1995 Pontiac Grand Prix Owner's Manual - Page 145

Drunken Driving Death andinjury associated withdrinking and driving is a national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to the highway deathtoll, claiming thousandsof victims every year. Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment MuscularCoordination Vision Attentiveness Police records show thatalmost half of all motor vehicle-related deathsinvolve alcohol. In most cases, these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking and driving. In recent years, some 18,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been associated the use with of alcohol, with more than300,000 people injured. Many adults -- by some estimates, nearly half the adult population -- choose never to drink alcohol,so they never drive after drinking. For persons under1, it's 2 against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol. There are good medical, psychological and developmental reasonsfor these laws. The obvious way to solve thisbghway safety problem is for people neverto drink alcohol and then drive. But what if people do? How muchis "too much" if the driver plans todrive? It's a lot less than many might think. Althoughit depends on each personand situation, here is some general information on the problem. The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) someone of who is drinking depends upon four things: 0 0 0 How much 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 tothe American Medical Association, a 180-pound (82 kg) person whodrinks three 12-ounce (355 ml) bottlesof beer inan hour will endup with a BAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach the same BACby drinking three 4-ounce(120 ml) glasses of wine or three mixeddrinks if each had 1- 1/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.