Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC is the amount of alcohol in relation to blood in your body. The more alcohol that is in your blood, the greater the BAC level as well as the degree of your mental and physical impairment. The three major factors in determining BAC are: the amount of alcohol you consume, how quickly you consumed it and your body weight. Other factors also contribute to the way alcohol affects your system. Your sex, physical condition and food intake are just a few that may cause your BAC level to be even higher.
Generally, alcohol can be eliminated in your body at the rate of about one drink per hour. However, alcohol may still accumulate in your body even if you are drinking at a rate of one drink per hour. Whether or not you are legally intoxicated is not the real issue. Impairment of your judgment and riding skills begin well below the legal limit. Above are the general effects of impairment at indicated BAC levels for a typical person.
Being In Shape to Ride
Alcohol is a major contributor to motorcycle crashes, particularly fatal crashes. Studies show that 40% to 45% of all riders killed in motorcycle crashes had been drinking. Only one-third of those riders had a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limits. The rest had only a few drinks in their systems enough to impair their riding skills.
Riding a motorcycle is a demanding and complex task. Skilled riders operate their motorcycle by executing quick and skillful decisions as a result of paying attention to the ever-changing riding environment. Within minutes after being consumed, alcohol enters the bloodstream and reaches the brain, which begins to affect one’s ability to think clearly and make critical decisions. The major effect alcohol has is to slow down and impair bodily functions – both mental and physical. Whatever a person does, they will do less well after consuming alcohol. As little as one drink can have a significant effect on a rider’s ability to exercise good judgment and riding performance.
Eliminate the Risks
Your ability to judge how well you are riding is affected first. Although you may be performing more and more poorly, you think you are doing better and better. The result is that you ride confidently taking greater and greater risks. Greater risks that may get you and/or someone else killed! Eliminate any such risks by adopting the motto of Motorcycle Dial-A-Ride, Inc. “If You Ride, Don’t Drink” or “If You Drink, Don’t Ride.”
Motorcycle Dial-A-Ride, Inc., a non-profit 501C3 volunteer organization established in 1990 to educate Minnesota motorcyclists about the consequences of riding and drinking, to encourage the use of intervention methods to prevent impaired riders from riding, and to provide a safe free ride service to motorcyclists in Minnesota as a final intervention method.
Motorcycle Dial-A-Ride, Inc. provides a free service available in the state of Minnesota on weekends and holidays from 6:00 PM on Friday through midnight on Sunday starting the last weekend of April through the last weekend of October. Including the legal holidays of Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.
Motorcyclists in the state of Minnesota who call the toll free number, 1-888 DIALRID(e) or 1-888-342- 5743 during the hours of service, Motorcycle Dial-A-Ride Inc. will dispatch a volunteer equipped to transport the motorcyclist, passenger, and their motorcycle from a public establishment to the rider’s home or local accommodation.