1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette Owner's Manual - Page 235

Drunken Driving Death and injury associatedwith drinking and driving is a national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to the highway death toll, claiming thousands victims of every year. Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment Muscular Coordination 0 The obvious way to solve this highway safety problem is for peoplenever to drink alcohol then drive. But and 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: 0 0 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. Vision Attentiveness. Police recordsshow that almost half of all motor vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol.In most cases, these deaths are the result someone who was drinking of and driving. In recent years, over 17,000 annualmotor vehicle-related deaths have been associated with theuse 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. persons under 21, For it's against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol. There are good 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 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 1- 1/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor likewhiskey, gin or vodka. 4-3