1993 GMC Safari Owner's Manual - Page 167

person'sBACwouldbeclose to 0.12 percent.Aperson whoconsumes food just before or duringdrinkingwillhave a slightlylowerBAC level. Thelaw in most U.S. statessets the legal limitataBAC of 0.10 percent. In Canadathelimit is 0.08percent,and in someothercountriesit'slowerthan 0.10 percentafterthreetosixdrinks(inone that. TheBACwillbeover hour). Of course,aswe'veseen, it dependsonhowmuchalcohol is in the drinks,andhowquicklythepersondrinks them. to drive is affectedwell But it'sveryimportanttokeepinmindthattheability ofmany belowaBAC of 0.10 percent.Researchshowsthatthedrivingskills 0.05 percent,and that theeffects peopleareimpairedataBACapproaching 0.05 percent. areworseatnight.AlldriversareimpairedatBAClevelsabove Statisticsshowthatthechance of being in anaccidentincreasessharplyfor 0.05 percent orabove.AdriverwithaBAClevel drivers whohaveaBACof 82 kgperson) of 0.06 percent(threebeers in onehourfora180-poundor hasdoubledhis or herchanceofhavinganaccident.AtaBAClevel of 0.10 percent,thechance of that driverhavinganaccident is sixtimes greater;atalevel of 0.15 percent,thechancesaretwenty-fivetimesgreater! to riditself of thealcohol in onedrink. And, thebodytakesaboutanhour No amountof coffeeornumber of coldshowerswillspeedthatup. "1'11 becareful"isn'ttheright answer.What if there'sanemergency,aneed to takesuddenaction,aswhenachilddarts into thestreet?Apersonwitha higherBACmightnotbeable to reactquicklyenough to avoidthecollision. There'ssomethingelseaboutdrinkinganddrivingthatmanypeopledon't know. Medicalresearchshowsthatalcohol in aperson'ssystemcanmake crashinjuriesworse.That'sespeciallytrueforbrain,spinal cord andheart or injuries.Thatmeansthat if anyonewhohasbeendrinking-driver passenger-is in acrash,thechance of beingkilled orpermanentlydisabled is higher than if thatpersonhadnotbeendrinking.Andwe'vealreadyseen thatthechance of acrashitself ishigherfordrinkingdrivers. I Drinkingandthendrivingisverydangerous. Your reflexes, perceptions,andjudgmentwillbeaffectedbyevenasmallamount if you of alcohol. You couldhavea serious-orevenfatal-accident driveafterdrinking.Pleasedon'tdrinkanddrive or ridewithadriver who hasbeendrinking.Ridehome in acab;or if you'rewitha group,designateadriver whowillnotdrink. 4-1 1