Facts and Fiction about Drinking and Driving

As of September 2009, drunken driving deaths in the United States number 9450. That number will only increase. Although all fifty states and Puerto Rico have statutory offenses for driving while drunk, people still do it all the time. Some people think that if they only have a few drinks, they are still sober enough to drive. Or perhaps they only drank wine because everyone knows it has less alcohol. Others people since they had a cup of coffee after their drinks that will sober them up. What are some of the myths and truths about alcohol consumption?

Regardless of what many people believe, there is the same amount of alcohol in a glass of wine, white or red, a shot of whiskey, vodka, tequila or other drink, and a bottle of beer. Drinking "light" by choosing wine or sticking to the same type of alcohol to stay sober doesn’t actually work. According to the New York State University, "alcohol is alcohol and a drink is a drink." Another falsehood is that strong black coffee can help you sober up faster. Television and movies are famous for promoting this myth, using coffee, exercise, bartender "specials", or a surprising shock (like a slap or bucket of water) to instantly sober people up. Unfortunately, the medical field has proven that for almost every person, despite genetic differences, "alcohol leaves the body at a rate of .015 percent of blood alcohol content an hour." If your blood alcohol content is .30, it will take twenty hours for you to be completely sober no matter what you do.

Although genetics do not play a role in how alcohol leaves your system, it does make a difference in how your body absorbs a drink. Because women tend to have a higher ratio of fat to muscles, they are often affected by alcohol more quickly. Menstruation and the accompanying hormone changes can also affect alcohol intake. Men also possess a higher concentration of the enzyme dehydrogenase that breaks down alcohol in the body. Some experts believe that because of the deaths caused by drunk driving it would be better if everyone abstained from alcohol altogether. Undeniably, if this were the case, some lives would indeed be saved, but opponents of this concept argue that there would be an increase in heart disease deaths that would nullify the gain of lives from drunken driving.

Everyone knows that you shouldn’t drive after drinking. Yet many people are still killed every year because they mistakenly believe they are sober enough to drive. Alcohol in any form can put you over the legal limit and seriously impair your driving. Once your alcohol blood count is above the legal limit, you have a set amount of time before you will be sober enough to drive again. Calling a friend, having a designated driver, or a taxi are all ways you can avoid causing an accident or being arrested for driving under the influence.

For more information about drinking and driving, please visit www.environmentaldiseases.com