Drunken Driving
Death and
injury
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
0
Vision
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, over 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
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
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.
4-3
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