ADVANCED ACADEMIC ENGLISH SKILLS

‘WAYS TO REDUCE ROAD ACCIDENT CAUSED BY DRUNK DRIVERS (PROBLEM

SOLUTION)’

COURSE CODE ULAB2122

No. Name Matric No

1 AMIR AKMAL BIN MOHAMAD B19BE0040
2 AISHA FAGHIRA BINTI MD ROZAIMI B19BE0037
3 NUR FARISHA EDLIN BINTI MOHAMAD B19BE0110

SECTION 06
LECTURER’S NAME MADAM NUR SHAMSINAR BINTI RAMLI
 In this modern era, people are more depending on transportation as a medium to
transport them to their desire places, whether it is by cars, public buses, aeroplanes or
bicycles. We cannot deny that those things are the one of the best inventions that have been
invented. Nevertheless, it also has come with the consequences. One of the consequences is
car accident, whether it is caused on purpose or not by the people. According to Hani (2019)
The Global Status Report on Road Safety declared that in 2016, Malaysia had 7,152 deaths
with 87% are male. Alcohol intoxication is a risky condition because when the alcohol
concentration in the bloodstream exceeds the permissible limit, it can influence a person’s
frame temperature, breathing and coronary heart rate. So, when the person who got drunk
after partying all night, and the person decided to drive the car by himself, this will lead to
road accident because he is not in his right state of mind to be behind the wheel. Therefore,
Malaysia Government and non-governmental organization should try (plan) to find a way to
reduce road accident caused by drunk drivers. Road accidents caused by drunk drivers can be
reduced if the government plays the roles by taking an action on this matter, introduce a
device that can prevent the driver from driving the car under the intoxication of alcohol and
implementation/execution of designated driver service and programmes.

The conduct of consuming an alcohol and driving may bring harm for the
driver/drivers and the innocent people. Most of the drunk driving cases in Malaysia are fatal
and caused permanent disability to the victims. Therefore, the government should play the
roles by taking an action/actions on how to reduce the rate of drunk driving accidents. I
believe that, the government is the entitled one to make a big change in this matter because
the government held a power in this country. The government can improve the existing laws
in Malaysia regarding the cases of accidents caused by drunk drivers. As we all know, there
is an act about the transport which is called as Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333). This is
where all the punishment/s for road offences are stated so that everyone should be aware of
this punishment before they do something that can affect his own life later on. This is the
right time for the government to improvise and review back (grammatical error) the
punishment that will charge to the drunk driver. Before this, the punishment was 12 months
in jailed, with maximum fined of RM10,000, or both as stated in Section 43 of The Road
Transport Act 1987 (Sugumar, 2020). This punishment is not severe enough and lenient as
there are still the increase of cases day by day. The government maybe can look up to other
developed country about the punishment/s that will be charged to the offender. South Korea
has enforced a new punishment to the drunk driver, starting from 25 June 2019, where the

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offender/s will be charged with a maximum fine of 20,000,000 Won which approximately
RM72,000 and five years jailed (Minho,2019). The severity of the punishment will be
depended on the blood-alcohol concentration test that will be done/executed by the police
officers. This punishment will be charged to the drunk driver, although he did not-(statement
should be in present tense) involve in any accident. The Malaysian Government can make a
roadblock every night or night of weekend at every hot spot of the alcoholic drinker/s such as
in Jalan Tun Razak or Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. In this roadblock, the police officers
should do/conduct the blood-alcohol concentration test on the drunk driver/s (is it possible
only a driver?) like what South Korea did. If the test came out more than 0.03 percent, the
person should be charged with the fines or put behind a bar (Minho, 2019). Other than that,
the government can revoke the driver’s license if the person was found driving with an
alcohol in his system, or he caused an accident to other people. (Taylor & Oberman, 2012)
stated that “Administrative license revocation, or ARL, allows an arresting officer to
immediately confiscate the license of any driver who is found with a Blood-Alcohol
Concentration (BAC) at or above the legal limit, or who refuses to take BAC test” (Page 59).
The revocation of the driver’s license is a great action that will be taken by the government
because he will lose his right to drive on the road. He cannot drive his car anymore or until
further notice. To be truth, all of this/these suggested punishment/s is not harsh, but it is fair
to them because they caused an accident when they know that they are not in their right state
of mind to drive because the alcohol can cause them a confusion where this will be lead to the
accident.-simplify-

