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Why You Should Never Drink And Drive |
By:
Ed Phillips |
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Why You Should Never Drink and Drive
Ed Phillips
Alcohol will effect a person well before the legal limit of intoxocation is reached. The question stands that should a person be behind the wheel with any amount of alcohol in their system? Is 'buzzed' driving drunk driving or legal? There has been much research showing impairment of the system beginning at amounts far below the level required to be considered guilty of drunken driving.
The Legal Limit In all 50 states, the legal limit for drunk driving is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08. A 120-pound woman can reach a .08 BAC level after only two drinks and a 180-pound man can be at .08 after only four drinks.
A "drink" is either one shot of liquor, a five-ounce glass of wine or one beer, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol.
At a .08 BAC level, drivers are so impaired that they are 11 times more likely to have a single-vehicle crash than drivers with no alcohol in their system. But 25 years of research has shown that some impairment begins for both males and females even after one drink. .02 BAC Level At the .02 blood alcohol concentration level, experiments have demostrated that people exhibit some loss of judgment, begin to relax and feel good. But tests have also shown that drivers at the .02 level experience a decline in visual functions, affecting their ability to track a moving object, and experience a decline in the ability to perform two tasks at the same time.
.02 BAC Level - At the .02 blood alcohol concentration level, experiments have demostrated that people exhibit some loss of judgment, They start to experience altered mood such as feeling relaxed and good. But tests have also shown that drivers at the .02 level have a decline in visual functions which can affect their ability to track a moving object, and experience a decline in the ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention).
At the .05 BAC level, people begin to exhibit exaggerated behavior, experience loss of small-muscle control, such as being able to focus their eyes quickly and have impaired judgment, lowered alertness and a release of inhibition. They might have some minor impairment of reasoning and memory, lowering of caution. Behavior may become exaggerated and emotions intensified (Good emotions are better, bad emotions are worse).
If someone behind the wheel with a BAC level of .05 would be operating the vehicle with reduced coordination, a futher reduction in ability to follow moving objects, more trouble with steering and a noticeably reduced response in emergency situations.
A driver with a BAC of .08 will find it more difficult to concentrate, judge the speed of the vehicle, experience reduced information processing capability and exhibit impaired perception.
For the person who is drinking, the above impairments may be hardly noticeable at the time, but the slow reaction times that they can produce could prove fatal in a emergency driving situation.
For the drinker, the above impairments may be hardly noticeable at the time. Most believe that they are functioning better than they really are. However the slow reaction times that they might have could be deadly in a emergency driving situation for themselves or others.
For the drinker, the above impairments may be hardly noticeable at the time, but the slow reaction times that they can create could be fatal in a emergency driving situation. No matter the situation, it is not a good idea to drive no matter how much or how little that you have had to drink. Further consideration is alcohol tolerance. Alcohol affects people differently. Some people have a higher response to drinking alcohol than others. Simply put, Those drinkers with a high response to alcohol can experience signs of impairment at the .02 BAC level whereas others do not experience effects until the .05 level.
The Safe Limit For this reason, in some states drivers can be arrested for driving while impaired even if their blood alcohol concentration is lower than the legal limit, if the law enforcement officer believes he has probable cause based on the behavior and reactions of the driver. It's simply not a wise choice to get behind the wheel no matter how much you have had to drink. The only safe driving limit is .00 percent.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article78709.html |
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