It’s
the
amount of alcohol that counts. For example,
if
the same person drank three double martinis
(3
ounces
or
90
ml
of
liquor each) within an hour, the person’s
BAC would be close to 0.12 percent.
A
person who
consumes food just before or during drinking will have
a
somewhat lower BAC level.
There is a gender difference, too. Women generally have
a lower relative percentage
of
body water than men.
Since alcohol is carried
in
body water,
this
means that a
woman generally will reach a higher BAC level than
a
man
of
her same body weight when each has the same
number of drinks.
The law
in
many
U.S.
states sets the legal
limit
at
a
BAC
of
0.10
percent.
In
a growing number
of
U.S.
states, and
throughout Canada,
the
limit is
0.08
percent. In some
other countries it’s even lower. The BAC limit for all
commercial drivers
in
the
U.S.
is
0.04
percent.
The BAC
will
be over
0.10
percent after three to
six
drinks
(in
one hour). Of course,
as
we’ve seen,
it
depends
on
how much alcohol
is
in
the drinks, and how
quickly the person drinks them.
But
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
a collision
increases sharply for drivers who have a BAC of
0.05
percent
or
above.
A
driver
with
a BAC level
of
0.06
percent
has
doubled his or her chance of having a
collision.
At
a
BAC level of
0.10
percent, the chance of
this driver having
a collision
is
twelve times greater; at a
level of
0.
I5
percent, the chance is twenty-five times
greater!
4-3
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