Effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration
- Image Credit: Joe Raedle via Getty Images
How much is too much?
- Image Credit: Associated Press
Defining one drink
- Image Credit: Center for Disease Control
About 2 Beers = .02% Blood Alcohol Level
After about two drinks, the average adult male weighing 160 pounds would likely have a blood alcohol level of around .02 percent. That, says the CDC, would lead to:
- Some loss of judgment
- Relaxation
- Slight body warmth
- Altered mood
Predictable effects on driving:
- Decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target)
- Decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention)
- Image Credit: Center for Disease Control
About 3 Beers = .05% Blood Alcohol Level
After about three drinks, the average adult male weighing 160 pounds would likely have a blood alcohol level of around .05 percent. That, says the CDC, would lead to:
- Exaggerated behavior
- May have loss of small-muscle control (e.g., focusing your eyes)
- Impaired judgment
- Usually good feeling
- Lowered alertness
- Release of inhibition
Predictable effects on driving:
Decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target)
Decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention)
- Image Credit: Center for Disease Control
About 4 Beers = .08% Blood Alcohol Level
After about four drinks, the average adult male weighing 160 pounds would likely have a blood alcohol level of around .08 percent. That, says the CDC, would lead to:
- Muscle coordination becomes poor (e.g., balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing)
- Harder to detect danger
- Judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are impaired
Predictable effects on driving:
- Concentration
- Short-term memory loss
- Speed control
- Reduced information processing capability (e.g., signal detection, visual search)
- Impaired perception
- Image Credit: Center for Disease Control
About 5 Beers = .10% Blood Alcohol Level
After about five drinks, the average adult male weighing 160 pounds would likely have a blood alcohol level of around .10 percent. That, says the CDC, would lead to:
- Clear deterioration of reaction time and control
- Slurred speech, poor coordination, and slowed thinking
Predictable effects on driving:
- Reduced ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately
- Image Credit: Center for Disease Control
About 7 Beers = .15% Blood Alcohol Level
After about seven drinks, the average adult male weighing 160 pounds would likely have a blood alcohol level of around .15 percent. That, says the CDC, would lead to:
- Far less muscle control than normal
- Vomiting may occur (unless this level is reached slowly or a person has developed a tolerance
- for alcohol)
- Major loss of balance
Predictable effects on driving:
- Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing