Facts About Impaired Driving
What Constitutes Impairment?
Impairment begins with one alcoholic drink –
whether it be "hard" liquor, wine or beer. Once alcohol is
consumed, it is absorbed by an individual’s blood system, and can
be measured as Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Studies
show that even one drink decreases one’s ability to react quickly,
a factor that can prove fatal when an impaired individual gets
behind the wheel of an automobile.
How Do I Know When I'm Past My
Limit?
While accepted BAC levels vary from state to
state, the rate of absorption in one’s body varies according to an
individual’s height, weight, experience with alcohol and food
consumed prior to alcohol consumption. So it's a good idea to
assign a designated driver and/or plan alternate modes of
transportation when even a minimal amount of alcohol is consumed in
any given situation.
What Will Happen To Me If I'm
Caught?
If an individual is found to be
impaired while driving, he/she will experience criminal
repercussions. These repercussions can include fines, the
loss of driving privileges, incarceration, higher insurance
rates and a criminal record. Law enforcement officers are
cracking down on impaired drivers, stepping up their policing
activities on a regular basis, and implementing a network of
sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols throughout the
year.
The question of being caught,
however, is a major factor in the impaired driving
problem. The public needs, instead, to ask, what will
happen if I don’t get caught? This answer is much
more frightening, and carries with it much more dire
consequences than fines, prosecution or the loss of one’s
license. The destruction impaired drivers inflict upon
their communities is immeasurable. Everyone is affected
by the impaired driver’s irresponsible and malicious
behavior, whether it be from higher taxes or the
emotional destruction a family experiences after losing a
loved one.
Information above provided by the The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.