The holidays are a time filled with celebration and revelry with family and friends. Drinking is often commonplace at holiday festivities and its common knowledge that drinking and driving is illegal and extremely dangerous. Before you get behind the wheel this holiday season, here is some information you need to know about drinking and driving.
Using information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and University of New Mexico, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has determined the approximate number of drinks that a 160-pound male would have to drink within an hour to reach certain levels of blood alcohol concentration. The drink size is based on the U.S. standard of 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol, such as a glass of wine or 12-oz. beer.
According to this, it takes about two drinks to reach a .02 percent BAC, and this causes relaxation, mood changes, some judgment loss and a slightly warm body. When driving, it reduces the ability to quickly track movement and to perform two tasks simultaneously. With two more drinks, an individual reaches a BAC of .08 percent, which causes poor muscle coordination and impaired judgment, memory, reasoning and self-control. At this level, drivers demonstrate poor concentration and speed control, short-term loss of memory, impaired perception and a diminished ability to process information.
After seven alcoholic drinks, the BAC of an individual reaches .15 percent. The effects of this include significant lack of balance and substantially diminished control of muscles. An individual who has not developed a tolerance for alcohol may also vomit. Drivers experience significantly impaired attention to driving, auditory and visual information processing and vehicle control.
The legal limit for driving is .08. If you register at .08 or higher, you will be arrested for driving while intoxicated. Even if you feel that you are in control or perfectly able to drive, the law does not think so. Even just one drink can affect your reaction rate and ability to process information, and none of these are good behind the wheel. Not only will you put yourself, your passengers and your car in danger by driving after drinking, but also all of the other drivers on the roads around you. Do not let one little mistake ruin so many lives, including your own.
A person who has been injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver may want to have the assistance of an attorney in seeking compensation for medical expenses and other losses that have been sustained. The success of a personal injury lawsuit does not depend upon whether the impaired motorist was convicted of driving under the influence.
If you or a loved one have been involved in a drunk driving accident, please call the lawyers at the Law Office of Richard M. Kenny today for a free consultation to speak about your options and next steps. Our firm has over a century of cumulative experience in analyzing, processing, investigating and prosecuting these types of cases. Our $250 million in settlements and verdicts proves our expertise and success rate in this area. Call our office today to speak to experienced and compassionate attorneys who are here to work for you and on your behalf to make sure you get the best results from your drunk driving accident case.
