When holidays come up, the police and media across Australia focus their attention on road safety. This happened recently with the Easter break. Rightly so, as each year thousands of Australians are killed or injured on our nation’s roads, especially around Easter and New Year.

Soul Magazine reviewed some recent government papers published by the Federal Office of Road Safety so show why young people die on our roads and what are some of the public’s attitudes towards road safety. What can you do, as a young driver to lower your risk of being involved in a serious car crash?

Car crashes are no accident!

Car crashes are no accident! — That’s the official line from the Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS)–a government body within the Department of Transport. The people who count the road toll each year tell us that fatal road crashes in Australia are associated with or directly caused by the following:

Driver fatigue, speeding, alcohol consumption, poor road design, driver inexperience (ie, young drivers), failure to wear seatbelts, and at the other end of the lifespan, elderly drivers. (Source: FORS (1993) Description of Fatal Crashes).

In 1998 there were approximately 2,500 fatal motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in Australia in which more than 2,800 people were killed. The numbers killed or injured in each category were:

The category “Alcohol” included victims with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 to 0.15 and was associated with drinking at the pub or at clubs, drinking elsewhere with friends and drinking leading to sleepiness and dangerous driving. Dangerous driving included showing off to other car occupants and bystanders.

Speedsters and crashes must be first cousins, because the facts say the’re closely related. About 68 per cent of car crashes occur at speeds greater than 60 km/h. Above 60 km/h there is an exponential rist of crash involvement.

The risk doubles with every 5 km/h over 60 km/h. In all instances, a 10 km/h reduction in speed would result in a 42 per cent reduction in the number of car crashes. Even modest reductions in travelling speeds can have the potential to greatly reduce crash and injury frequency. (Source: FORS (1997) Travelling Speed and Risk of Crash Involvement)

Blow into this until I say cheers…

The BAC is the amount of alcohol present in the bloodstream. It is measured in grams per 100 millilitres. To stay under the limit and reduce risk of injury or death, the concept of a standard drink needs to be understood.

A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol. There is a standard drink (10 grams of alcohol) in the following drinks:

• 425 ml light beer 
• 285 ml full strength beer (1 schooner)
• 100 ml wine (1 wine glass)
• 60 ml fortified wine / port (1 port glass)
• 30 ml spirits (1 mixed drink, e.g. Jim Bean and Coke)

A safe level of drinking has been proposed based on these standard drinks. Women may consume 1 standard drink every hour and expect to stay below the .05 limit. For men, 2 drinks in the first hour and 1 drink for every hour after will probably keep you under the limit. Remember, just because you’re under the legal limit doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to drive.

005 Licence to Kill

Whilst James Bond could always throw back a Martini or two and then rip the bitumen up in his Aston Martin, we must not see ourselves in the same way. Quite simply any amount of alcohol, no matter how small, will affect our driving performance to some degree.

There will always be some additional risk associated with driving a car or being in a car where the driver has had some alcohol. Give this well known fact, there is a growing number of people in the community who feel that zero blood alcohol is the only safe limit for driving.

A 1997 FORS survey of 1298 people aged 15 years and over titled, “Community Attitudes to Road Safety,” showed that 40 per cent of people support a zero BAC for driving. Interestingly 50 per cent of respondents were opposed to such a suggestion. In the next few years Soul Magazine hopes that safe community attitudes and interests will further develop and be fully reflected in our drink driving legislation.

How much is enough?

Whilst many people enjoy alcohol, there are many bad effects to drinking that make driving very dangerous. Alcohol reduces your level of coordination, concentration span, reflex time, vision (especially at night) and ability to make wise judgments.

Alcohol is also known to make the user feel more confident despite having less ability to harness their growing confidence. This false confidence can appear in work, study, leisure and in personal relationships.

A BAC of 0.05 doubles the risk of being in a road crash. Getting smashed with a BAC of 0.15 for example, increases the crash risk 25 times!

Your BAC rises as soon as you start to drink. It reaches a peak about 1 hour after you strop drinking and then comes down slowly.

So – your number’s up

Drink and drive and you’re an idiot. Make it home and you’re a legend. Unfortunately, this attitude still exists in the community, especially amongst younger drivers. But younger people need to realise that they comprise about half of all fatal road crashes each year! Young people die in road crashes all the time.

Many young people have family members or close friends who have been killed by drink driving, including members of the Soul Magazine team. We feel society needs to create norms for young people where they can freely share these stories amongst themselves, because at present, road deaths are not talked about enough.

The sobering story of Mr. Liver

The sobering story of Mr. Liver is that only the passing of time lowers your BAC after drinking alcohol. Your liver is responsible for breaking down alcohol into less harmful chemicals. But the liver can only do this as fast as its enzyme pathways allow it to work.

So it takes Mr. Liver about one hour to break down the alcohol contained in one standard drink. Sometimes he’s still being overworked the next day following the big night out drinking booze. The next day you may still be over the legal limit for driving, despite no new alcohol intake for several hours.

Coffee, cold showers, exercise and vomiting do not make the BAC drop any faster. If you are of Asian background you may lack enough of these breakdown enzymes and you may get more drunk and stay that way longer, so look out!

What’s next, a return to 6 p.m. closing time?!

