Even if you manage to avoid getting into an accident and injuring someone, getting a DUI or DWI conviction on your record will immediately put you into the high risk auto insurance pool – and your premiums will become much, much higher.

Frighteningly, drunk driving is all-too-common.

What One Survey Revealed

The American Automobile Association (AAA) recently conducted a survey in which fully 10% of respondents admitted to having operated a motor vehicle over the previous twelve-month period while under the influence of alcohol and when their blood alcohol content (BAC) was at or near the legal limit (.08, or one-one hundredth of a percent). Worse, well over half of those who admitted to doing so said they had done it more than once.

Fortunately for those who responded, it’s unlikely their insurers will get wind of it unless they are caught. Otherwise, they would see their car insurance price skyrocket – and deservedly so.

No Real Safe Limit

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that between 6:00 PM on 31 December 2009 and 6:00 AM on 1 January 2010, there were 468 highway deaths nationwide due to alcohol. In nearly 40% of these cases, one of the drivers involved had a BAC over the legal limit.

That means for over 60% of the cases, the BAC level was under the limit. What this suggests is that even a small amount of alcohol in the bloodstream can seriously impair one’s driving ability.

How Much Is Too Much?

There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question. It depends a great deal on one’s body weight (heavier people can metabolize greater amounts of alcohol) and gender (women are slower to metabolize alcohol than men) as well as whether or not any solid food was consumed (food absorbs alcohol).

One thing that you should know, however is that twelve ounces of beer, four ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of hard liquor (such as whiskey) all contain the same amount of alcohol. An Internet search will bring up a number of websites that have on-line calculators to help you understand how much is too much (try “determining BAC” or “estimating BAC” as search terms).

Other Solutions

In addition to much higher car insurance costs as well as fines and possible jail time (at least for those of the working class), a judge may order an offender’s car to be equipped with devices requiring him/her to blow into a breathalyzer-type of device that will disable the ignition switch if s/he is impaired. Significantly, the AAA survey indicates that 70% of the general population supports laws that would require such equipment to be made standard on production vehicles.

In the meantime, hold on to your affordable auto insurance by knowing your limit – or safer yet, simply avoid alcohol when you know that you are going to need to drive. If you do wind up having too much, don’t hesitate to spend $20-$40 on a cab ride home – it’s far less expensive than the alternative.

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