Saturn 2007 Outlook, Owner'S Manual

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Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and
driving is a national tragedy. It is the number one
contributor to the highway death toll, claiming
thousands of victims every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to
drive a vehicle:
•
Judgment
•
Muscular Coordination
•
Vision
•
Attentiveness
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most
cases, these deaths are the result of someone who
was drinking and driving. In recent years, more
than 16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths
have been associated with the use of alcohol, with
more than 300,000 people injured.
Many adults — by some estimates, nearly half the
adult population — choose never to drink alcohol,
so they never drive after drinking. For persons
under 21, it is against the law in every U.S.
state to drink alcohol. There are good medical,
psychological, and developmental reasons for
these laws.
The obvious way to eliminate the leading highway
safety problem is for people never to drink
alcohol and then drive. But what if people do?
How much is “too much” if someone plans
to drive? It is a lot less than many might think.
Although it depends on each person and situation,
here is some general information on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of
someone who is drinking depends upon
four things:
•
The amount of alcohol consumed
•
The drinker’s body weight
•
The amount of food that is consumed before
and during drinking
•
The length of time it has taken the drinker to
consume the alcohol
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