Just over a month ago, on May 1, 2009, the Province of Ontario lowered it's tollerance level for blood alcohol testing related to charging drivers with Impaired. Up until April 30, the legal limit was 80 miligrams of alcohol per 100 milileters of blood (.08 BAC) to 50 mg alcohol per 100 ml of blood (.05 BAC). This is only one of a number of measures that are being put in place in order to increase safe driving habits among Ontario's drivers.
The number of drinks that must be consumed in order to reach these BAC levels depends on a person's weight, gender, whether or not there is food consumed at the same time as the alcohol, and the time elapsed between the consumption of alcohol and the time the person starts driving.
There's a campaign afoot to inform Ontario residents about these changes to the law, and to help us understand how to calculate BAC. The hope is that the more we know about this limit, the more we will be aware of getting into the habit of planning alternatives when we want to consume alcohol.
Abuse of alcohol is only one way that human beings have been getting ourselves in trouble for years, but there are other alternatives all aimed at keeping ourselves alive and taking care of others who may be innocent bystanders. These alternatives might include designating a driver, making arrangments for transportation by taxi or with a friend, or even choosing to stay overnight instead of risking the possibility of major penalties.
Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and FOCUS do their part to promote safe usage of alcohol. If everyone else does a little bit, we can build a better world, one person, one circumstance at a time.
Real friends don't let their friends drive drunk.
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