Because of the fact that the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08%, people sometimes make the assumption that a small amount of alcohol is not going to impact their ability to drive. They think they would need to have a few drinks and get over the legal limit before that would happen. After all, isn’t that the point of the limit?
But this is not how it works, and the point of the limit is just to identify a level where the court can presume someone was impaired. This impairment can certainly happen before that point, and it does for many people. This is why a lot of drivers who think they are safe actually cause accidents due to alcohol impairment, despite being far below the legal limit.
Trouble reacting to emergencies
In one study, researchers looked at those who had a BAC of 0.05%, and they found that that was already enough for them to struggle with focus, to make them less alert, to decrease their coordination and to give them problems with their vision.
One of the biggest things that they discovered, though, was that a small amount of alcohol can make it harder for someone to react properly to an emergency ahead of them. For instance, if the car ahead of them had to hit the brakes suddenly when an animal ran into the road, a sober driver may have been able to stop, whereas a driver who had just a single drink may not react as quickly and end up causing a rear-end accident.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident with a driver who was impaired, no matter what their BAC level was, you need to know if you can seek financial compensation. You shouldn’t have to bear the financial burdens caused by their foolish actions.