Drunkel
lg
Death and in~~ry associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It’s the number one contributor to the
highway death toll, claiming thousands
of
victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:
Judgment
0
Muscular Coordination
Vision
0
Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol.
In
most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking
and driving.
In
recent years, some 17,000 annual motor
vehicle-related deaths have been associated with the use
of
alcohol, with more than
300,000
people injured.
Many adults
--
by some estimates, nearly half the adult
population
--
choose never to
drink
alcohol,
so
they
never drive after drinking. For persons under 21, it’s
against the law in every
US.
state to drink alcohol.
There
are
good medical, psychological and
developmental reasons for these laws.
The obvious way to solve this highway safety problem
is for people never to
drink
alcohol and then drive. But
what
if
people do? How much is “too much”
if
the
driver plans to,drive? It’s a lot less than many might
think. Although it depends on each person and situation,
here is some general information on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:
The amount of alcohol consumed
0
The drinker’s body weight
0
The amount
of
food that is consumed before
and
during drinking
0
The length
of
time it has taken the drinker to
According to the American Medical Association, a
180-lb.
(82
kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce
(355
ml) bottles
of
beer in an hour will end up with a
BAC of about
0.06
percent. The person would reach the
sme BAC by drinking three 4-ounce (120 ml) glasses
of
wine or three mixed drinks
if
each had 1-1/2 ounces
(45
ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.
consume the alcohol.
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