Booze and bad decisions often go hand-in-hand, but the San José Police Department aims to uncouple that regrettable pair. Tonight, on Santana Row, Police Officers are holding court not for tickets or arrests but for education under their "Know Your Limit" program. Aimed at the imbibing public, the initiative, which lasts from 7 p.m. to midnight, confronts the blurred reality of alcohol consumption with breathalyzer tests and some sobering facts.

The demonstration is simple and voluntary: you drink, you guess your limit, and an officer lets you know the sober truth. According to the San José Police Department, the aim is "to help people understand the effects of alcohol so they can make smart decisions about how they get home safely after a night of drinking." But the stakes are real; California's legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit stands at .08%, a threshold surprisingly easy to cross.

What few may realize—a point emphasized by the department—is how quickly one can hit the legal limit. Factors like weight, height, and whether you've eaten all play into how your body copes with alcohol. It's a game of bodily roulette with high stakes: "It only takes two drinks consumed within one hour by a 120-pound woman and only four drinks by a 180-pound man to be at the legal limit," the department states, serving up a reality that's hard to swallow. Each drink is quantified as 1.5 oz. of liquor, 12 oz. of beer, or 5 oz. glass of wine—not much for tipping the scales of legality.

And let's talk cost—if the threat of impaired driving isn’t enough to deter drinkers from getting behind the wheel, perhaps their wallets will do the listening. A DUI arrest doesn't just bruise your record; it hits where it hurts, tallying up an average cost of around $13,500. Offenders can expect everything from impound fees to insurance hikes, per the San José Police Department. 

The funding for "Know Your Limit" comes from a higher authority—the California Office of Traffic Safety, channeling resources through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Their goal is to break the rate of drinking and driving incidents, and with the holiday season in full swing, the timing couldn't be more pertinent.