How to reduce drunk driving

You may be aware of the fact that the most common cause of vehicle related fatalities remains drunk driving.  While significant steps have been made in recent years to deter drunk drivers, it is still very common to have people on the road who are impaired.  The more we know about it and the more we try to stop drunk driving, the safer our roads will be.

The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Canada is 0.08%.  If a police officer stops you for suspicion of drunk driving and you are given a breathalyzer test that registers at this level or higher you can be pretty certain that you will be charged with drunk driving.  There are also additional laws that vary from province to province that will set penalties or license suspensions for readings that are lower than this.

Many people are not aware of exactly how much they would have to drink to be over the legal limit when tested by an alcohol breathalyzer.  There are calculations that you can do based on your body weight and the rate at which you have been consuming alcohol.  Generally, an average sized man would take about 2 to 3 drinks to get to the legal limit.  The problem with this method of calculation is that it is not accurate.  Other factors like your metabolism rate can contribute to higher or lower blood alcohol content levels.  It may also be the case that someone else has been mixing the drinks for you and you may not be aware of how much alcohol was in them.

The only real way to figure out whether or not you are above the legal limit would be to have a personal breathalyzer available so that you can test yourself.  You might not have been aware of the fact that you can get a portable breathalyzer for your own use.  This will certainly take the guesswork out of figuring out whether you should be driving or not.  It can be very difficult especially if you have only had a few drinks to tell whether are not you are able to drive.  The trouble with alcohol is that it not only impairs your motor skills but it impairs your judgment as well.  Unfortunately, many times people feel like they are capable of driving and end up doing serious damage to themselves and others.

A portable breathalyzer as a method of conducting an alcohol test is not just something that you should have for yourself.  It's not a bad idea to have one of these if you are throwing a party.  If you are the host or hostess, it is a good idea for you to remain sober so that you can monitor people who are leaving your party.  You don't have to act like a police officer; you can keep it light and fun and just remind everybody that they need to pass the test in order to drive home.  You can keep all of the car keys in a jar and give them back when someone passes their breathalyzer test.