Maybe that’s going too far but there are options available for young people to reduce their risk of being involved in a car crash. It’s simple enough, don’t drink and drive–as all the well-known media campaigns will tell you. However, this may be oversimplifying the matter. Take the mature organised approach. If you are planning to drink, make arrangements beforehand for transport. If you and your peers aren’t prepared to take it in turns to be sober, take a taxi instead.

Soul Magazine believes you’d have to be an idiot to get into any car with a driver who’s been drinking. You’d be an even bigger idiot if that driver were you. We’ve been entrusted with responsibility and given some independence by way of our licences so let’s look after ourselves and other road users.

There are many other good driving tips. If you’re taking a longer trip, take short 5 or 10 minute breaks every hour or two. This will hardly delay your trip and will rest your eyes and wake you up. Studies have shown that drowsy drivers have similar brain wave batterns to people who are asleep!

Plan to sleep at a friend’s place rather than risk the trip home. Get somebody else to come and pick you up to make sure it’s not the ambulance service who does.

Learn about the standard drink limit and stick to it. Alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks when you’re out with the guys. If you’re a heavier drinker chose to have two or more alcohol-free days per week.

Overall, Soul Magazine believes that abstinence from alcohol is the only safe and truly healthy alternative. But if you insist on drinking, please consider our advice above to limit the risk of harm to yourself and others.

For Whom the Bell Tolls…

Question: What has killed 113,300 Australians since 1960? Answer: Road crashes. In South Australia we have 10 road fatalities per 100,000 population each year

Thankfully the road toll is declining. It is now half the number it used to be 20 years ago. In 1997, 1,768 people were killed on Australia roads. This figure included 777 motor vehicle drivers, 431 passengers, 328 pedestrians, 177 motor cyclists and 52 bicycle riders. Having safe and sensible young drivers on the road instead of dangerous ones will keep this number down.

King Solomon was perhaps the wisest man who ever lived. He said that strong drink is a mocker and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. He obviously knew the dangers that come with drinking. The message is clear, mix alcohol with driving and you’re sipping a deadly cocktail!

Foremost among those who were called to lead the church from darkness into the light of a purer faith, stood Martin Luther. Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures, Luther was the man for his time; through him God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.

Like the first heralds of the gospel, Luther sprang from the ranks of poverty. His early years were spent in the humble home of a German peasant. By daily toil as a miner his father earned the means for his education. He intended him for a lawyer; but God purposed to make him a builder in the great temple that was rising so slowly through the centuries. Hardship, privation, and severe discipline were the school in which Infinite Wisdom prepared Luther for the important mission of his life.

Luther was ordained a priest and was called from the cloister to a professorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here he applied himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues. He began to lecture upon the Bible; and the book of Psalm, the Gospels, and the Epistles were opened to the understanding of crowds of delighted listeners. Staupitz, his friend and superior, urged him to ascend the pulpit and preach the word of God. Luther hesitated, feeling himself unworthy to speak to the people in Christ’s stead. It was only after a long struggle that he yielded to the solicitations of his friends. Already he was mighty in the Scriptures, and the grace of God rested upon him. His eloquence captivated his hearers, the clearness and power with which he presented the truth convinced their understanding, and his fervor touched their hearts.

Luther’s teachings attracted the attention of thoughtful minds throughout all Germany. From his sermons and writings issued beams of light which awakened and illuminated thousands. A living faith was taking the place of the dead formalism in which the church had so long been held. The people were daily losing confidence in the superstitions of Romanism. The barriers of prejudice were giving way. The word of God, by which Luther tested every doctrine and every claim, was like a two-edged sword, cutting its way to the hearts of the people. Everywhere there was awakening a desire for spiritual progress. Everywhere was such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness as had not been known for ages. The eyes of the people, so long directed to human rites and earthly mediators, were now turning in penitence and faith to Christ and Him crucified. Said Luther: “Christ, our Mediator, has overcome. This is the great news! and we are saved by his work, not by our own.”

The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world’s history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding.

While Luther was opening a closed Bible to the people of Germany, Tyndale was impelled by the Spirit of God to do the same for England. Read more about his story in the next issue.

Story compiled from The Great Controversy.

Dear Friend,

How are you? I just had to send you this letter to tell you how much I love and care about you.

I saw you yesterday. I waited all day hoping you would talk to Me. As evening drew near, I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you, and I waited. You never came. Oh yes, it hurt Me but I still love you because I am your Friend.

I saw you fall asleep last night, and I longed to touch your brow, so I spilled moonlight upon your pillow and face. Again I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk. I have so many gifts for you!

My tears were in the rain. Today you looked so sad, so alone. It makes my heart ache because I understand. My friends let Me down and hurt Me many times too, but I love you. I try to tell you in the quiet green grass; I whisper it in the leaves and trees, breathe it in the colours of the flowers. I shout it to you in the mountain stream, and give the birds love songs to sing. I clothe you with warm sunshine and perfume the air. My love for you is deeper than the oceans and bigger than the biggest want or need you have.

We will spend eternity together in heaven. I know how hard it is on this earth. I really know (because I was there too) and I want to help you. My Father wants to help you too. He’s that way, you know. Just call Me, ask Me, talk to Me. It is your decision. I have chosen you, and because of this I will wait….. Because I love you.

Your Friend,
Jesus