An investigation into the prolonged effects of excessive acute alcohol consumption on motor vehicle driving skills

Abstract

The purpose of the current thesis was twofold: 1) to review the literature while linking the prolonged effects of excessive acute alcohol consumption (hangover) to decrements in complex vigilance tasks and 2) to determine if the prolonged effects of excessive acute alcohol consumption have an affect on driving a motor vehicle. Driving involves great requirements for attention, vigilance, and motor control. It has been previously demonstrated that alcohol, while in the body, or recently removed does cause decrements in attention span, judgment, psychomotor vigilance, and memory. However, there has been little consistency between the testing; for example, some researchers did not wait until participants’ blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.00 g% before conducting testing and therefore, the remaining alcohol in the participants’ bodies may have affected the results. In the present study it was indicated that hangovers do not have an effect on driving a motor vehicle, but with a BAC above the legal limit (0.08 g%) there is a significant decrement in driving ability. In conclusion, hangovers may not affect driving a motor vehicle, but future research should examine if more severe hangovers do have a detrimental effect.