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 If you have recently renewed your driver’s license when it came in the mail it was accompanied by a dull-looking little handout you probably tossed away as you were cringing over the DMV’s latest rendition of what you look like—or you were mourning the fact that they have again used the same ten-year-old picture that makes you look like Charles Manson on a really bad hair day. Well, let me tell you that if you did not read the side entitled: Alcohol Impairment Chart, you missed an even bigger shock than knowing you have to flash that picture for another five years.
We all know that the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is not to be over.08% when driving our family cars (.01%, if under 21) but it may surprise you how little it takes to reach that level. For example, if you weigh 90-109 lbs. you are likely to be over the limit with 1 drink in 1 hour. I can hear you now. If you weighed 100 pounds it would be worth it. But, the prognosis is not much better at 110-129 lbs, you will likely hit the .08% limit with one drink and with two more, be at that level for the next 3 hours. In fact as little as two drinks can find those from 130-210lbs and over, registering .08%.
Remember that “one drink” is 1 ½ ounces of 80-proof liquor, a 5-ounce glass of 12% wine (seen any wines with 12% alcohol in Dry Creek lately?), or a 12 ounce glass of 5% beer. How “one drink” affects you also depends on when you last ate, if you are tired, sick, upset, or have taken medication. And, statistics tell us that that “one drink” increases the chance of having an accident by fivefold for most of us. If you find yourself at .08% or over, the chance of an accident increases by twenty-fivefold.
The lesson? As we enjoy the fruits of our wonderful valley it is well to keep in mind an adage from the Orient: “First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man!”
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