blog home Car Accidents How Alcohol Makes It Harder to Spot Motorcycles

How Alcohol Makes It Harder to Spot Motorcycles

By Jason Bottlinger on December 4, 2022

Most motorcycle accidents involving other vehicles are caused by negligent car and truck drivers. In many cases, these drivers don’t even see the motorcycle rider until it’s too late.

Motorcycles have every right to use the road. And like everyone else on the road, it’s advisable for motorcycle riders to drive defensively to help avoid accidents. But when motorists are too intoxicated to even see a motorcycle that’s clearly within their field of vision, blame for the accident obviously falls upon the inebriated driver.

Intoxicated drivers are a leading cause of traffic collisions. Alcohol diminishes a person’s ability to drive safely. The short-term and long-term effects of drinking also make it more difficult for drivers to spot motorcycles on the road.

How Alcohol Impairs Drivers

Drunk driving is the most common preventable cause of automobile accidents. According to research cited by the National Institute of Health (NIH), 41 percent of traffic accidents in a given year were alcohol related. And the Center for Disease Control (CDC) notes that 29 people die every day in accidents that involve alcohol-impaired motorists.

There is a huge body of evidence that demonstrates how alcohol compromises a person’s ability to drive safely. Intoxicated motorists are a serious hazard for motorcycle riders. Unlike the occupants of a passenger car, motorcycle riders don’t have seatbelts or reinforced cabins to protect them.

Alcohol is deadly on the road because it impairs the following functions:

  • Coordination
  • Judgment
  • Concentration
  • Reflexes
  • Reaction time
  • Vision

How Alcohol Damages a Driver’s Vision

Drinking creates long-term and short-term effects that can harm your vision. The more alcohol someone has consumed, the more it will impair their vision.

When a person has been drinking, their pupils have trouble dilating and constricting properly. This makes it difficult to react to light, especially headlights. Drinking also makes it harder to perceive contrasts in brightness.

Short-term symptoms of drinking include:

  • Tunnel vision
  • Double vision
  • Blurred vision
  • Changes in eye movement
  • Diminished attention control
  • Reduced accuracy in locating visual targets

Chronic drinking over a long period of time can have a serious impact on a driver’s vision. Years of excessive drinking may damage the brain, liver, and the optic nerve, which all impact how a person sees.

The long-term impact from habitual drinking may have the following effects on visual perception:

  • Cataract formation (cloudy or opaque areas in field of vision)
  • Reduced ability to locate visual targets
  • Permanently blurred or double vision
  • Diminished perception of color contrast
  • Difficulty reacting to headlights
  • Decreased pupil reaction time
  • Reduced peripheral vision

Were You Harmed by a Drunk Driver in Omaha?

You shouldn’t have to pay your own medical bills when you were harmed by someone else’s careless behavior.

Bottlinger Law, L.L.C. has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Our experienced Omaha motorcycle accident attorney will help you get the money you need to get better by filing a claim against the negligent driver’s insurance company.

Call (402) 505-8234 to schedule a FREE consultation today. At Bottlinger Law, L.L.C., you won’t owe us anything unless we win your case.

Related Articles:

Posted in: Car Accidents

Bottlinger Law
Consultation Form

Our legal team is ready to help. Please fill out the form below to set up a free consultation with the Bottlinger Law team.