• 08
  • July
    2011

We all know that drinking and driving is a major cause of car accidents. The blood alcohol limit in Pennsylvania and across much of the United States is 0.08 percent. A driver with a blood alcohol content less than 0.08 percent is legal and is deemed safe to drive his or her car. However, one recent study challenges that notion of safety and concludes there is no safe blood alcohol level when behind the wheel of a vehicle.

A new study published in the journal Addiction concludes there is no safe blood alcohol content and driving after even one beer significantly increases the risk of serious injury or death. The study found that car crashes involving any alcohol were more severe than accidents with sober drivers.

To conduct the study, researchers looked at a database that records all fatal accidents in the United States. The database also records the blood alcohol content of drivers. The researchers compared the severity of accidents involving drivers who have been drinking to the severity of accidents involving sober drivers.

The researchers found that as little as a blood alcohol content of 0.01 percent was associated with accidents that were almost 40 percent more severe than accidents with sober drivers. A blood alcohol content of 0.01 percent is the equivalent of a 180 pound man drinking one beer over the course of two hours; seemingly not substantial.

It turns out that for every 0.01 percent that a driver's blood alcohol content increased, the severity of injuries and the speed of the drinking driver's car increased.

The researchers who completed the study hoped to challenge legislators with their conclusion.

Source: Time, "Driving while buzzed: No amount of alcohol is safe behind the wheel," Meredith Melnick, 6/22/11