Drunken Driving
Deah and injury associated with dnnlung 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
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
18,000
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
U.S.
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:
0
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
consume the alcohol.
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
same
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.
3
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