Alcohol is a depressant. No, that doesn’t mean that drinking will make you melancholy. Although we’ve all seen our share of maudlin, melancholy drunks, alcohol can also make people hyper, giddy and excited. Alcohol does depress your central nervous system, however, which means that once you start drinking you lose your ability to react quickly to external stimuli. Quick reaction time is crucial to being able to drive safely. Alcohol also makes you less coordinated. Finally, alcohol reduces your ability to sense danger, so you aren’t even aware of how drunk you are and how dangerous it is for you to be behind the wheel of a vehicle.