emotion. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and affects judgment, movement, vision and speech. The cerebellum largely controls movement, and deals with reflexes, balance and co-ordination. The medulla controls basic survival functions such as heartbeat and breathing, both of which processes can be stopped entirely by sever alcohol consumption.

Nerves carry messages to different parts of your body with instructions to do things. The brain and the nerves are made up of neurons that actually carry the messages from your brain and back. The neurons do not actually touch one another – there is a space between them, which are called synapses. Electrical signals carry messages the length of the neuron and neurotransmitters carry the messages across the synapse to the next neuron. It is in the synapses that alcohol affects the working of your brain, as a couple of drinks will affect the efficiency with which neurotransmitters carry messages between the neurons.

This is why someone who has had too much to drink cannot walk in a straight line, speaks in a slurred fashion, drives in a weaving pattern across the road and is slow to brake in an emergency situation.

How alcohol affects driving skills
When we drive, we use many basic skills simultaneously – perception, judgment, quick physical reaction, decision-making. When we have had too much alcohol, we become unable to co-ordinate all these actions.

The following things are typical of a drunk driver:

• Limited ability to judge distances between both stationary and moving objects
• Difficulty negotiating a car in or out of a parking spot
• Increased difficulty to adjust to sudden darkness
• Difficulty in maintaining a constant speed
• Peripheral vision is impaired and little attention is given to road signs, other traffic and pedestrians
• Increased time before the driver reacts to an emergency situation by stepping on the brake or correcting the steering

The recent reduction of the legal alcohol limit from .08gms/100ml to .05gms/100ml was largely aimed at reducing the high road death toll, partially caused by drunken driving. For those operating buses and taxis, the limit is .02gms/100ml. A new law has in South Africa has now also increased fines and punishment for drunken driving. For driving under the influence of alcohol alone, a driver can now expect a maximum sentence of six years in prison or a R120 000 fine, or both.

But how much hope is there to curtail drunken driving unless the greater problem of alcohol abuse in South Africa is addressed? – (Susan Erasmus, Health24)

