Was Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy drinking the night of his car accident? We will probably never know the truth. But, the possibility raises an interesting question about why successful, and presumably smart, people so often take the risk of driving under the influence. The answer lies in how our brains handle information and awareness about risks and rewards, both known and unconscious.

We all know that drinking and driving don't mix well. Our nervous system becomes compromised, severely limiting our reaction time, motor skills capability, and perception. We know this because we have witnessed people impaired by alcohol, we often (though not nearly enough) hear about the dangers from public service ads, and many of us have even experienced intoxication ourselves. And yet, alcohol-related traffic fatalities still represent about 40% of the total deaths from auto crashes each year, according to NHTS data. This is down from 60% in the last 20 years, but it is still an alarming portion of the tragedies. Laws have become tougher and public awareness greater, thanks to organizations like MADD, but people still make the reckless choices that lead to drunken driving.

So, why do we continue to do such a stupid thing as get behind the wheel when intoxicated? There are three factors which combine to promote this kind of irresponsible risk-taking.

First, there is ignorance and selfishness. We don't really understand and appreciate the debilitating effects of alcohol on the body and why it subsequently makes driving so dangerous. Even if we have at one time learned and understood the facts, we are quick to forget or ignore them in situations where not driving would be just too big a sacrifice personally. Social drinking is almost as big a part of our lives as traveling to and from work and gatherings with friends and family. Combine the two activities, and the opportunities to forget or ignore the facts of alcohol impairment and driving dangers are too numerous in any given week. Apparently, it takes more than the threat of strong punishment to override our strong social-emotional needs that find us both drinking and driving.

Second, there is more ignorance plus unconscious, emotional decsion-making. We think we are in control of our thoughts and actions most of our waking day. We make the false assumption that our rational minds are directing the majority of our choices, perceptions, and behaviors. Why is this a false assumption? Recent brain science has proven that controlling, directive activity is occurring in any of five other unconscious regions of brain tissue in many different situations. In essence, there is a lot more going on than just left vs. right brain processing. This "multi-tasking" brain organization leads to three typical problems:

(1) In the case of making a rational decision about leaving a bar or party in our car after "too much to drink" (a subjective judgment all by itself), we could be influenced by any number of personal motives and habits of thought we are not even aware of. For instance, we might be so emotionally concerned about a fight we had with our partner or about getting home to bed to get a good night's sleep before work, that we don't accurately evaluate all the much more serious risks of driving drunk.

(2) More importantly, our conscious brain isn't the one doing the driving anyway! How often have you had the experience of driving to work or the store and not remembering doing it? "How did I get here already? I don't even remember going through that intersection at Washington or getting on the expressway!" This happens because our conscious brains don't drive the car--- our unconscious, lower, motor centers of the brain do it automatically. And they are the ones most crippled by alcohol. Their job is to filter, interpret, and react to millions of pieces of information per second that the conscious, rational mind never notices. How well do you think they do it when drunk?

(3) Lastly, because we live under the questionable assumption that we are in constant control of our thoughts and actions, we also tend to assume that we can drive our automobiles with sheer will power and concentration regardless of our bodies' depression by alcohol. Since we don't know or understand how our unconscious brain automatically drives the car, we allow irrational, selfish, and sometimes destructive beliefs and thoughts to assume command and take control when we are impaired. Thus, our childish ego and our irrational confidence, both capable of getting drunk and then being at their worst, cause us to make some awfully bold and stupid moves. "Give me my keys! I'm not taking a cab! I'm fine!" are the rally cries of those who will not submit their lifestyle and convenience to reason or authority.

The third element in our irresponsible stance on the risks of drunk driving combines our ignorance with over-confidence, denial, and arrogance. Our past experience tells us that drinking and driving "isn't really so bad." We've survived it so many times, what's one more go, right? Heck, we're even pretty good at it, or so we think. How many times have you heard someone secretly brag about what a "good" drunk driver they are? Here, our conscious and unconscious are working together against the truth to filter out and discard information which denies our competence, correctness, goodness, and self-worth. No one wants to admit, even to himself, he is doing something wrong or irresponsible. Thus, to preserve the illusion that you are good and right, your mind has to deny a lot of facts. The truth is that just because something is common, and often socially tolerable, doesn't mean that it is not extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

These are the primary factors that propel otherwise successful and smart people to do something so stupid and potentially disastrous. Whether it is ignorance, selfishness, irrationality, or the triple threat of over-confidence, denial, and arrogance that drives us to break the law, ignore the facts of alcohol impairment, and risk other lives, there is a cure for all three. Learn the hard facts about drinking and driving by going to the MADD website at www.MADD.org. Then, to understand the whys of our behavior, we would do well to learn more about the structure and function of our brains. Our rational minds tend to trick us about the ways that the brain actually gets things done and how, in many cases, it is really running the show on autopilot without us even being aware of it. Knowing how we actually drive, how we actually make decisions, and how we actually filter avalanches of conflicting and stress-inducing information can go a long way to saving our lives and those of others.

Besides, if you take the time, your mind can actually learn a lot from your brain. You can stay smart, successful, and safe a lot longer and you might just appreciate how that three-pound hunk of wonder tissues between your ears got you there. Just imagine how this way of thinking could extend to other bad habits like smoking or unhealthy eating, and to some good habits like teaching our teenagers not to damage their still-developing brains with alcohol. Learning about our brains makes us smarter than just about anything else we could do.