1997 Oldsmobile Silhouette Owner's Manual - Page 229

Drunken Driving Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is a national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims every year. Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment 0 The obvious way to solve this highway safety problem is for people never to drink alcohol and then drive. But what if people do? How much is "too much" if the driver plans to drive? It's a lot less than many might think. Although it depends on 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 0 0 Muscular Coordination Vision Attentiveness. 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. 0 Police records show that almost half of all motor vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. I n most cases, these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking and driving. In recent years, some 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, nearly half the adult population -- choose never to drink alcohol, so they never drive after drinking. For persons under 2 1 , it's against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol. There aregood medical, psychological and developmental reasons for these laws. According to the American Medical Association, a 180-lb. (82 kg)person who drinks three 12-ounce (355 m l ) 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 ( I 20 ml) glasses of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1- 1/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka. 4-3