Drunk driving – it could take just one tipple

You may have only had one glass of wine with dinner, or a beer at the braai, but if you're 55 or older, that single serving may hit you hard enough to make you a dangerous, drunk driver.

So, baby boomers, US scientists say what you may have suspected is true: you can't party like you used to.

Dr Sara Jo Nixon, a professor in the departments of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Florida, and colleagues, tested how drinking legally non-intoxicating levels of alcohol affect the driving skills of two age groups: 36 people ages 25 to 35 and 36 people ages 55 to 70. They found that although neither age group drank enough alcohol to put them over the legal driving limit, a blood alcohol level of 0.08, just one drink could affect the driving abilities of older drivers.

Based on the study findings published in the journal Psychopharmacology, the researchers say it could be time to reassess legal blood alcohol levels for all drivers to prevent drunk driving.

"These simulations have been used a lot in looking at older adults, and they have been used at looking how alcohol affects the driving of younger adults, but no one's ever looked at the combination of ageing drivers and alcohol," they say.

The study is the latest in a body of work by Nixon and her team that looks at how even moderate doses of alcohol affect ageing adults.

 Newswise