What are the causes of drunk driving?

Finding out the answer to possibly the most common drink and drive related questions, "What are the causes of drunk driving?" can help people to understand why it happens and hopefully reduce the risks it carries. "What are the causes of drunk driving?" is a question that has answers which aren"t as straightforward as you may think.

Everyone loves a good party with good food, conversation and usually copious amounts of alcohol present. The trouble with such social gatherings is that, often, you will get people who still want to drive home after drinking during such occasions.

What are the causes of drunk driving in the U.K?

While, logically, the main cause of driving while drunk is drinking enough alcohol to be over the legal driving limit and still thinking it is a good idea to get in the car and drive home, there are a variety of causes behind drunk driving. Ask yourself "what are the causes of drunk driving?" and see which of the following you come up with.

These are the most common reasons why people in the U.K. drink and drive:

- Drinking more than planned and not wanting to be an inconvenience to anyone else. Example: You"re a driver and you decided to spontaneously stop in a bar on the way home, just for the one drink. Before you know it, you"ve had several, you"re by yourself and don"t want to ask the bartender for a taxi number, or rely on someone else to take you home. Stubbornness while drinking dictates that you"re still going to get in your car and drive home, instead of finding people to help you.

- Not wanting to leave your car behind. Another common reason why people drink and drive is because they don"t want to abandon their car. Anything could happen to it overnight, especially if it is left in a less than desirable area.

- A willingness to drink + drive because they"ve done it before and think they can get away with doing it again. There is a false belief that if a driver has done it once and they were safe, they can just as easily pull off the same stunt again. Some drunk drivers may never experience an accident, but it doesn"t mean the increased risk isn"t there.

- A willingness to take risks. Some who drink and drive do so because they are willing to risk driving themselves home and being involved in accident, especially if they"re alone. Driving is a convenience that many people don"t want to give up, even after drinking too much. Trouble is, it isn"t only the life of the drunk driver which is at risk, it is also anybody that they happen to come across while on their route home e.g. people walking home, other people driving.

- Not believing the driver is over the limit as they"ve only had one or two drinks. Alcohol is absorbed at different rates, some people may drink alcohol and not see any adverse effects for a long period of time. This leads to the driver believing they are still safe to drive even though they"re over the legal U.K. limit.

The aforementioned information contains several answers to "what are the causes of drunk driving?", which can hopefully be used to increase awareneness and help people to see how their actions while drunk can lead to a drunk driving charge, or worse, accidental death.