from The Journal of Physiology
The legal blood alcohol limit for driving is .08%. But blood alcohol levels much lower than the legal limit impair hand-eye coordination. New research in The Journal of Physiology found that hand-eye coordination is dramatically more sensitive to alcohol. That ability to process visual motion, crucial to driving and other activities, is compromised after consuming the equivalent of less than one-half of a beer. The findings come from the NASA Ames Research Center in which eye movements are measured as a way to assess performance deficits. Authors say results of the study suggest most people feel they are unimpaired after one drink and yet they are to a significant degree.