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Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with dnnking 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 thmgs that anyone needs to drive
a
veEcle:
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; some 18,000 annual motor
vehicle-related deaths have been associated with the use
of alcohol, with more- than 300,000 people injured.
1
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.
developmentd reasons for these laws.
i
There are good medical, psychological and
, .
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:
How much alcohol consumed
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
consume the alcohol
According to the American Medical Association, a
180-pound (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.
,
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