User Guide
It’s the amount
of
alcohol that counts. For example,
if
the
same person drank three double martinis
(3
ounces
or
90
ml
of liquor each)
within
an hour, the person’s
BAC would be close
to
0.12 percent.
A
person who
consumes food just before or during drinking will have
a
somewhat lower
BAC
level.
There is a gender difference, too. Women generally have
a
lower relative percentage
of
body water than
men.
Since alcohol is carried in body water, this means that a
woman generally will reach
a
higher
BAC
level than
a
man of her same body weight when each has the same
number
of
drinks.
The law
in
many
U.S.
states sets the legal limit at a
BAC
of
0.10
percent. In
a
growing number
of
U.S.
states, and
throughout Canada, the limit is
0.08
percent.
In
some
other countries, it’s even lower. The
BAC
limit for all
commercial drivers
in
the
United States is
0.04
percent.
The
BAC
will be over
0.10
percent after
three
to six
drinks
(in
one
hour). Of course,
as
we’ve seen,
it
depends
on
how much alcohol is
in
the drinks, and how
quickly the person drinks them.
But
the
ability to drive
is
affected well below
a
BAC
of
0.10
percent. Research shows
that
the driving skills
of
many people are impaired at
a
BAC
approaching
0.05
percent, and that the effects are worse at night. All
drivers are impaired at BAC levels above
0.05
percent.
Statistics show that the chance
of
being
in
a
collision
increases sharply for drivers who have
a
BAC
of
0.05
percent or above.
A
driver with
a
BAC
level
of
0.06
percent has doubled his or her chance of having
a
collision. At
a
BAC level of
0.10
percent, the chance
of
this driver having
a
collision is
12
times greater; at a
level
of
0.15
percent,
the
chance is
25
times greater!