Final Draft: Driving Under the Influence Making the decision to get behind the wheel after drinking, could be life changing. There are so many other ways to get home or to wherever you are needing to go. There are taxis, somebody to call, or simply assigning a designated driver before going out and drinking. Driving under the influence can be detrimental at any time to anyone including yourself and loved ones. Yet, many people around the world continue to drive under the influence every day. Side effects from drinking can and will affect a person’s ability to make decisions, unfortunately, the decision results in driving under the influence way too often. Driving under the influence is a major risk to the driver, passengers in the car, innocent bystanders, and other cars and its passengers that are sharing the road with the intoxicated driver. Effects of alcohol can vary depending on gender, weight, age, general health, medications, and state of mind (Byrd, 2011). Alcohol has an effect on the brain. Those effects can range depending on how much a person drinks. Effects can range from just feeling relaxed with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 and range all way to death when having a blood alcohol concentration of .40 or higher (Byrd, 2011). Most of the symptoms caused by alcohol include: lack of judgment, decreased reaction time, decreased or impaired fine motor skills, blurred vision, slurred speech, and vomiting. (Byrd, 2011). Knowing the side effects alcohol has on the brain should be enough to keep people from getting behind the wheel and driving. A driver that has been drinking, will often speed because alcohol affects the cerebellum, the part of the brain involved in motor functions (Pearlson, 1999). Drunk drivers also tend to weave in and out of lanes because of issues with the front parietal cortex, a part of the brain that translates sensory information and helps the decision making process (Pearlson, 1999). Another factor that should keep people away from driving under the influence is how illegal it is and the criminal consequences associated with driving under