Alcohol & Driving Key Terms

Absorption

• How fast alcohol enters a persons bloodstream from the time they consume it until it begins to affect any of the abilities. Most alcohol is absorbed through the small intestines.

Actual Physical Control

• if a person has the ability to move the vehicle.

Binge Drinking

• Drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. This is how most teens drink.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

• The % of alcohol found in a persons blood at any given time. How law enforcement measures the level of intoxication of a person.

Depressant

• Any mind altering substance that puts the brain to sleep, basically numbing the senses.

Full stomach, Empty Stomach

• Alcohol effects all of us differently. One of the main factors is food in the stomach

Impaired

• Legal term. Although not ‘legally drunk’ a person abilities are in many cases, effected enough to make them an unsafe driver. In the US .05 % BAC is considered impaired, and that person can be arrested and charges with a DUI.

Implied Consent

• To give the state the right to test for ALCOHOL. Upon receipt of your license it is “implied” that you will give your consent to a test (blood, breath or urine). If you refuse your license can be suspended or revoked.

Legal Drinks

• The law requires that a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol to give the consumer set amounts of alcohol per drink. These limits are 12 oz. beer, 4 or 5 oz. regular wine, and a mixed drink should contain 1 and ¼ oz. alcoholic beverage.

Oxidation

• The chemical process in the liver that removes 95% of the alcohol from the body. The body removes about one ounce of alcohol per hour. There is nothing you can do to speed up the process.

Peer Influence

• Formally known as peer pressure

Proof

• Alcohol content is measured by proof. Alcohol content is one half of proof.

Example: 86 proof = 43% alcohol

Set and Setting Drug

• The drinking of alcoholic beverages by most young people is something they do with friends. It can be a sporting event, social party, or just a couple of friends riding around on a Friday night. There can be long time periods between one drinking occasion and another.

Sequence of mental growth

1. The brain actually starts functioning before birth.

2. Fine motor skills3. Capacity to learnAlcohol reverses the sequence of mental growth

ALCOHOL FACTS

• Most alcohol enters the bloodstream through the small intestines and to a lesser extent the lining of the stomach. How quick it gets to your bloodstream depends on the contents of the stomach.

Alcohol Crash Chances

.00% BAC None

.015% -.049% BAC 2.5 times greater

.05% - .079% BAC 10 times greater

.08%-.099% BAC 45 times greater

.10%-.149% BAC 90 times greater

.15%- and above BAC 420 times greater

DUI LAWS

• 1st conviction: Fine of $600 up to $2,100Up to one year in jail

orBoth fine and imprisonment

andLicensed suspended for 90 days

DUI LAWS

• 2nd conviction: Fine of $1,100 up to $5,100(within 5 years) Up to one year in jail

or Both fine and imprisonment Mandatory jail time of 48 hours

or 20 days of community service

andlicense REVOKED for one year

DUI LAWS

• 3rd conviction: Fine of $2,100 up to $10,100 Licensed revoked for three years May be sentenced to up to one year in prison

MANDATORY serve* 60 days in jail (cannot be probated or suspended)

DUI LAWS

• 4th conviction: Class C felony(and subsequent) Fine of $4,100 up to $10,100

License revoked for five years

Mandatory one year and a day up to 10 years in jail

Legal Levels of intoxication

• .05% legally impaired (adults)• .08% legally intoxicated (adults)• .02% “ZERO” tolerance for minors, bus drivers,

and daycare drivers

Under state law, it is unlawful for anyone to operate or be in actual physical control of a vehicle if they are under the influence of an intoxicating agent.

Factors that determine how alcohol effects the body:

1. The amount you drink2. How fast you drink it3. Your body weight4. Food in the stomach5. Experience6. Tolerance7. What you expect the alcohol to do-your

mood

FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL• 2010, there were 17,448 people killed in alcohol related

crashes.• This represents 41% of all traffic causalities• 62% of all high school seniors have been drunk in the past

year• 31% of those have been drunk in the past two weeks• The average BAC of drivers 16-21 arrested in 2010 was .16% • The severity of alcohol related crashes is 14 times worse than

non-alcohol crashes.• 35% of high school seniors said they had ridden with a driver

who had been drinking alcohol in the past month.• It is a felony to purchase alcoholic beverages with a fake ID• Alcohol limits in Europe average .05% BAC ( a license in

Europe costs $7,200)

• If the stomach is void of food the alcohol will enter the bloodstream quite rapidly. Most of the alcohol will be on your bloodstream within twenty minutes.

• Food in the stomach can slow the alcohol down considerably, and it may take as long as forty five minutes to fully be ingested.

• Alcohol primarily leaves the body through the liver. This process is called OXIDATION, removes alcohol at a fixed rate of one ounce per hour. As a rule this process can not be sped up. Over 95 % of the alcohol you consume leaves the body this way.