Transcript Personal Factors That Affect Driving
Personal Factors That Affect Driving Personal Factors Include: Alcohol, Drugs, and Fatigue Good Driving Habits Include: •Search •Evaluate •Execute Search Categories • • • • Motor Vehicles Non-motorized Users Road Conditions Traffic Control Devices Evaluate • Identify • Predict • Decide Execute the Decision • Speed adjustment • Lane position adjustment • Lane change Alcohol • ~50% of all traffic deaths due to alcohol related crash • 2/5 involved in alcohol related crash in lifetime Why? • • • • Who drinks? Why drink? Why drink and drive? Why does it matter? (What is the problem with drinking and driving?) The problem • Risk: the chance of damage, injury, or loss. • Impairs physical ability to drive • Impairs judgment and reasoning Why/How does alcohol impair driving? • • • • • BAC Coordination Ability to scan and see clearly Ability to judge right from wrong Overall ability to make reduced risk decisions Maryland Intoxication Laws • Driving While Impaired BAC of 0.07 • Driving Under the Influence (DUI) BAC of 0.08 What happens if I get caught? • • • • License suspension License revocation Fines Jail time Drugs • Marijuana • Prescriptions • Over the counter medications Number One? • Marijuana: other than alcohol, it is the number one drug related to vehicular crashes. • Same problems as alcohol, but sometimes worse. Effects have been shown to last up to 24 hours after exposure. Other Drugs and Driving • Prescriptions and OTC Medications: May cause drowsiness (e.g. NyQuil) • Synergistic Effect: mixing two or more drugs causes the effects of both to increase (including alcohol) Fatigue • Physical • Emotional/Mental • Illness-induced Causes and Effects of Fatigue? • • • • Physical Mental/Emotional Illness-induced Overall effect on driving (Highway Hypnosis) What’s being done to combat driving fatigue? • Rumble strips • HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane Conclusion • There are many factors that affect driving • They are mostly negative • However, something can be done… What can I do? • Don’t drink and drive • Read medication labels to know whether or not it will make you drowsy • Sleep before driving, change drivers at a regular basis, power nap, HVAC