Page 12 - ADAP Book 2022 2023

1. Take a penny and hold Abraham Lincoln’s body 3. If any part of Lincoln’s head is covered by the
between your thumb and forefinger. tread, you are driving with the legal and safe
2. Select a point on your tire where the tread amount of tread. If your tread gets below that
appears the lowest and place Lincoln’s head into (approximately 2/32 of an inch), your car’s ability
one of the grooves. to grip the road in adverse conditions is greatly
reduced.

BAC Physiological Effects Effects on Driving Ability
• Some loss of judgment
• Relaxation • Decline in visual function
.02
• Slight body warmth • Decline in ability to perform two tasks simultaneously
• Altered mood
• Exaggerated behavior
• Loss of small-muscle control • Reduced coordination
• Impaired judgment • Reduced ability to track moving objects
.05
• Usually good feeling • Difficulty steering
• Lowered alertness • Reduced response to emergency driving situations
• Release of inhibition
• Muscle coordination becomes poor (e.g., balance, speech, • Reduced ability to concentrate
vision, reaction time, and hearing) • Short-term memory loss
.08 • Harder to detect danger • Reduced ability to process information (e.g., signal
• Judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are detection, visual search)
impaired • Impaired perception
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the American Medical Association, the National
Commission Against Drunk Driving, WebMD
CHAPTER 3: ALCOHOL AND ability and cause an alcohol-related crash. There is

DRUG AWARENESS an average of one alcohol-impaired driving death that
occurs every 45
people
11,654
In 2020,
minutes.
ALCOHOL were killed in alcohol-related crashes in the United
States. 7 There were 402 alcohol-related crash
1
According to the CDC, alcohol is one of the most fatalities in Georgia that same year.
widely used drugs in the world and a leading cause of
preventable deaths in the United States. It is used by Alcohol impairs brain function needed to safely
any
operate a motor
level
at
It
vehicle.
can
affect
young people more often than tobacco or illicit drugs.
Among youth, the use of alcohol and other drugs has coordination, reaction time, and the ability to think and
make good decisions. The negative effects increase
been linked to unintentional injuries, physical fights, as alcohol levels increase in an individual’s system.
academic and occupational problems, and risky or
illegal behavior. Alcohol abuse is associated with liver disease,
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cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological
All states, including Georgia, prohibit the purchase of damage, as well as psychiatric problems such as
alcohol by youth under 21 years of age. depression, anxiety, and antisocial personality
Consequently, underage drinking is defined as disorder.
consuming alcohol prior to the minimum legal drinking Excessive alcohol consumption which includes binge
age of 21. Zero tolerance laws in all states make it drinking, heavy drinking, and/or underage drinking
illegal for youth under age 21 to drive with a Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .02 or greater. In can lead to alcohol poisoning. High levels of alcohol
in the body can shutdown critical areas of the brain
other words, driving under the influence is a crime that
heart
can result in a criminal record, jail time, loss of driving that manage breathing, and not rate, and body
being able to be
8
temperature. Passing out
privileges and a costly fine. Drinking and driving also awakened can be a sign of alcohol poisoning. Other
increases the risk of a traffic crash. Even a small
amount of alcohol or a lower BAC can affect driving symptoms include confusion, vomiting, seizures,
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