What does blood alcohol concentration measure?
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) describes the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood
expressed as weight of alcohol per unit of volume of blood. For example, at 0.10 percent BAC, there is 100 mg of alcohol per 100 ml
of blood. For most legal purposes, however, a blood sample is not necessary to determine a person’s BAC. It can be measured much more
simply by analyzing exhaled breath.
What is the effect of alcohol on driving skills and crash risk?
Alcohol causes poor judgment.
It slows your reaction time and your ability to concentrate and make decisions. It impairs your eyesight. If your BAC reaches 0.08,
you are three times more likely to have a traffic collision than if your BAC were zero. If your BAC reaches 0.25 percent, your chances
of having a traffic collision are 25 times greater.
How many drinks does it take to reach significantly impaired BACs?
The effects
of alcoholic drinks vary greatly because of the rate of absorption and BACs attained vary from person to person due to such factors
as weight, amount of fat tissue, and stomach contents. Alcohol affects small or thin people sooner and stays in their systems longer
than it does with heavier or larger people because the alcohol is more concentrated in the smaller person’s bloodstream.
Are
beer and wine less impairing than hard liquor?
Impairment is not determined by the type of drink but rather by the amount of alcohol
ingested over a period of time. There is a similar amount of alcohol in such standard drinks as a 12-ounce serving of beer, a 4-ounce
glass of wine, and 1.25 ounces of 80 proof liquor. Beer is the most common drink consumed by people stopped for alcohol-impaired driving
or involved in alcohol-related crashes.
Do alcohol related crashes differ by gender?
Crashes involving men are much more likely
to be alcohol related than those involving women. Among fatally injured male drivers of passenger vehicles in 2000, 34 percent had
BACs of 0.10 or more. The corresponding proportion among women was 18 percent. Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is highest for
men ages 21-40.
When do alcohol-related crashes occur?
They happen at all hours, but alcohol involvement in crashes peaks at night
and is higher on weekends than on weekdays.
What’s the goal of alcohol-impaired driving laws?
Many people think the principal
goal of such laws is to arrest and punish the drivers who put everyone else at risk. But arrest and punishment of offenders is a secondary
objective. The most important objective is for the law to be a deterrent so that police find no alcohol-impaired drivers to arrest.
Why
is deterrence so important and how can it be achieved?
Most impaired drivers are never stopped. Others are stopped, but police miss
signs of impairment. It has been estimated that as many as 2,000 alcohol-impaired driving trips occur for every arrest and that, even
when special impaired driving enforcement patrols are conducted, as many as 300 trips occur for each arrest. Because the police cannot
catch all offenders, the success of alcohol-impaired driving laws depends on deterring potential offenders by creating the public
perception that apprehension and punishment of offenders is likely. The key to creating this perception is enforcement. Enforcement
efforts must be well publicized and create a realistic threat of apprehension.
Who can be stopped for impaired driving?
Although
police cannot stop and test individual drivers without cause, they can investigate any driver who, based on established criteria,
appears to have been driving while impaired by alcohol. Most alcohol-impaired driving arrests are made by officers on routine patrol
who discern signs of impairment after stopping a driver for an ordinary traffic violation.
How do checkpoints work?
Police can
use checkpoints to stop drivers at specified locations to identify impaired drivers. All drivers, or a predetermined proportion of
them, are stopped based on rules that prevent police from arbitrarily selecting drivers to stop. In South Carolina, law enforcement
officers conduct public safety checkpoints, checking for such things as driver’s license, vehicle registration, proof of liability
insurance, and obvious equipment violations in addition to looking for impaired drivers.
Are checkpoints constitutional?
The U.S.
Supreme Court has held that properly conducted checkpoints are legal under the Constitution.
What is implied consent?
This refers
to statutes in which consent for a driver to submit to BAC testing is provided for by statute, not expressly by the driver. Any person
operating a vehicle in South Carolina is considered to have given consent for testing of breath, blood or urine for purposes of determining
the presence of alcohol or drugs or both in the person’s system, if alleged to have committed a violation.
What is administrative
license revocation (ALR)?
This refers to statutes in which a person’s driver’s license may be automatically suspended for certain violations
of law. In South Carolina, any person who refuses to consent to BAC testing or who has a BAC reading of 0.15 percent or higher (0.02
percent for persons under 21) will have his/her driver’s license automatically suspended.
What is illegal per se?
This refers
to statutes which make it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a certain BAC level. In South Carolina it is illegal to operate
a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher.
What is zero tolerance?
Persons under the age of 21 may not legally purchase,
possess or consume alcoholic beverages. Zero tolerance refers to statutes which make it illegal for persons under the age of 21 to
operate a motor vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol in their system. Under South Carolina’s zero tolerance law, it is unlawful
for any person under the age of 21 to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.02 percent or higher.
How do you spot an impaired
driver?
As a defensive driver, you should always be aware of what the drivers around you are doing. Below are some signs that may indicate
that the driver of a vehicle is impaired. Most impaired drivers are either overly cautious or reckless. Be on the lookout for drivers
who are:
· Making unusually wide turns.
· Straddling the centerline or driving with their tires on the centerline.
· Driving
with head out the window, or driving with all car windows down in very cold weather.
· Almost hitting another vehicle or other object or person.
· Weaving or swerving.
· Driving on the shoulder or in the emergency lane.
· Driving with excessive speed or
very slow speed.
· Stopping without apparent cause.
· Following too closely.
· Drifting or braking erratically.
· Driving in or crossing into opposite lanes of traffic.
· Changing speeds rapidly or
very slowly.
What should you do if you think you’ve spotted an impaired driver?
If you see a driver whom you believe is impaired,
there are several things you should do to get yourself and others out of harm’s way:
· Stay back. If you are driving behind someone whom you suspect is impaired, maintain a greater following distance. Do not try to pass
that vehicle because the driver may try to swerve into your car.
· Turn off the roadway.
If you think there is an impaired driver behind you, turn right at the closest possible place and let him pass.
· If the impaired driver is coming straight at you, slow down quickly. As the same time, pull as far to the right as possible. Do whatever
you have to do to avoid a head-on collision.
· Report the driver to law enforcement.
Once you get safely away from the impaired driver, you should report the driver to the nearest law enforcement agency as soon as possible.
You may contact the Highway Patrol from your cellular phone by dialing *HP. Be prepared to provide a description of the vehicle, the
vehicle’s license plate number and the location and direction of travel of the vehicle.
(Source: SC Department of Public Safety)