How drunk is drunk?

By: Jack Nerad for Driving Today

Date: Monday, 30. April 2007

If you are like three of four Americans, you don't know your own state's blood-alcohol concentration limit for driving. That might mean you drink so seldom you don't need to care. If so, good for you. But if you are among the thousands each year who have a drink and then get behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle, you should have more information on what drinking can do to your driving skills. In 2000, almost 40 percent of all traffic fatalities from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day were alcohol-related, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Despite the fact 72 percent of all Americans do not know their state's blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit, 77 percent told a recent survey that they have received enough information about drinking and driving and how alcohol affects their individual BAC level. The national survey was commissioned by The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America's leading distillers.

The survey results show us the reality that .08 or .10--Americans just don't know their state's law for drinking and driving, and that is particularly worrisome when 20 percent of respondents age 21 or older said that they are likely to drink more at gatherings during the upcoming holiday season than other times of the year," said Susan Molinari, chairman, The Century Council. "This is The Century Council's fourth annual survey, and the results have spurred us to redouble our efforts at educating Americans on how drinking alcohol may affect their personal BAC levels to help them make responsible decisions."

Spurred by the survey results, The Century Council is continuing its traveling BAC educational campaign, the Blood Alcohol Educator truck tour and Blood Alcohol Educator (BAE) CD-ROM. The BAE is an educational program designed in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that educates the users on their personal BACs based on gender, weight, number and type of drinks consumed. To distribute the BAE program, The Council outfitted a 13-foot truck to travel across the country. Since its inception in October 1999, the BAE Truck has visited 35 states and the District of Columbia, traveled 78,000 miles and distributed over 100,000 CD-ROMs free of charge. The BAE program is also available online. The truck is scheduled to travel through Florida, Texas and Southern California in January and February of 2002, and a comprehensive schedule can be found on the program's web site.