How Alcohol Affects Your Driving (and a New York DWI)
We’ve all heard that it’s dangerous to drink and drive, and we’ve been told that even if we feel fine, we may be suffering greater effects from the alcohol we’ve had than we realize. But have you ever wondered what it is about alcohol that makes us unable to drive safely after having a few drinks? You can learn more below about how the brain and ability to drive is affected by alcohol. If you’ve been arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated in New York, contact the effective and dedicated Goshen DWI defense attorneys at Dupée & Monroe for a consultation on your case.
How does alcohol affect you and your ability to drive?
Your reaction times are slowed
Driving involves a constantly-changing landscape, requiring you to react continuously to new circumstances. Alcohol makes you slower to react, or even to understand the changed circumstances surrounding you.
Your vision is impaired
Being able to see clearly what’s happening right in front of you and what’s happening farther down the road is critical for safe driving. Alcohol changes your ability to control your eye movement and eye muscles, and it can limit your peripheral vision. Drivers who have been drinking tend to lock in on a single object, such as the car directly in front of them, rather than staying aware of cars coming from other angles or events occurring further ahead in the road.
Your decision-making ability is flawed
We’ve probably all noticed that we do things after drinking that we’d never do sober. This is because alcohol has a major impact on our decision-making abilities. Driving involves constant decision making, such as deciding whether you have time to turn in front of an oncoming car, deciding what speed to drive, and deciding whether you can safely make it through a traffic light before it turns red. Making these decisions well can be challenging even when sober, but it can become even harder after drinking.
You may become easily distracted
Drinking inhibits the ability to focus on a single activity for a prolonged period and to focus on numerous stimuli simultaneously. Since driving requires the driver to focus on multiple activities simultaneously—their speed, the nearby traffic signals and signs, what other drivers are doing, etc—alcohol can destroy the focus necessary to drive safely.
Call the DWI Defense Lawyers at Dupée & Monroe in Goshen after a Drunk Driving Arrest in New York’s Hudson Valley
If you’re facing charges related to drinking and driving in New York’s Hudson Valley, get the aggressive and dedicated defense you need by contacting the seasoned Goshen DWI defense lawyers at Dupée & Monroe for a consultation on your case, at 845-294-8900.
