1993 Chevrolet Lumina Owner's Manual - Page 125

Drunken Driving Death and injury associatedwith drinlung and driving isa national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to thehighway death toll, claiming thousands of victims every year. Alcohol takes away three things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment Muscular Coordination Vision Police records show that half of all motor vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol-. driver, a passenger or someone else,such as a pedestrian, had been drinking.In most cases,these deaths are the result of someone who was drinkingand driving. Over25,000 motor vehicle-related deaths occur each year because of alcohol, and thousands of people are injured. person plans to drive? Ideally,no one should drink alcohol and thendrive. But if one does, then what's "too much"? It can bea lot less than many might think. Although it depends on each person and situation, here is some general informationon theproblem. The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of someone whois drinking depends upon four things: How much alcoholis in the drink. The drinker's body weight. The amount of food that is consumed before and during drinking. The length of time it has talcen the drinker to consume the alcohol. According to theAmerican Medical Association, a 180-pound (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. The person would reach the same BAC by drinking three 4-ounce (120 ml) glasses of wine or threemixed drinks if each had 11/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin vodka. or It's the amount of alcohol that counts. For example,if the same persondrank three double martinis (3 ounces or 90 ml of liquor each) within an hour, the person's BAC would be closeto 0.12 percent. A person who consumes food just before or during drinlung will have a slightly lowerBAC level.