1995 Cadillac DeVille Owner's Manual - Page 197

There is a gender difference, too. Women generally have a lower relative percentage of body water than men. Since alcohol is carried in body water, this means that a woman generally will reach a higher BAC level than a man of her same body weight when each has the same number of drinks. The law in many US.states sets the legal limit at a BAC of 0.10 percent. In a growing number of U.S. states, and throughout Canada, the is limit 0.08 percent. In some other countries it's even lower.The BAC limit for all commercial drivers in the US.is 0.04 percent. The BAC will be over 0.10 percent after threeto six drinks (in onehour). Of course, as we've seen, it depends on how much alcohol is in the drinks, and how quickly the person drinks them. Hut the ability to drive is affected well below a BAC of 0.10 percent. Research shows that thedriving skillsof many people are impaired at a BAC approaching 0.05 percent, and that the effects are worse at night. Ail drivers are impaired at BAC levels above 0.05percent. Statistics show that the chance of being in a collision increases sharply for drivers who have a BAC of 0.05 percent or above. A driver with a BAC level of0.06 percent has doubied his or her chance of having a collision. At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, thechance of this driver having a collision is twelve times b oreater: ata level of 0.15 percent, thechance is twenty-five times greater! The body takes aboutan hour to rid itself of the alcohol in one drink. No amount of coffee or number of cold showers will speed that up. "I'll be careful" isn't the right answer. What if there's an emergency, a need to take suddenaction, as when a child darts into the street?A person with even a moderateBAC might not be able to react quickly enough to avoid the collision. There's something else about drinking and driving that many people don't know. Medical research shows that alcohol in a person's system can make crash injuries worse, especially injuries to the brain,spinal cord or heart. This means that when anyone who has been drinking -- driver or passenger -- is in a crash, that person's chance of being killed or permanently disabled is higher than if the person had not been drinking. 4-4