Legal Penalties.

Diminished Driving Skills.

Reaction Time and Judgment.

Cost.

Guilt.

Everyday drivers are arrested for driving under the influence, or driving while intoxicated, as law enforcement agencies continue to crackdown on these dangerous offenders. For many of these drivers, it will not be their first DUI offense. So, what fate awaits these drunk drivers? They may be surprised to find that penalties for DUI, even the first offense, have been increased since they last checked. Due to the efforts of groups like Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), hundreds of new DUI laws have been passed nationwide since 1980.

Drunken-driving laws vary from state to state, but driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater is illegal in all 50 states. Additionally, zero-tolerance laws make it illegal for people younger than 21 to be caught with any reading other than 0 on the breathalyzer test. In 41 states, administrative driver's license suspension is required for people who receive a DUI, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Additionally, more than half the states require people who receive a DUI to install an ignition interlock device on their vehicles for a designated period before their licenses can be reinstated. This is in addition to the fines and court costs that will be assessed to people convicted of drinking and driving.

Alcohol impairs your motor skills, meaning you won't be as good of a driver drunk as you are sober. For example, visual acuity is reduced by 32 percent when you are drunk, and peripheral vision is affected as well, according to the University of Texas at San Antonio. Distance and depth perception are also affected, and people who are drunk also do not hear as precisely as when they are sober.

Alcohol acts as a depressant on the central nervous system. Because of this, it can significantly impair your judgment and reaction time---a bad combination when you are behind the wheel. In fact, people who have been drinking can respond between 15 percent and 25 percent slower than when they have not been drinking, according to the University of Texas at San Antonio. This slowed reaction time is often the cause of drunken driving accidents. Judgment is also quickly affected by alcohol. Even a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent can impair a person's judgment.

Drunken driving takes a large toll on society in general. In 2000, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost Americans more than $114 billion dollars, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. That figure includes more than $51 billion in monetary losses and more than $63 billion in loses related to quality of life

Of course, a single DUI won’t cost you anywhere near that much. But getting caught driving under the influence can be an expensive. Costs vary state by state, but you could spend about $4,000-$5,000 on fines, impound fees, a DUI treatment program, insurance increases and other things—and that’s before you hire a lawyer.

It is unlawful for persons under the age of 21 to purchase, possess or consume alcoholic beverages (except in religious services)

It is unlawful for anyone under the age of 21 to drive with a BAC of 0.02% or more, the equivalent of a single alcoholic beverage in most people.

If you are found in violation of driving with a prohibited BAC can be fined, required to do community service, and lose their driving privileges for 1 year or until age 21, whichever is longer.

If the above reasons are not enough to think twice before driving after having a few drinks, ask yourself if you will be able to live with the guilt if someone is injured or killed because of your reckless actions. Of the 11,773 alcohol-related traffic deaths in 2008, 216 were innocent children who were 14 or younger, according to the CDC. Every day, innocent people have their lives destroyed by people who decided they were OK to drive when in fact they were not. Keep that in mind next time you decide to get behind the wheel.

after the following quiz we will be playing a

game of *sparkle*

1.What 5 Things did we talk about?

A.________,________,_________,_______,_______

2. getting caught driving under the influence can be an expensive. Costs vary state by state, but you could spend about ?

A. _____To______

3. Of the 11,773 alcohol-related traffic deaths in 2008, ____ were innocent children who were___________, according to the CDC.

4.What Does Alcohol impairs your motor skills

Mean?

A.____________________________________________________.