Thousands of South African motorist blatantly flout the law by driving under the influence of alcohol each year. Their disregard for safety places a tremendous burden on the country’s emergency services and leads to untold misery through death and the destruction of private property. The Medical Research Council of South Africa compiled a report documenting the number of people killed in road accidents, whose blood alcohol exceeded the given limitations.

What is alcohol abuse?

Alcohol abuse can be referred to as the over indulgence or excessive usage and dependence on alcohol that acts on the central nervous system to alter brain functions. This typically results in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behaviour leading to effects that are harmful to a person’s physical or mental health or the welfare of others.

But if you wise up and make responsible decisions, you will arrive alive.

Effects of alcohol abuse on the body:

Often, people around drunk drivers know what is happening. If those individuals could be held accountable for a crash, they might be more willing to intervene. The possibility that everyone in the car—and not just the driver—could be charged might also give drinkers additional motivation to make plans ahead of time for a safe ride home. And the law already allows people to be held responsible as accomplices or accessories for other crimes. If you drive the getaway car instead of pointing the gun at the bank teller, the law still considers you guilty of armed robbery.

It’s essential to recognise that drunk driving is the biggest single contributor to road fatalities in South Africa. I have seen unreleased morgue reports that 60-70% of drivers and pedestrians killed in road crashes have a blood alcohol (BA) content in excess of 0.08g/100ml.

Take into account that around 40% of all fatalities in SA are pedestrians, it becomes clear it’s not only drivers that are of concern.

STEPS TO ACTION

There are other affects of alcohol that you may not be aware of. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver in two main ways Liver disease is the term used to describe damage to the liver and there are two types. Acute is when liver problems develop over a few months and chronic is damage over a number of years. There are lots of different causes of liver disease, including drinking alcohol to excess which causes ‘alcoholic liver disease’.