U.S residents and those traveling there are always warned against drinking and driving because alcohol slows people down, changes their natural response as well as altering their sound judgment. When you have adequate knowledge on DUI law and more facts on drunk-driving in the States, you will be in a better position to keep yourself and other road users safe in addition to being on the right-hand side of the law. The following are all you need to know on legal alcohol limit and DUI.
DUI (driving under the influence) refers to driving after taking alcohol or using other substances which might be legal or illegal and are likely to impair your sound judgment. When it comes to alcohol the government has laid down a legal limit beyond which a driver will be declared unfit to drive. However, the sound advice is to avoid drinking when driving because even if you drunk below the legal limit, there is a good chance that your ability to drive will also be altered.
The United States has the same alcohol limit as that of the United Kingdom. Drivers in the US are guilty of drunk driving if their blood concentration is found to contain 0.08 g/ deciliter or higher. Drivers who exceed this limit are deemed dangerous to other people using the road and themselves.
Drunk driving affect the ability to drive in the following ways. Drunk driving makes the brain to take longer to receive signals from the eye. The way processing of information takes place also becomes difficult, and this delays the instructions to the body’s muscles and subsequently lead to slower reaction times.
The other effect of alcohol is blurred and double vision which affects the ability to see things as they are while driving. The other thing that alcohol does is that it unlocks repressed urges which makes it more likely that the driver will take dangerous risks while driving.
When you drink and drive, you are likely to make irrational decisions on the road which could lead to accidents and fatalities for all the people on that road. To reduce alcohol-impaired drivers on the road, the government consider drunk driving a serious offense attracting severe punishment.
While all the states in the United States are in agreement over the alcohol driving limit, the penalties for drinking and driving vary slightly. In general, drivers who are found guilty of drunk driving will have to part with costly fines and high legal fees.