Advertisement
  • Newsletter
  • Subscribe
Living

Guess how many drinks are really safe for drivers?

How much alcohol is too much if you’re planning to drive? One US study (via Time.com) has come up with a surprising answer, and it’s one that defies current ideas about what legally considered a safe blood alcohol level (BAC).
By Flannery Dean
600-01459235d Masterfile

How much alcohol is too much if you’re planning to drive? One US study (via Time.com) has come up with a surprising answer, and it’s one that defies current ideas about what is legally considered a safe blood alcohol level (BAC). 

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego analyzed more than a decade’s worth of information from a national database that tracks serious car accidents in the U.S (meaning accidents that include at least one fatality). Their conclusion: even one alcoholic drink greatly increases risk of accident and injury. In fact, the researchers discovered that drivers who consumed as little as one alcoholic beverage were 37 per cent more likely to get into a car accident than sober drivers. 

Advertisement

That’s not the only troubling connection, however. The researchers also found a link between consumption of alcohol and an increase in the seriousness of the accident. Basically, every point at which your blood alcohol level goes up translates into an increase in the severity of the car accident and the injuries sustained. 

The reason for this greater risk, as the Time article points out, is because alcohol consumption is tied to more dangerous driving behaviours such as speeding and not wearing a seat belt. Also, the study found that drinking drivers are more likely to be the ones at fault, i.e., driving the “striking vehicle”. 

Advertisement

The study’s authors make no bones about their wish to see their findings help bring the current BAC limit down in the US and abroad—currently the legal BAC limit is set at 0.08, in Canada and the U.S. Given the fact that even the Ministry of Transportation warns that an individual’s motor response, vision and motor skills are negatively impaired at a BAC of 0.05, drivers, passengers and legislators should be asking themselves why the legal limit goes beyond that.

Advertisement

The very best of Chatelaine straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Copy link
The cover of Chatelaine magazine's spring 2025 issue, reading "weekend prep made easy"; "five delicious weeknight meals", "plus, why you'll never regret buying an air fryer"; "save money, stay stylish how to build a capsule wardrobe" and "home organization special" along with photos of burritos, chicken and rice and white bean soup, quick paella in a dutch oven, almost-instant Thai chicken curry and chicken broccoli casserole in an enamelled cast-iron skillet

Subscribe to Chatelaine!

Want to streamline your life? In our Spring 2025 issue, we’ll show you how—whether it’s paring down your wardrobe, decluttering your messiest spaces or spending way less time cooking thanks to an easy, mostly make-ahead meal plan for busy weeknights. Plus, our first annual Pantry Awards.