Drunken
Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving
is
a
natiQna1
tragedy. It's the number one contributor to
the highway death toll, claiming thousands
of
victims
every year.
I
Alcohol affects
four
things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:
@-
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half
0f
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 adultp
--
by some estimates, nearly half the
adult population
--
choose-never
to
drink
alcahol,
so
they never drive
der
drinking.
For
persons
under 2
1,
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
hghway safety problem
is
far 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
hnk.
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 mount
of
alcohol consumed
The drinker's body weight
e
The
amount
of
food
that
is
consumed
before
and
during drinking
consume the alcohol.
e
The length
of
time it has taken the drinker to
According to the American
Medical Association,
a
180-lb.
(82
kg)fperson
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
1-112
ounces
.(45
ml)
of
a
liqudr
like
whiskey, gin
or
vodka.
4-2
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