Alcohol will effect a person well before the legal limit of intoxication is reached. The question stands that should a person be behind the wheel with any amount of alcohol in their system? Is 'buzzed' driving drunk driving or legal? There has been much research showing impairment of the system beginning at amounts far below the level required to be considered guilty of drunken driving.

All 50 states have designated a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 to be the legal limit for drunk driving. Reaching this limit can vary from person to person based on a number of factors such as Size, gender, physical condition, how much you have eaten, how much sleep you have had, if you are taking any medications, and the actual alcohol content of your chosen "drink."

A "drink" consists of either one shot of liquor, a five-ounce glass of wine or one beer. All of these contain the same amount of alcohol.

A "drink" is either one shot of liquor, a five-ounce glass of wine or one beer, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol. Not all "drinks" are alike. Be sure you know the alcohol content of the "drink" that you are having.

.02 BAC Level - At the .02 blood alcohol concentration level, experiments have demonstrated that people exhibit some loss of judgment, They start to experience altered mood such as feeling relaxed and good. But tests have also shown that drivers at the .02 level have a decline in visual functions which can affect their ability to track a moving object, and experience a decline in the ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention).

At the .05 BAC level, people begin to exhibit exaggerated behavior, experience loss of small-muscle control, such as being able to focus their eyes quickly and have impaired judgment, lowered alertness and a release of inhibition. They might have some minor impairment of reasoning and memory, lowering of caution. Behavior may become exaggerated and emotions intensified (Good emotions are better, bad emotions are worse).

.05 BAC Level - At the .05 BAC level, people begin to exhibit exaggerated behavior. They may experience loss of small-muscle control such as being able to focus their eyes quickly and suffer impaired judgment, lowered alertness and a release of inhibition.

A driver with a BAC of .08 will find it more difficult to concentrate, judge the speed of the vehicle, experience reduced information processing capability and exhibit impaired perception.

.08 BAC Level - For someone drinking who is approaching the borderline of legal intoxication, research shows that they will have poor muscle coordination even affecting their balance, speech, vision, reaction time and hearing. They find it more difficult to detect danger, and exhibit impaired judgment, self-control, reasoning ability and memory.

For the drinker, the above impairments may be hardly noticeable at the time. Most believe that they are functioning better than they really are. However the slow reaction times that they might have could be deadly in a emergency driving situation for themselves or others.

You also have to keep in mind that alcohol affects people differently. Some people have a higher response to drinking alcohol than others. People with a higher tolerance to alcohol might not experience signs of impairment at the .05 BAC level that other drinkers experience at the .02 level.

The Safe Limit For this reason, in some states drivers can be arrested for driving while impaired even if their blood alcohol concentration is lower than the legal limit, if the law enforcement officer believes he has probable cause based on the behavior and reactions of the driver. It's simply not a wise choice to get behind the wheel no matter how much you have had to drink. The only safe driving limit is .00 percent.

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