In 1999, the most recent statistics available from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 41,611 people were killed in highway car accidents in the United States. About 38 percent of those fatalities involved alcohol; 32 percent of the fatalities were alcohol-related.
The number of alcohol-related car crash fatalities in states that have lowered their legal limit from .10 to .08 has decreased by an average of 7 percent.
20 percent of all alcohol-related car crash fatalities occur when a person has a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .10 or lower.
24 states and the District of Columbia currently have a legal limit of .08. Ohio's legal limit currently is .10.
A 170-pound person would have to drink four cans of beer, or four shots of liquor or four mixed drinks on an empty stomach in an hour to have a BAC of .08.
SOURCE: Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.