Understanding How Alcohol Affects Driving Safety In Utah

People who drink alcoholic beverages and then make the decision to drive a motor vehicle will make all kinds of excuses and rationalizations.

They'll say things like "I'm not drunk, just buzzed," or "I just had a little," or "I feel perfectly fine."

So to demystify the effects alcohol has on the average person, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has put out a chart on what happens to someone who imbibes.

Blood Alcohol Concentration	Predictable Effects on Driving

.02	Decline in visual functions, decline in ability to perform 2 tasks at the same time
.05	Reduced coordination, reduced ability to track moving objects, difficulty steering, reduced response to emergency driving situations
.08	Concentration, short-term memory loss, speed control, reduced information processing capability, impaired perception
.10	Reduced ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately
.15	Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing

Keep in mind that the blood alcohol legal limit in Utah is .05.

The chart also does not attempt to quantify how many drinks will get you to those BAC plateaus.

There are so many factors that go into figuring that out that most websites and experts defer when asked how many drinks make you legally drunk.

Factors that can affect an individual's BAC include:

Sex
Weight
Drink's alcohol level
Drink size
Food intake
Water/liquid intake
Weather
Medical conditions
Medication
Time

Plus, alcoholic drinks are very different when it comes to the amount of alcohol in each one. From the website gorelick-law.com, here are just a couple of the differences:

"When counting drinks to estimate BAC, it is important to understand how different the amount of alcohol can be based on the drink. According to the charts, one drink is equal to .06 ounces of 100% alcohol. This includes:

1 1/2 ounces of 80 proof liquor;
12 ounces of a 5% beer (Utah was 3.2% beer for 86 years, but changed to 5% in 2019)
5 ounces of a 12% wine.

When people are out with friends or having drinks with dinner, it can be difficult to estimate drinks. Sharing a bottle of wine makes it hard to know how many drinks each person had, especially when the drinks keep getting topped off. Going to a brewery and sampling a number of beers may be deceptive as the small tasting glasses could be 4 to 6 ounces and some craft beers or barley wines can be 10% or higher."

Unfortunately, we've seen quite clearly in recent times how deadly and devastating drunk driving can be.

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