How Does Alcohol Affect an NYC Driver?

Drinking and driving is always the WRONG choice. If you drink, call an Uber of Lyft to get you home safely and worry about retrieving your car the next day when you are sober. Drunk driving crash statistics consistently show that thousands of Americans make the mistake of getting behind the wheel intoxicated every single year. Some of the issue is due to the fact that too many people think that they are a skilled enough driver to be able to avoid the ways alcohol affects their driving capabilities. Or they have bought into the myth that only one drink won’t affect their driving ability.

The fact is that one drink is enough to affect anyone’s driving ability. It doesn’t matter who you are or how much time you have spent behind the wheel, intoxication affects your driving abilities in predictable and dangerous ways, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

According to the NHTSA, as well as other safety groups, consuming alcohol will impair your:

• Vision: After a single drink, your vision decreases markedly. Fine print and distant objects can become blurry and your ability to accurately judge distance decreases markedly as well. With higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels, you may also experience double vision.
• Judgment: A lot of people admit that they lose their sense of proper judgment when intoxicated, which is why they act recklessly while drunk. While decreased judgment and inhibitions can be fun in the right setting, it is dangerous while behind the wheel. Drunk drivers cannot judge distances, speed, traffic signals or a pedestrian crossing in front of them accurately.
• Reaction time: As the effects of alcohol set in, the brain begins to lose higher cognitive functions and multiple processes are slowed. Reaction time is noticeably longer when drunk, which is a serious problem because driving requires you to always be alert and ready to react to emergencies.
• Color distinction: Many people also experience temporary color blindness as intoxication limits one’s color distinction. Even the bright reds and greens of traffic signals can blend into an indiscernible color due to intoxication, turning every intersection into a danger zone for an intoxicated driver.

Were You Hit by a Drunk Driver?

If the driver who hit you admitted to being drunk or was later given a BAC test which showed they were legally intoxicated, then they were almost certainly showing all of the previously mentioned symptoms. While it is clear that they were increasing the chances of getting into a wreck, you are not guaranteed any sort of compensation from them and their insurance company. You will likely need to file a lawsuit to obtain the compensation you’re entitled to.

The law firm of Michael J. Redenburg, Esq. PC proudly represents people throughout the NYC area who have been injured in drunk driving accidents. If you want to know if you can file a claim against another driver who you know or suspect was drunk at the time, then call 212-240-9465 right away.