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ALCOHOL AWARENESS

Drinking and Driving Drinking and Driving Chart Alcohol and Teens How Alcohol affects You More Alcohol Facts

Drinking and Driving

If you weigh 160 lbs. or less, drinking five beers in a short time would make you legally intoxicated. If you weigh 100 lbs., 5 drinks would push you above .15% B.A.C. (Breath Alcohol Content), at this level you are 25 times more likely to have an accident than when sober. At .20% B.A.C. you are 100 times more accident vulnerable.


Alcohol narrows your sight field by decreasing your peripheral vision. You don't see the child on the roadside, or the car coming from a side road. Tests have shown a noticeable impairment of peripheral vision as low as .05% B.A.C. (2 beers by a 125 lb. person). Students who participated in a Illinois State University test took 2 seconds longer to line up sticks when drinking. This is the cause of many rear-end collisions. Alcohol also affects the ability to identify and follow moving objects, the ability of the eye to recover after facing bright lights, color blindness and blurred vision. The alcohol in one bottle of beer or in one cocktail is sufficient to cause a delay of 5 to 10 percent in the normal reactions in the driver of motor vehicle for the next couple of hours.
The ability to concentrate on two activities simultaneously is affected even ery low blood alcohol concentrations. A driver of an automobile makes more decisions driving one mile than the pilot of a 747 flying coast to coast. In one test, experienced bus drivers after drinking thought they could drive their busses through a space six inches narrower than the bus. Those not drinking knew they couldn't. Evasive actions ability is five times as bad after drinking, and there is deterioration with as little as one drink.
Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of drinking and driving is what the driver thinks he can do and in fact undertakes. Drinking drivers take all kinds of chances that they wouldn't take when sober. (e.g. passing on hill, driving too fast, driving too close to other cars, etc.)
Studies by the Department of Transportation showed that a drinker is less likely to survive a crash than a non-drinker. In two-car crashes, it was the non-drinker who survived in 88% of the cases.
A person who drinks to legal intoxication (.10% B.A.C.) will have alcohol in their blood for seven hours. The withdrawal effects of a person who drinks heavy on weekends can last through Monday and Tuesday.

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Drinking/Driving Chart

Number of Drinks Consumed & Hours to wait after START of drinking and BEFORE driving. Body Weight 1 Drink 2 Drinks 3 Drinks 4
 

1 drink equals
86 proof 1 1/2 oz. of whiskey, gin , vodka, etc.
1 bottle of beer (12 oz.)
3 oz. wine (20%) or 5 oz. wine (12%

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Alcohol and Teens
 

Every few seconds, at least one teenager is killed or injured in a drunk driving accident, and chances are, the drink involved was beer. What most kids don't know, and what most parents and teachers don't teach, is that a typical 12 ounce can of beer is just as "strong" as a glass of wine or a cocktail with liquor.

Television tells our kids that our beer is part of sports. Mountain streams are the backdrop for "refreshing" beer commercials. Wine is the key to sophisticated entertaining. The most powerful medium in the world brings beer and wine into our living room and makes us comfortable with them. Along the way, our society got the impression that beer is just a "thirst quencher", and wine is "light", and we forgot about the alcohol. All too often, people forget the true nature of what they're drinking. They get behind the wheel of a car thinking they've only had a "couple of beers" or "just a little wine".

The fact is that 12 ounces of beer, a 5 ounce glass of wine, or 1 1/4 ounces of liquor contain the same amount of pure alcohol. So, whether it's beer or liquor---none of them mix with driving.

Alcohol is #1

Alcohol is the number one drug of choice for teenagers.
Alcohol-related car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in the U.S.
Alcohol abuse is the number one drug problem in America.
Check your school's yearbooks for the past ten years--How many of them have been dedicated to a student who was killed in a drunk driving crash?

Ask your friends how many people they know who have had bad things happen to them while they were drinking.

You don't even have to be the one doing the drinking--most teenage passenger deaths are the result of alcohol-impaired teenage drivers.


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How Alcohol Affects You
 

You see double, speech slurs, you lose your sense of distance.
Alcohol loosens inhibitions--you make bad judgments that can result in car crashes, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, or rape.
A significant proportion of violent crimes and vandalism among and by youth involve alcohol.
Using alcohol can cost you your freedom. You can be grounded by parents, lose your driver's license, or even end up in jail.
Be Aware of Advertising

Take a good look at how the alcohol industry is trying to convince people to use its products.

Wine coolers are displayed in stores next to fruit drinks. Maybe they think you won't notice the difference.
Different name brands of beer and other alcoholic beverages are slipped into the movies you watch. They think if you see your favorite actor drinking it, you will too.
The models on the beer commercials are always young, thin, and beautiful. But alcohol has plenty of calories and little nutritional value. Drinking it will not make you look any better.
Advertisements feature celebrities and sports figures. But drinking will not make you famous or athletic.
Alcohol advertisers are now trying to be more responsible by telling you not to drink and drive. But drunk driving is not the only way alcohol can affect your life.
Advertisers hope you won't stop and think when you see their ads. Don't be conned. Use your best judgment and learn the facts.


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More Alcohol Facts
 

Drinking coffee, taking a cold shower, or breathing fresh air will not sober you up. The only thing that sobers you up is time.
One beer, one shot of whiskey, and one glass of wine all have the same amount of alcohol. Don't fall for the notion that beer and wine are less intoxicating than hard liquors.
Less than 5 percent of alcoholics are what we think of as bums. Most alcoholics are just like the people you know. Anyone can become an alcoholic -- young or old, rich or poor, married or single, employed or out of work.
The earlier people start drinking and using drugs, the more likely they are to become addicted.
Alcohol ages and damages the brain.