2001 Cadillac Catera Owners Manual - Files

Drunken DrivingDeath and injury associated with drinking and driving isa national tragedy. It’s the number one contributor tothe highway death toll, claiming thousands of victimsevery year.Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drivea vehicle: Judgment Muscular Coordination Vision Attentiveness.Police records show that almost half of all motorvehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,these deaths are the result of someone who was drinkingand driving. In recent years, about 16,000 annual motorvehicle-related deaths have been associated with the useof alcohol, with more than 300,000 people injured.Many adults -- by some estimates, nearly half the adultpopulation -- choose never to drink alcohol, so theynever drive after drinking. For persons under 21, it’sagainst the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol.There are good medical, psychological anddevelopmental reasons for these laws.The obvious way to solve the leading highway safetyproblem is for people never to drink alcohol and thendrive. But what if people do? How much is “too much”if the driver plans to drive? It’s a lot less than manymight think. Although it depends on each personand situation, here is some general information onthe problem.The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someonewho is drinking depends upon four things: The amount of alcohol consumed The drinker’s body weightThe amount of food that is consumed before andduring drinking The length of time it has taken the drinker toconsume the alcohol.According to the American Medical Association, a180-lb. (82 kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce(355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour will end up with aBAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach thesame BAC by drinking three 4-ounce (120 ml) glassesof wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1-1/2 ounces(45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.4-3