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	Drink &  Drive 2008/09/11 06:56:31 PM In other countries the public transport system is so that you could catch a bus at 4am. How the hell am I supposed 2 get home if there is no driver or I' m alone? - Jason   Public Transport 2008/09/11 10:22:52 PM If you think the rest of the world is all rosey think again: in the uk for example almost all public transport services shut down shortly after midnight and a taxi costs 30 or 40 pounds....R500 plus! you can call a cab in most of south africa and will hardly ever pay more than R200. There are cabs and taxis on our roads and so lack of access to public transport is no excuse - Nick   Missing the point 2008/09/12 07:23:57 AM In my opinion it is not the guy who has had one beer over the limit that causes the accident, it is the fool who has had 5 or 6. So buy lowering the limit do they think its going to stop him?NO because he is a fool and doesnt give a @$#*. - GRANT   PUNISHMENT FOR DRUNKARDS ON THE ROAD 2008/09/12 07:45:30 AM Drivers who get caught drinking and driving suspend their drivers lisence for life and should be blacklisted and Imprisoned with a hefty FINE . - B.VEERASAMY   London se moer 2008/09/12 07:47:42 AM True about london, really is a pity. oh wait, you can take a night bus. Then again there are plenty of cities around the world where the tubes\trains run throught the night on weekends. Maybe if the ANCYL didnt act so stupid all the time i would drink less. - dre   options 2008/09/12 08:13:04 AM Have to admit I' m guilty of occassional drunk driving. Would gladly use public transport or taxi' s if they were available and AFFORDABLE. Not paying R200 to travel 5 km. - The fisherman   Judge &  Metro Chief 2008/09/12 08:13:35 AM Also important that our public figures set a proper example to the rest of us - not only in not drinking and driving but if they do and are caught to not misuse our overburdened legal system but accept their punishment like the rest of us have to. - Willy   Bad drivers are..... 2008/09/12 08:14:12 AM Bad drivers. Drunk or not. Frankly, I' m a better driver pissed than most of the idiots I have to share the roads with on my daily commute are sober. Better we should find a way to keep stupid drivers of the roads. - Raymond   Agree 2008/09/12 08:54:05 AM Have to agree with Raymond. It' s those idiots that' s driving Mrs Daisy that are equally to be blame for anger on the roads and deaths. I mean it' s a rule of the road to keep left and pass right, and if you travelling at 40km/h and see a car approaching at a faster speed from behind make way let the approaching car can pass you. But there are some idiots that will rather steer more right so that the approaching car cannot safely do so. And I think it' s more the case when you drive a faster car - Ricky   alcohol 2008/09/12 09:03:10 AM what on earth does the ANCYL has to do with this now? - moko   @Nick 2008/09/12 09:03:37 AM True about the tubes shutting sown at midnight, however  you used the train to get to your drinking hole, so you don' t have a car to drive home. In S.A, you need to leave your car behind and we all know you need not even bother going back to fetch it. - Me   Drink more 2008/09/12 09:23:52 AM As a younger man I go out alot! And to be honest public transport is a joke in this country! (dont know how they expect it to work for 2010 if they cant even get it to work now!) To catch a cab you will have to take at least five mates with you for it to become reasonable. At 12 at night the cabs are all you have, and to travel a mere 25 km will cost you around 400 bucks! Money I would rather spend on getting pissed or bribing a cop. - Kiddo   cowboys 2008/09/12 09:41:22 AM As a mother and resonsible driver I am shocked at the attitude of these arrogant men who think they are demi-gods when they get behind the steering wheels of their fast cars after drinking to excess. Frankly you are just a bunch of road cowboys endangering the lives of others. - Julia   no 2008/09/12 09:45:09 AM I' d much rather share the road with drunk drivers than people using phones. You guys ever noticed how most people can' t even properly walk around without bumping into other people while having a little rectangle against the ear? If you haven' t make a mission of it to see this for yourself. - smokey-smurf   What about cell phones... 2008/09/12 09:45:52 AM A drunk driver can be sent to jail for six years and yet - despite tests proving that people using a cell phone while driving are less focused on the road than someone over the limit - a cell phone user gets a R500 fine. I just want the laws to be equal here - send the cell phone users to jail for six years too. (I know, I' ve nearly been taken out by idiots talking on their phone 10 times more often than by drunk drivers!!!) - Rodders   Lowering the limit is not going to help... 2008/09/12 10:03:08 AM Lowering the limit is fine, but if no one going to enforce it it will not make any difference. Also, the people who are drunk doesn' t give a hoot about the current limit so a lowered limit won' t scare them. If this limit is lowered we might as well close all pubs &  bars or stop serving alcohol at any restaurant as 1 drink will put you over the limit. Hell, medicine containing alcohol will put you just under the limit. In the end it comes down to personal discipline and not the law. - Pierre   Drinking/driving - Fisherman 2008/09/12 10:59:25 AM Fisherman why do you need to get a taxi to go 5Kms or for that matter why do you need to drive 5Kms. if alcahol is so important walk. It would mean more money for another drink &  save wear &  tear on your motor vehicle &  other road users nerves. - CS   WHAT!!!! 2008/09/12 11:00:39 AM Are you guys actually old enough to drive???? If an adult feels like a drink, he will make arrangements for a driver, and he will be mature enough to decide if he can