But it’s very important to keep in mind that the ability to drive is affected
well below a BAC
of
0.10
percent. Research shows that the driving skills of
many people are impaired at a BAC approaching
0.05
percent, and that the
effects are worse at night. All drivers are impaired at BAC levels above
0.05
percent. Statistics show that the chance of being in an accident increases
sharply for drivers who have a BAC of
0.05
percent or above. A driver with
a BAC level of
0.06
percent (three beers
in
one hour for a 180-pound or
82
kg person) has doubled his or her chance of having an accident. At a BAC
level of
0.10
percent, the chance of that driver having an accident is six
times greater; at a level of
0.15
percent, the chances are twenty-five times
greater! And, the body takes about an hour to rid itself
of
the alcohol in one
drink.
No
amount of coffee or number of cold showers will speed that up.
“I’ll be careful” isn’t the right answer. What
if
there’s an emergency, a need
to take sudden action, as when a child darts into the street?
A
person with a
higher BAC might not be able to react quickly enough to avoid the collision.
There’s something else about drinking and driving that many people don’t
know. Medical research shows that alcohol in a person’s system can make
crash injuries worse. That’s especially true for brain, spinal cord and heart
injuries. That means
that
if
anyone who has been drinking
-
driver or
passenger
-
is in a crash, the chance of being killed or permanently
disabled is higher than if that person had not been drinking. And we’ve
already seen that the chance of a crash itself is higher for drinking drivers.
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