Truck Drivers and the fad called Alcoholism!
Drinking and doing drugs on the job are commonplace among truck drivers around the world and not a few would agree that this has in fact become a fad.
Ask any truck driver why he takes alcohol and he will probably tell you that he drinks to: stay awake for the journey, steel himself against the not-so-pleasant and sometimes dangerous operating environment of trucking, or simply to “drown the associated sorrows” of a life riddled with unfulfilled dreams or other major life stress.
A drink once in a while when you’re stressed out, off duty or blue is one thing. But when you need that cocktail every time a problem crops up or when a trip is at hand, it could be a sign of alcohol abuse.
Alcohol: The DANGER is in the name!
It is quite interesting what alcohol consists of. This is an area that many are not so concerned about. In fact, on the basis of this new insight, we have come to the conclusion that the danger of alcohol is in the Name and that is only if one care to look deep enough!
Now help yourself and take a moment to look at this!
The Oxford Dictionary as well as several online and published reference books defines alcohol as:
“A colourless volatile flammable liquid which is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel”
It therefore follows from the above definition that Alcohol is:
Volatile: This in other words could mean unstable, unpredictable and impulsive. In essence, whenever you are under the influence of alcohol, chances are that you’ll become unstable and highly impulsive, a clear indication of the ability to do things without thinking.
Flammable: It means explosive, easily combustible (likely to go up in flames). Alcohols reduce your tolerance level and make you lose your temper and self-control so easily.
Intoxicating: The Latin word for intoxicate is ‘intoxicare’ which means ‘to poison’. It is interesting to say that when we hear that word ‘poison’, what readily comes to mind is DEATH. Alcohols affect your mind setting. It promotes a false sense of invisibility and hardness and causes hallucination which is when you see or feel things different from the way they truly are.
Industrial Solvent: Just like it helps to break things down in an industrial environment, alcohols also break several things down within you starting from your physical internal organs (especially the liver) to the checks and control that preserves your sanity
Fuel: As fuel, alcohol propels or energizes things to do an ordinarily difficult or impossible task. But for an individual whose mind setting has already been negatively altered through the influence of alcohol, it’s therefore not a mystery that same substance also energizes or propels the human body to do things against its own best interest and wellness.
Without doubt, alcohol is a major enemy of safe and efficient driving. Mind altering or psychoactive substances have been proved to impair driving and cause a greater risk of traffic accidents. And you know why? This is not far-fetched:
It affects Judgment, Awareness, Attitude, Response Time, Vision and Alertness! (See the feature image)
Every RESPONSIBLE TRUCK DRIVER will never drink and drive!
