1996 Buick Park Avenue Owner's Manual

Drunken DrivingDeath and injury associated with drinking and driving isa national tragedy. It’s the number one contributor tothe highway death toll, claiming thousands of victimsevery year.Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drivea vehicle:JudgmentMuscular CoordinationVision0 Attentiveness.Police records show that almost half of all motorvehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,these deaths are the result of someone who was drinkingand driving. In recent years, some 18,000 annual motorvehicle-related deaths have been associated with the useof alcohol, with more than 300,000 people injured.Many adults -- by some estimates, nearly half theadult population -- choose never to drink alcohol, sothey 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 anddevelopmental reasons for these laws.The obvious way to solve this highway safety problemis for people never to drink alcohol and then drive. Butwhat if people do? How much is “too much” if thedriver plans to drive? It’s a lot less than many mightthink. Although it depends on each person and situation,here is some general information on the problem.The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someonewho is drinking depends upon four things:0 The amount of alcohol consumed0 The drinker’s body weightThe amount of food that is consumed before andduring drinking0 The length of time it has taken the drinker toconsume the alcohol.According to the American Medical Association, a180-lb. (82 kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce(355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour will end up with aBAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach thesame BAC by drinking three 4-ounce (120 ml) glassesof wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1- 1/2 ounces(45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.4-2