Todd Lasky | April 7, 2025 | Car Accidents
Just one drink may seem like so little. You or people you know have likely, at some point, had just one drink, driven, and turned out okay. The reality of it is that there is no amount of alcohol above zero that is totally safe to consume before driving, even if it is below the legal limit. Understanding how the law answers this question may be the difference between facing legal trouble and everyone getting home safely.
The Impact of “One Drink” on Your Ability to Drive
Everyone handles their alcohol differently. You probably do not carry around a breathalyzer, so if you can only go by how you feel, knowing that you may get in trouble even if you think you feel fine can be hard. Understanding how the law approaches this can give you an idea of how to keep track.
Under Pennsylvania law, we learn that the law uses blood alcohol content (BAC) percentage to determine if someone is legally impaired. The minimum at which you start facing trouble is 0.08% BAC. In reality, it can be difficult to reach this BAC level from one drink. For the average person, it takes multiple drinks to reach the .08% threshold.
However, that does not mean you will not exhibit some signs of impairment below 0.08% BAC. Any amount of impairment can prove unsafe in practice, regardless of whether it is under the legal limit. Putting yourself and others at any increased risk is never worth it.
How Different Levels of Impairment Look in General
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides some insight into drunk driving and what different levels of BAC look like behaviorally. They include levels as low as 0.02% just to illustrate that there is a risk even when well below the legal limit. Having these numbers in mind can help you read yourself better if you decide to have a drink in the future.
- 0.02%: a little loss of judgement, feeling warm, mood change, some relaxation, and a decline in vision and the ability to multitask
- 0.05%: lowered inhibition, some loss of small muscle control, exaggerated behavior, further impaired judgment, elevated mood, lowered coordination, trouble tracking moving objects, reduced ability to control a vehicle, lowered response time
- 0.08%: poor muscle coordination, overall mental impairment, impaired perception
- 0.10%: further deterioration of mental functioning and motor skills, slurred speech, trouble staying in a lane and braking properly
- 0.15%: even more loss of muscle control, a major loss of balance, substantial impairment in vehicle control
Some symptoms may differ slightly for different people, but most of the time, these hold true. Given that judgment is affected even at the lowest BAC, your ability to assess your own intoxication goes down the more you drink. This may contribute to DUI being one of the most common causes of car accidents in Philadelphia.
A Defense of Having Just One Drink Should Not Hold Ground
An accident involving someone who claims to have had just one drink doesn’t make the situation go away. Even sober drivers can be reckless and cause accidents. With any level of impairment, the risk of additional charges increases.
Contact Our Product Liability Law Firm in Philadelphia Today To Get Help With Your Case
To learn more and get the help you deserve, call Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers at (215) 875-7030 or contact us online.
You can also visit our law firm at 123 S Broad St #1220, Philadelphia, PA 19109.