Generally, every country has their own law of driving under the influence of alcohol
and the blood alcohol content of every country is different. Blood alcohol content (BAC) an
amount of the total of alcohol circulating in the bloodstream. It is expressed in terms of
weight (milligrams) according to the unit of volume (millilitres) and is typically shown as a
percentage. Blood alcohol content material is used for a felony and clinical purposes to
suggest a person’s level of intoxication. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Laos and Singapore
have the same blood alcohol level which is 0.08% or 80 milligram alcohol in blood
meanwhile for Thailand is zero for professional or commercial drivers and 0.05% for all
other drivers (Wikipedia, n.d.). When alcohol is consumed and absorbed into the
bloodstream, it travels through the frame and to the brain, affecting many cognitive functions
and the potential to carry out physical tasks. Driving competencies may be impaired lengthy
before someone reaches the legal limit, however at 0.08 the danger of getting a car crash

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increases dramatically. To overcome/In order to overcome/ the road accidents caused by
drunk drivers in Malaysia, the government should introduce a device that can prevent the
driver from driving the car under intoxication of alcohol like the other countries do. Some
devices-device is plural-that can be introduced to the people that always get drunk are Breath
Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) and The Cumulative Collision Warning (CCW).
A breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) or ignition interlock device (IID) is a
breathalyser where it is located in a car (Wikipedia, n.d.). This device works before the driver
wants to start the vehicle; the driver needs to blow into a mouthpiece on the device. The car
will start based on the result of the driver’s breath that was tested by the BAIID. If the
resultant breath-alcohol attention analysed findings are extra than the programmed blood
alcohol content, the gadget blocks the engine from being started. The interlock device is
placed within the vehicle, near the driving force’s seat and it is connected to the engine’s
ignition system. The device will break off the signal from the ignition to the starter until the
breath sample that has been provided suits the maximal alcohol recommendations in that
state. A breath sample is not always necessary to begin the automobile if the engine has been
ongoing within a time-out period but to let speedy re-starts in case the automobile stops from
running. But, BAIID needs one more breath sample at random times after the engine has been
started that known as a rolling retest. It is to avoid someone who is with the driver gives a
breath sample. According to Marques (2001) stated that:

In the United States, Canada, Sweden, and in pilot programs in Australia, interlocks
are placed on the vehicles of DWI offenders under the order of a court, or through
stipulation by a motor vehicle authority as part of a reinstatement requirement or a
restricted driving license. Used in this way, interlock programs are targeted at proven
high-risk operators. Applying a preventive countermeasure such as an interlock in this
way is sometimes referred to as secondary prevention because it focuses on people
who are most likely to place the public at risk with their drinking and driving. Most
authorities currently using the interlock apply it to these high-risk populations. (p. 10)

Cumulative collision warning system (CCW), also known as a collision avoidance system,
pre-crash system or collision mitigation system is a vehicle safety system designed to avoid
or lessen the seriousness of a collision (Wikipedia, n.d.). In its fundamental form, a forward
warning system monitors a car’s speed, the velocity of the vehicle in front of it, the gap
between the vehicles and to sign a warning to the driver if the vehicles get too close to avoid
an accident from happening. Different type of technologies and sensors that are used such as

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radar, laser and sensor to perceive any accident that will occur. This device is a plan where it
is about making vehicles extra self-regulating and mechanized that may inform vehicle
drivers under awful conditions. This system consists of MQ-3 alcohol sensor to regularly
observe the alcohol blood concentration level, to find the existence of liquor in the breath of a
vehicle’s driver (Dayana, Sinha, Jha & Yadav, 2019). By setting the sensor on steering wheel
of the vehicle, the system can frequently check the alcohol concentration level from the
driver’s breath. If the driver is driving the vehicle while drunk, the device could get activated.
So, the vehicles will keep at its own speed depends on the other nearby vehicles. Therefore,
this would reduce the rate of accident. The CCW has three parts and three main functions.
Firstly, forward collision warning assistant alerts the driver if no further action is taken by the
driver then the forward collision assistant will be triggered. Next, they can also be
incorporated with the braking system to automatically apply intelligent braking. Lastly, lane
change assistant warns the driver of the vehicle if there are obstructions from behind in the
hidden field of lanes or vehicles. The higher models do the lane automatically shift
themselves. When the device is introduced, it makes the vehicles more smart (smarter) which
the device may alert the drivers if they are under unstable condition to drive especially when
they are drunk. According to Dayana, Sinha, Jha and Yadav (2019) stated that:

This system efficiently detects the state of the intoxicated driving. By executing the
proposed system in vehicles, a secure drive can be achieved and accident rate can be
reduced due to intoxicated driving. The system has Cumulative Collision Warning
system, this would automatically get activated if the driver is found to be drunk. This
can be described as a safety features for vehicle. (p. 2904)

