BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELS
THE LEGAL LIMITSThe amount of alcohol in your blood stream is referred to as Blood Alcohol Level (BAL). For example, a BAL of 0.10 means that 1/10 of 1 percent (or 1/1000) of your total blood content is alcohol. While that may not sound like a lot, it is the benchmark for legal driving in the US (though some states have recently lowered it to .08). Actually, the US is the only industrialized nation to have BALs this high.
HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR SYSTEM
When you drink alcohol, it goes directly from your stomach into your blood stream. This is why you typically feel the effects of alcohol quickly, especially if you haven’t eaten in a while. Drinking alcohol greatly impairs a wide range of your motor skills and reaction time. These skills are necessary for performing many daily tasks especially driving a car. Safe driving requires you to perform multiple tasks at once, under constantly changing conditions. Plus, you must be able to make quick decisions and maneuver the vehicle based on those decisions. If a car pulls out in front of you suddenly, you need lightning-quick reflexes to avoid a crash. But, alcohol seriously diminishes your reflexes and response time to any stimulus.
Drunk driving is known in some states as a “DUI” (driving under the influence) or “DWI” (driving while intoxicated) and OWI (operating while intoxicated). The laws and penalties for drunk driving vary widely from state-to-state, but the consequences for the victims are often the same: fatal. A driver with a BAL of 0.10 is seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash than is a driver who has not consumed alcoholic beverages. And a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 is about 25 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash.
YOUR SKILLS DIMINISH WITH LITTLE ALCOHOL
Years of credible research have clearly shown that impairment of safe driving skills starts as low 0.05 percent. In fact, a review of 112 studies concluded that certain skills required to operate any motorized vehicle are impaired at low levels. At 0.05 percent BAL, most studies report significant impairment. Some skills are even significantly impaired at 0.01 percent BAL – and other skills do not show impairment until 0.06 percent BAL.
Other research has shown that alcohol significantly impairs driving simulator performance at BALs starting as low as 0.02 percent. Specifically, at BALs of 0.02 percent or lower, the ability to divide attention between two or more sources of visual information can be impaired. With BALs starting at 0.05 percent, drivers show other types of impairment, including eye movement, glare resistance, visual perception, and reaction time.
CONCLUSION: DRINKING AND DRIVING DON’T MIX
The lesson from this startling research is: one should never drink and drive any vehicle even after consuming a tiny amount. That’s because even one drink can dull your senses and lower reaction time with fatal consequences. When you consider 40% of all fatal car crashes involve alcohol, it becomes clear that drinking and driving can be a fatal mixture.
Blood Alcohol Level and the associated effects:
0.02 > MELLOW FEELING, SLIGHT BODY WARMTH
0.05 > LESS ALERT, COORDINATION IMPAIRMENT BEGINS
0.08 > DEFINITE IMPAIRMENT IN COORDINATION & JUDGMENT
0.10 > MOOD SWINGS, REDUCED REACTION TIME
0.15 > IMPAIRED BALANCE & MOVEMENT: CLEARLY DRUNK
0.30 > MANY LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS
0.40 > MOST LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS & SOME DIE
0.50 > BREATHING STOPS, MANY DIE
