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
0
The drinker’s body weight
0
The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking
The length of time it has taken the drinker to
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
-
112 ounces
(45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.
consume the alcohol.
4-3
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