A South Australian man certainly wasn’t having a good Friday when police stopped him at 9:00 a.m. yesterday for suspected drink driving. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .42, more than enough to kill a person and more than eight times the legal limit for drivers. After being charged the man was taken to hospital for observation.
The table below, taken from a Wikipedia entry, notes the effects that varying BAC levels are likely to have on people. Note that a Mel Gibson-like rant could occur in the 0.11–0.20; death is the likely result of a reading of .38 and above. The driver will face a local magistrates court on Tuesday.
The highest recorded BAC of a driver was an Oregon woman who recorded .72 who was found unconscious in her car with the engine running. Extreme breathalyzer readings such as this one are, fortunately, a rarity.
– Thanks Andrew [ABC]
