Driving is a complex task. Drinking and driving carries a much greater risk of having a car accident. A person who drinks and drives is less able to see moving lights, judge distances or respond to multiple stimuli. Alcohol leads to more road crashes than any other single factor in Australia. Australian law requires fully licensed car drivers to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 or less when driving. A BAC is a measurement of the amount of alcohol in your body. This is expressed as grams of alcohol per 100ml of blood. This means that a 0.05 BAC is the equivalent of 0.05g of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Australian police are able to stop any vehicle at any time to breath test the driver for their BAC. The laws regarding BAC are different for special licence categories such as: learner and probationary (P-plate) drivers taxi drivers bus drivers train drivers heavy truck drivers These laws can be found on your state or territory’s police website. Before going out drinking, make sure you have a plan. If you are going out in a group, work out who will drive everyone home. If no one wants to be the nominated driver, bring enough money for a taxi. It is important to understand that your blood alcohol level will continue to rise after you have had your last drink. You generally won’t reach your maximum BAC until 45 to 90 minutes after having your final drink. Click here for the best tips for drinking safely.