Many studies have shown that a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher can cause traffic participants to lose the ability to react quickly - Photo: FORBES
Why 0.08%?
According to DrugAbuse.com , after research, scientists determined that human hand-foot coordination will be significantly impaired at alcohol concentrations of 0.08% or higher.
Having a BAC above 0.08 will reduce the ability of the limbs to receive accurate signals from the brain, affecting the person when holding the steering wheel, pressing the gas or braking. Alcohol concentration above 0.08% will delay human reaction time too much and make us unable to drive safely.
According to BACTrack.com , the conventional wisdom in the United States is that a person's blood alcohol level will remain within safe limits if they only drink one standard drink per hour.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a standard drink is 0.5 ounces of alcohol. This is equivalent to a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of distilled spirits.
History of alcohol concentration 0.08%
Before 1998, the legal standard for determining intoxication varied from state to state.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 1998, then-US President Bill Clinton took the initiative to establish nationwide standards to define the concept of legal drunkenness.
President Clinton called for establishing a national blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit of 0.08 percent or lower as the federal standard for determining legal alcohol concentration.
Any person operating a vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or higher shall be operating a vehicle illegally, regardless of whether they exhibit signs of intoxication.
The initiative was followed by a number of bills, including one that cut federal funding to states that did not adopt the measure. Another required states to adopt a 0.08 percent alcohol level or lose federal highway construction funds.
Other regulatory levels in the US
All states have now officially adopted a BAC of 0.08% as the standard for determining legal alcohol concentration. However, some states may also have additional laws.
For example, in most states, the BAC level for commercial vehicle drivers is lowered to 0.04%.
Most states also have zero-tolerance laws against individuals under the age of 21 operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, except in special circumstances.
In addition to enforcing the 0.08% limit, many states now impose harsher penalties on individuals with particularly high blood alcohol levels.
Additionally, there are many factors that affect BAC, so it is difficult to estimate how many drinks it would take for a “normal” person to reach 0.08%. These factors include age, gender, ability to absorb, body type, metabolism, previous food intake, emotional state, or overall health.
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