Drunken DrivingDeath and injury associated with drinking and drivingis a national tragedy. It is the number one contributorto the highway death toll, claiming thousands ofvictims every year.Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drivea vehicle:• Judgment• Muscular Coordination• Vision• AttentivenessPolice records show that almost half of all motorvehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,these deaths are the result of someone who wasdrinking and driving. In recent years, more than16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have beenassociated with the use of alcohol, with more than300,000 people injured.Many adults — by some estimates, nearly half theadult population — choose never to drink alcohol, sothey never drive after drinking. For persons under 21,it is against the law in every U.S. state to drinkalcohol. There are good medical, psychological,and developmental reasons for these laws.The obvious way to eliminate the leading highwaysafety problem is for people never to drink alcoholand then drive. But what if people do? How much is“too much” if someone plans to drive? It is a lot lessthan many might think. Although it depends oneach person and situation, here is some generalinformation on the problem.The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someonewho is drinking depends upon four things:• The amount of alcohol consumed• The drinker’s body weight• The amount of food that is consumed before andduring drinking• The length of time it has taken the drinker toconsume the alcoholAccording to the American Medical Association, a180 lb (82 kg) person who drinks three 12 ounce(355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour will end up with aBAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach thesame BAC by drinking three 4 ounce (120 ml) glassesof wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1-1/2 ounces(45 ml) of liquors like whiskey, gin, or vodka.4-3
