It Doesn't Take Much Alcohol to Become Impaired

By BuddyT

The certainty of highway deaths due to alcohol impaired drivers is so predictable that many state highway patrol departments each year issue highway fatality "projections" that will turn out to be uncanningly accurate.

In spite of all the warnings, public awareness and educational programs, stiffer penalties for violations, and efforts by law enforcement agencies across the nation to be more visible and diligent in protecting the highways, people will still make the decision to get behind the wheel of their vehicles while intoxicated.

Many states will have a patrolman stationed approximately every 10 miles along all of the state's Interstate Highways and major arteries. Above that they will have "safety check" road blocks on various secondary roads known for high traffic accident rates.

Tragic Results

Some agencies even publish the locations of their planned safety checks in the state's newspapers and still there will be hundreds of drivers arrested for DUI during a holiday weekend and even more who make it past the patrols and checks to find themselves on the road, drunk again.

The results will be tragic.

The sad fact is motor vehicle wrecks are the leading cause of death in the United States for persons under age 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Reports. Of those deaths, more than 40 percent are alcohol-related.

Alcohol-related accidents are so prevalent, it is estimated that 40 percent of all persons in the United States will be involved in a traffic mishap blamed on alcohol at some point in their lives. Forty percent!

Why It's Dangerous

How dangerous is drinking and driving?

A driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 (the legal limit in many states) or greater is seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash than is a driver who has not consumed alcoholic beverages, and a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or greater is about 25 times more likely.

Basically, the more you drink the more likely you are to have an accident, and a fatal one. The same applies for the likelihood of having any vehicle accident, fatal or otherwise. Here's the cold hard facts:

A 160-pound person drinking two beers within an hour would probably have a BAC of 0.04, well below the legal limits of driving under the influence, but 1.4 times more likely to have an accident than someone who is sober.

Two more beers? The likelihood of an accident goes up almost tenfold to 11 times more likely that the non-drinking driver. As the amount of alcohol in the driver's system rises mathematically on the BAC scale, the likelihood of a traffic accident multiples!

RELATED: How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System?

Just Don't Drive Drunk

Two more beers? Up to a six-pack now? You have exceeded the legal limit for getting a drunk driving arrest, and the likelihood of having an accident is now 48 times higher than the abstainer and .

Two more? Hey, you've already had a six pack, two more couldn't hurt, right? Except two more beers could put your BAC close to 0.15 at which point you are 380 times more likely to have an accident.

Have fun, celebrate, and live it up! But play it smart. If you plan to party away from home -- and this includes on the water -- be sure to appoint a designated driver for the car or operator for the boat. What ever you do, don't get behind the wheel if you've been drinking!

Your life, and those of others around you, could depend on it.

Learn more about Impaired Driving.