afford a taxi, should he need one. There is NO EXCUSE to drive even with after consuming a glass of wine. We all make sacrifices in our lives, and when you guys are past your student lives, you will realise that too!!!!! - Paul   Reckless driving and ignorance 2008/09/12 11:37:40 AM We really have reckless drivers on our roads either sober or drunk. I suppose the law has to be very hard on such drivers because innocent lives are lost. Speeding, talking on cellphone while driving, inconsiderate driving and drunk driving should be punishable with severe sentences. - Gogo   it is the JEWS 2008/09/12 11:38:34 AM they are responsible for all the ills of the world , just look at that shapiro character ! - AVIGNOR   NO EXCUSE 2008/09/12 11:41:44 AM I see no plausable excuse for driving drunk. It is antisocial. If you are poor and can not afford a taxi or other transport , you are too poor to drink. So do what the poor do and watch TV or sport. - Dov   Kido are drunk already 2008/09/12 12:09:10 PM Kido the country is where it is today because of the irrisponsible people like you. I hope you get involved in an accidents, you become the victim of someone drunk. maybe you can end up teaching the next geneartion how dangerous is to drink and drive. - Lebo   Kido are drunk already 2008/09/12 12:09:10 PM Kido the country is where it is today because of the irrisponsible people like you. I hope you get involved in an accidents, you become the victim of someone drunk. maybe you can end up teaching the next geneartion how dangerous is to drink and drive. - Lebo   Be responsible 2008/09/12 12:44:53 PM Man, I hate these comments sections. The article is about drunken-driving, but then people try and justify it, or they change the topic to cellphone-driving or public transport. And the sad thing is, those morons have sucked me into their little black-hole because now I' ve actually responded. Just don' t drink and drive: It' s THAT simple. No excuses, passing the buck, blame-shifting, or whatever. It really is THAT simple. I' ve got a head-ache now. - J   Alcohol levels for drivers. 2008/09/12 12:52:28 PM By looking at the stats, it is clear to me that more sober drivers are invo0lved in accidents, esprcially fatal accidents than drivers who under the influence. Is this a fact? If so, the reals cause then should lie somewhere else. It has become fasion to blame the use of alcohol on everything that goes wrong in society in stead of putting the blame on the REAL cause. Instant solutions does not work. Nice try, but I do not believe this theory. PS. I am not a drinker. I enjoy a glass of wine or 2. - Marais   Fines a Joke! 2008/09/12 12:54:21 PM The fines are now so ridiculously high that people think it’ s a joke and making it a criminal matter makes getting a conviction so much harder with our justice system already over stretched why not set a legal limit for civil and criminal cases, its working for speeding, they don’ t arrest you for going 70 in a 60 zone, if they had, everyone would think it’ s a joke and ignore it like the BAC. - Hennie   Drinking and driving 2008/09/15 07:56:42 AM What about addressing the real problems of the world?! Drinking and driving can see someone locked in prison for six years while somebody who has raped or murdered someone gets off on bail! Let' s face it, fining drivers who drink is just an excuse by the metro police to get some extra cash in their pocket. - Journo   Hospital " volunteers"  when sobered up... 2008/09/15 08:59:09 AM Why is our hospitals understaffed when there are so many drunk drivers out on the roads? Should they be caught, have them clean the emergency rooms as part of their " community service"  Fines don' t work, but next time mr Beer will think twice before he gets in a car under influence of beer. Alternatively, he is welcome to come help look after my friend' s little paralised girl - compliments of a drunk driver skipping a robot. - Martie   Alcohol the raping tool 2008/09/15 09:49:46 AM Alcohol is used as a raping tool. It Rapes the future of little girls, the dignity of woman, the lifes of crippled bodies and broken souls. Social drinking is great, so don' t blame the alcohol, blame the person who puts it to the mouth in order to prove his strength by how much he can drink but actually proves his weakness by having no control over his own life and decisions. Too much Alcohol makes them act and look stupid. Don' t they get it? - Tilly   metro police 2008/09/15 10:09:54 AM i think like every other citizen of south africa metro police should also be checked out for drinking and driving when they finish they shift they should be tested especially in the weekends and should also be locked up for six years and pay R120000 coz they are also sa citizens we now live in a democratic sa so everyone should face the same charges - sean   Well said Paul!! 2008/09/15 10:12:51 AM There is no excuse to drink and drive. If you are old enough to be able to drink, then that means you are considered to be an adult? What example do you adults who ABUSE the use of alcohol set as an example to the younger folk? I say, lock them up and throw away the key. - Carrot   drunk driving 2008/09/15 12:41:02 PM Zero intake allowed if u are driving! Kill someone by bad driving 15 years inside ! - tony   what !!!!!!! 2008/09/15 01:48:35 PM only 16%,wonder where these guys get there stats from.more like the other 84 % - leppa   Get Real 2008/09/15 05:29:09 PM This is Africa. RSA is a banana republic. You cannot apply first world standards here. It will NEVER work! - Poacher   Drink no drive 2008/09/15 07:33:36 PM Social life is part of a higher order of responsible life. Unfortunately the definition of all those thinking they are part of it, does not concur. Till those in leadership role take up their respective responsibilities the riff-raff will rule. - Gené
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