THE FACTS Drunken driving
In 1999, the most recent statistics available from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 41,611 people were killed in highway car accidents in the United States. About 38 percent of those fatalities involved alcohol; 32 percent of the fatalities were alcohol-related.
The number of alcohol-related car crash fatalities in states that have lowered their legal limit from .10 to .08 has decreased by an average of 7 percent.
20 percent of all alcohol-related car crash fatalities occur when a person has a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .10 or lower.
24 states and the District of Columbia currently have a legal limit of .08. Ohio's legal limit currently is .10.
A 170-pound person would have to drink four cans of beer, or four shots of liquor or four mixed drinks on an empty stomach in an hour to have a BAC of .08.
SOURCE: Mothers Against Drunk Driving