Bac and You. (Unit 2: Alcohol).(drunk driving and youth)

In 1992 Thomas Richard Jones drank a quart of beer and took four pain-killing pills. Then he tried to drive home. Driving above the speed limit, he slammed into the side of a car in which six college students were riding. Two of the young women in that car died in the crash.

It sounds like just another tragic drunk-driving story. But this story had a different kind of ending. Jones was convicted of first-degree murder--not involuntary manslaughter, not even second-degree murder. Based on a North Carolina law that allows someone who kills another person while committing a felony (a serious crime; in this case, driving drunk) to be charged with murder, Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. It was the stiffest penalty ever applied in a drunk-driving case. He could have received the death penalty.

Was Jones guilty of first-degree murder? Legal experts disagree. But the fact that many people agreed with the conviction shows how serious the problem of drunk driving has become in the United States.

It's estimated that one out of every five people will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic crash in his or her lifetime. In addition to making it illegal for anyone who is under the influence of alcohol to drive a motor vehicle, most states have passed other legislation to prevent drunk driving.

The blood alcohol concentration (BAG) necessary for a conviction of driving while impaired varies from state to state. Most states use the level of .08 percent. BAG is usually determined by having the driver breathe into an instrument that measures alcohol level in the breath and calculates the level in the blood.

Why is there so much emphasis on BAG? Because it's the most reliable indicator available to measure the ability to drive safely. Blood alcohol concentrations as low as .02 percent are enough to affect a driver's ability to pay attention simultaneously to many different things--road conditions, other cars, speed. By the time a driver flunked the physical tests used by law officers in the past--such as standing on one foot--his or her BAG may have reached .10 percent to .15 percent. At that point, the ability to drive safely was long gone.

Drivers under the age of 21 who drive while under the influence of alcohol (DIM) are twice as likely as older drivers to be involved in fatal crashes. They also have crashes at a much lower BAG than older drivers do.