Many studies show that blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0,08% or more can cause traffic participants to lose the ability to react quickly - Photo: FORBES
Why 0,08%?
By page DrugAbuse.com, after research, scientists determined that human hand and foot coordination will be clearly 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 when the person is holding the steering wheel, pressing the accelerator or stepping on the brake. Alcohol levels above 0,08% will delay human reaction time too much and prevent us from driving safely.
By page BACTrack.com, the common belief in the United States is that blood alcohol levels will remain within safe limits if a person drinks only one standard drink per hour.
According to the definition of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a standard drink is 0,5 ounces (about 14,5 ml) of alcohol. This alcohol level is equivalent to a 354ml glass of beer, a 148ml glass of wine and a 44ml glass of distilled spirits.
History of alcohol concentration 0,08%
Before 1998, the legal standards for determining drunkenness in each US state were different.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 1998, then-US President Bill Clinton proactively established nationwide standards to define the concept of legal drunkenness.
President Clinton called for establishing a national blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit of 0,08% or tighter as a federal standard for determining legal alcohol levels.
Any person operating a vehicle with a BAC of 0,08% or higher will be an unauthorized operator, whether or not they exhibit signs of intoxication.
Following this initiative, several bills were passed, including one that cut off federal funding to states that did not take the measure. Another law stipulated that states must adopt a 0,08% alcohol level or lose federal highway construction funds.
Other regulatory levels in the US
All states have now officially adopted the 0,08% BAC level as the standard for determining legal alcohol concentration. However, some states may also enact 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 the 0,08% limit, many states now impose harsher penalties on individuals with particularly high 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, absorption capacity, physical condition, metabolism, previous foods consumed, emotional state, or overall health.