Drunk driving is one of the worst scenarios that eventuates in every nation. The
implementation of designated driver service and programmes by the non-profit organization
is one of the approaches that can forestall the jeopardies of drunk driving. It can be executed
by encouraging and elevate people’s choice to choose a designated driver in an occasion
before they get behind the wheels. Non-profit organization such as Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD) and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) are the crowd that always
lead the movement in order to ensure the accomplishment and achievement of the programs
in America. In addition, MADD and SADD campaign are mainly on emphasizing the
potentially severe consequences associated with drunk driving. The author Philips, Melody &
Abbie (2013) stated that “So effective has this organization been, that it is estimated that 94%
of all Americans recognize MADD’s name and are familiar with its purpose of changing

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national attitudes concerning driving while impaired or intoxicated” (p. 62). Individual who
has been assigned to be the driver swears off alcohol for the event and vow to get everyone
home safely. Ditter, Elder, Shults, & Sleet (2005) stated that “People who identified
themselves as designated drivers and ensured that they abstained from alcohol use and drove
their parties from the drinking establishment” (p. 281). Hence, there is a way in any
adversity. In line of the precautions for drunk driving, the eyes should be on the drivers. It is
more noticeable when programs and campaigns are introduced in depth. Nielson & Watson
(2009) stated that “A review from Australia concluded that designated driver programs can
successfully increase awareness and use of designated drivers, but evidence for changes in
alcohol-related crashes is inconclusive” (p. 426). Social approaches and methods of
presenting these programmes are crucial to the effectiveness of the adequacy of preventive
measures. The importance of such program is to teach everyone how to implement this
program widely. The "Skipper" designated driver program in Queensland, Australia is an
actual case of a positively effective program. The program gives free sodas to people who
consent to remain calm and fill in as assigned drivers and it was pilot tried in 41 scenes, and
was dynamically publicized through radio and mass media. The future cooperation between
the government and non-profit organizations will have a positive impact on the community in
addressing this polemic.

In conclusion, drunk driving gives so much negative impacts such as can causing road
accidents because a driver who is driving under alcohol influence tend to cause road
accidents compared to a driver who is not under alcohol influence. People nowadays always
think that it is okay to drive themselves to their homes after drinking, and they also think that
their action is not against the law. They do not even think about the consequences if
something happened when they drive /of driving/ under alcohol influence. In many countries
over the world, many deaths have been reported because of accidents that caused by drunk
driving. In Malaysia, government and non-government organization should take serious
actions to reduce road accident caused by drunk driver/s such as improving the existing laws
of road transport in Malaysia, introduce devices that can prevent from drunk and driving and
also the implementation of designated driver program. By using these ways, the rate of road
accidents caused by drunk drivers can be reduced slowly.

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REFERENCES

Dayana, B. D., Sinha, S., Jha, A. & Yadav (2019). Automatic Alcohol Detector Car
Control Panel, International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT),
9(1), 2904.

Ditter, M., Elder., W., & Shults, A. (2005) Effectiveness of Designated Driver
Programs for Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving. American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, 28(55)

Hani, A (2019). Drunk drivers kill and we know it, but… Retrieved from
https://themalaysianreserve.com/2019/10/30/drunk-drivers-kill-and-we-know-it-but/

Philips, F., Patricia, M., & Abbie, G. (2013) Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):
History and Impact. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 28(4), 62-67.

Marques, P. R. (2001). Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices I : Position Paper.

United States of America: International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety
(ICADTS).

Minho, J (2019). Tougher drunk-driving law set to come into force. Retrieved from
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/01/119_267632.html

Nielson, A. & Watson, B. (2009) A profile of designated drivers and the people who
use them: A survey of two provincial Queensland cities, 426

Sugumar, P. (2020). Don’t just punish, take hollistic approach to drink

driving, lawyers urge Putrajaya. Retrieved from
https://www.capitalpost.com.my/2020/01/30/dont-just-punish-take-holistic-approach-to-
drink-driving-lawyers-urge-putrajaya/

Taylor, L & Oberman, S (2006). Drunk Driving Defense (Sixth Edition). New
York, United State of America. Aspen Publishers.

Wikipedia (n.d.). Collision avoidance system. Retrieved April 1, 2020 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_avoidance_system

Wikipedia (n.d.). Drunk driving law by country. Retrieved April 1, 2020 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_driving_law_by_country
 Wikipedia (n.d.). Ignition interlock device. Retrieved April 1, 2020 from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition_interlock_device