How does Alcohol affect your ability to drive?

Question

how does Alcohol affect your ability to drive?

Answer 1

It's hard to hold the steering wheel with a beer in your hand.   lol  

All jokes aside.

Don't Drink & Drive.

Answer 2

These are the things that alcohol does to you that makes it a particularly bad idea to drive while intoxicated.

Slowing

The effect alcohol has on the NMDA receptors, earlier responsible for pleasurable stimulation, turns from a blessing to a curse if too much alcohol is consumed. NMDA receptors start to become unresponsive, slowing thought in the areas of the brain they are responsible for. Contributing to this effect is the activity which alcohol induces in the gamma-aminobutyric acid system (GABA). The GABA system is known to inhibit activity in the brain. GABA could also be responsible for the memory impairment that many people experience. It has been asserted that GABA signals interfere with the registration and consolidation stages of memory formation. As the GABA system is found in the hippocampus, (among other areas in the CNS), which is thought to play a large role in memory formation, this is thought to be possible.

Blurred vision

Blurred vision is another common symptom of drunkenness. Alcohol seems to suppress the metabolism of glucose in the brain. The occipital lobe, the part of the brain responsible for receiving visual inputs, has been found to become especially impaired, consuming 29% less glucose than it should. With less glucose metabolism, it is thought that the cells aren't able to process images properly.

Vertigo

Often, after much alcohol has been consumed, it is possible to experience vertigo, the sense that the room is spinning (sometimes referred to as 'The Spins'). This is associated with abnormal eye movements called nystagmus, specifically positional alcohol nystagmus.

In this case, alcohol has affected the organs responsible for balance, i.e. the vestibular system in the ears. Balance in the body is monitored principally by two systems: the semicircular canals, and the utricle and saccule pair. Inside the semicircular canals there are flexible blobs called cupulas, which moves when the body moves. Upon bendin of the cupula, hair cells inside them create nerve impulses that travel through the vestibulocochlear nerve (Cranial nerve VIII) to the brain. The cupula is surrounded by endolymph, which has the same density.

However, when alcohol gets in to the bloodstream it dilutes it, reducing its density. When this blood reaches the cupula, the cupula becomes less dense. The endolymph surrounding it, on the other hand, is not connected directly to the circulatory system, and keeps the same density. Thus, the cupula becomes less dense than the surrounding fluid and is forced upwards, creating a false impulse just as if the head was rotating in the opposite direction. [9] The abnormal nerve impulses tell the brain that the body is rotating, causing disorientation and making the eyes spin round to compensate.

Anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia, colloquially referred to as "blacking out", is another symptom of heavy drinking.

Ataxia

Another classic finding of alcohol intoxication is ataxia, in its appendicular, gait, and truncal forms. Appendicular ataxia results in jerky, uncoordinated movements of the limbs, as though each muscle were working independently from the others. Truncal ataxia results in postural instability; gait instability is manifested as a disorderly, wide-based gait with inconsistent foot positioning. Ataxia is responsible for the observation that drunk people are clumsy, sway back and forth, and often fall down. It is probably due to alcohol's effect on the cerebellum.

Answer 3

it affect your ability of driving that day that you are drunk it loses balance of the wheel and the road you see a lot of light comming at you ,  and the next morning when you wake up you get a headdick and it realy hurts that day you dont feel very good but you still can drive!!!! alcohol does not stay for long in your body its just goes away and it effects you liver!!!

Answer 4

it impairs judgment and concentration

Answer 5

It can also affect your ability to drive in that you can lose your license if you get caught.

Answer 6

It impairs your vision and balance.

Answer 7

It makes you dizzy, sleepy, distracted, hyper, see double, slow reaction time..all of these are very dangerous things and should not be mixed with driving...DONT DRINK AND DRIVE!

Answer 8

It significantly slows down your reaction time which greatly increases the probability of accidents. It also increases recklessness.