1995 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 153

I Drunken Driving Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is a national tragedy. It's the number contributor tothe one highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims every year. Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: Judgment Muscular Coordination 0 The obvious wayto solve this highway safety problem is for people neverto drink alcohol and then drive. But what if peopledo? How much is "toomuch" if the driver plans to drive? It'siot less than many might a think. Althoughit depends on each person and situation, here is some general information on the problem. The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)of someone who is drinking dependsupon four things: How much alcohol consumed The drinker's body weight 0 Vision Attentiveness The amount of food that is consumed before and during drinking The length of time it's taken the drinker to consume the alcohol Police records show that almost half of all motor vehicle-related deathsinvolve alcohol. Inmost cases, these deaths are the result someone who was drinking of and driving. In recent years, some18,000 annual motor vehicle-related deathshave 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 21, 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-pound (82 kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce (355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour end up with a will BAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach the same BAC by drinking three 4-ounce (120 glasses rnl) of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1-1/2 ounces (45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka. 4-2