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WHAT IS BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT?

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is a measure of the amount of alcohol in a person's bloodstream.

WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?

Because your Blood Alcohol Count (BAC) decides whether you walk away… or ride away in the back of the police car and have to call your friends and family for bail…or worse, get locked up for the night with a bunch of people you probably wouldn’t prefer to spend the night with…and calling anybody for bail money will not go down well --- true?

  • BAC is expressed in percentages. Having a BAC of 0.08 percent means that a person has eight parts alcohol per 10,000 parts blood in the body.  Sound complicated?
  • State laws generally specify BAC levels in terms of grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.  Still sound complicated? 
  • BAC levels can be detected by breath, blood, or urine tests.
  • If you get stopped,by the police for suspicion of driving while intoxicated, you will probably be asked to take sobriety tests including a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) at the roadside to determine whether you are under the influence of alcohol.
  • Each person's blood alcohol content from drinking certain amounts of alcohol will vary, The main factor is your weight:  at 120 lbs: one drink in one hour will equal a BAC of  .032;two drinks in one hour will equal­ .064; three drinks in one hour ­will equal .096 BAC.  YOU ARE NOW DEFINITELY HEADED FOR TROUBLE….
  • If you weight 180 pounds, one drink in an hour will give you a BAC of .021; two drinks will give you a .042 BAC, three drinks in an hour will give you a -063 and four drinks will give you a BAC of .084
  • If you refuse to take the Preliminary Breath Test, you will be charged with a civil infraction and fined up to $150 plus court costs.
  • If you under 21 and refuse to take the Preliminary Breath Test, you will receive two points on your driver record. Even if you take the PBT, you must still take other tests like blood, or urine.
  •  Blood Alcohol Count determines when an you are violating a law while driving.   
  • Laws establishing very low legal BAC limits of .02 or less for drivers under the legal drinking age of 21 are known as  "zero-tolerance laws".  As a penalty for underage purchase, possession, or consumption of alcoholic beverages, you can lose your driver’s license and driving privileges.