1998 Cadillac Eldorado Owner's Manual - Page 201

Drunken Driving Death and injury associated with drinking driving and is a national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims every year. Alcohol affects four thingsthat anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment Muscular Coordination Vision Attentiveness. Police records show that almost of all motor half vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases, these deathsare the result of someone who was drinking and driving. In recent years, over 17,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been associated with the use of alcohol, with more than 300,000 people injured. Many adults -- by some estimates, nearlyhalf the adult population -- choose never to drink alcohol, they so never drive after drinking. For persons under 21, it's against the lawin every U.S. state to drink alcohol. There are good medical, psychological and developmental reasons for these laws. The obvious way to solve thishighway safety problem is for peoplenever to drink alcohol and then drive. But what if people do?How much is "toomuch" if the driver plans to drive? a lot less than many might It's think. Although it dependson 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: The amount of alcohol consumed The drinker's body weight 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-lb. (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. Theperson would reach the same BAC by drinking three4-ounce (120 ml) glasses of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1- 1/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor likewhiskey, gin or vodka. 4-3