Drink Driving - How Much Is Over The Limit

I see that both Hants and Dorset DD figures are signifcantly up this year. The copper on the telly was citing "The morning after" as one of the reasons.

If you go out and you are driving how many drinks will you have? Personally I won't have any, but understand that you would be ok with about a pint and a half, but it is the next day that worries me.

If you have a session starting at 7.00pm and finish at 1.00am and drink ten pints or equivilent, when would it be safe to drive?

From the clips it showed, it looks like there is random testing in the mornings - So be careful.

Imho, there should be a zero tolerance of alcohol, drink with it in your bloodstream, lose your licence, simple, everyone will know the 'limit' then!

Imho, there should be a zero tolerance of alcohol, drink with it in your bloodstream, lose you licence, simple, everyone will know the 'limit' then!

That's very harsh. If you had one pint the night before, you couldnt drive the next day.

That's very harsh. If you had one pint the night before, you couldnt drive the next day.

Not being a doctor, but I would think the effects of '1 pint' would be clear of your blood, after a good sleep. Question, how would you feel if someone under the influence, were to kill any close member of your family.

In Japan zero limit. Plus if I get in a car with someone I know has been drinking I am just as accountable (drink driving carries a 10 year prison sentence). As far as I know drink driving is not a major issue here. Personally if I am driving I don't drink anything. If I have had more than two or three pints the night before I don't drive the next day. Although granted in countries where public transport works that is easier and cheaper than countries where it doesn't, so makes the decision much easier.

I agree with gingeletiss.

A limit of zero will take the 'confusion' away.

Because there is a limit, people push it and think 'I'll be ok to have one' - me included.

If the limit was zero - I wouldn't have 1

If it was zero stay clear of a sherry trifle. Or christmas pudding. Cos after eating that you'd not be in a fit state to drive obviously.

I agree with gingeletiss.

 

A limit of zero will take the 'confusion' away.

 

Because there is a limit, people push it and think 'I'll be ok to have one' - me included.

 

If the limit was zero - I wouldn't have 1

There's also the other situation where people have a few pints knowingly going over the limit, but on the basis that by the time they are going to be driving again (in a few hours), 'they'll be alright by then'

Try this link, explains all http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/guides/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-your-system.html

If you go out and you are driving how many drinks will you have? Personally I won't have any, but understand that you would be ok with about a pint and a half, but it is the next day that worries me.

 

If you have a session starting at 7.00pm and finish at 1.00am and drink ten pints or equivilent, when would it be safe to drive?

 

I will normally have 7 or 8 pints, and still drive. I'm fine, and can't see why other people don't do it more. Nanny state.

My understanding is that it takes (on average) one hour for half a pint of 'normal' strength beer (3 - 4%) to leave your body.

A few years back the Met Police were doing a 'breathalyser roadshow' around London offices at Christmas and I'd had about 4 pints at lunchtime. We stopped off in the office foyer to have a go on the breathalyser and I and a few others passed!

Suffice to say that I've treated that as a one-off and will always stick to the published limits.

From the clips it showed, it looks like there is random testing in the mornings - So be careful.

Which I believe is totally illegal, there has to be a reason for stopping you. That said easy enough to make one up!

Next morning is a quandary, if you've have 5 pints over that period you should be ok. Bearing in mind a lager is 2 units, it takes 1 hour to clear a unit and the body is processing the alcohol as you go. 10 pints is a non runner, Better to be safe than sorry.

2 pints is OK isn't it?

It depends on your build. I know a fat bloke who'd drunk 5 pints and was still under the limit.

2 pints is OK isn't it?

 

It depends on your build. I know a fat bloke who'd drunk 5 pints and was still under the limit.

http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/guide...ur-system.html

Apparently a myth

http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/guide...ur-system.html

 

Apparently a myth

I'm just saying what I know to have happened.

Either way it's not worth the risk nowadays. My old man used to drink drive but he was born in 1931 and people of his generation did. Those days are gone and it's not acceptable any more.

I'm over the limit every day of the year, just drive around with vomit stuck to your teeth and chin and wear a sk*teboard helmet driving, never been pulled.

It's best to keep it down to half a pint and sip it very slowly. Zero limit is not workable, I believe there are medical conditions that can give rise to alcohol in the blood. On a wider debate, there are drivers who are perfectly sober who are a danger to others and a heavy cold or flu can lead to reaction times that are far worse than those caused by alcohol. Whatever you do, don't try to push the limit. When I was a student I found that two mouthfuls of beer were enough to ruin my speed at table football so I know what effects it can have.

I'm told that there is a pub here in Hamble where some time ago the police would go into the car park and spray the number plates so that they could identify the cars when they were driving up the road later. This has now been discontinued. Around the same time my colleague was leaving Hamble when he and every other driver was pulled into the car park next to the school. This wasn't even random testing, this was universal breathalysing.

Random Breath Tests here in Oz. Like Martini - anywhere, anyplace, anytime. I don't think that drink driving is a good thing at all, but I think tailgaiting and being a nkob in charge of a car is worse than Mrs Dodkins having a sherry too many.

It takes a hour for you body to process 1 unit of alcohol. Ten pints the night before means no driving the day after.

I think that is about right !

I had 2 pints before a night match at SMS (last sip about 7.00pm) then got the ferry back to E. Cowes and got stopped at 11.30 in a random roadcheck !

I told the officer the truth and he said that it should not register on the breathalyser and sure enough it didn't (0.0%) !

TBF I always get the wife to drive or take a taxi but I reckon that they build in a little safety factor when testing !!

I'm another who believes in the zero approach. Removes any doubt.

I will normally have 7 or 8 pints, and still drive. I'm fine, and can't see why other people don't do it more. Nanny state.

This. + a couple of g's makes me a better driver.

Zero would be good - the amount you're allowed to drink isn't exactly night out changing so why even risk it?

The zero alcohol approach is completely unfeasible IMO. On Tuesday nights I stop off for a pint of shandy or two after 5 a side footy. I don't even come close to being a danger to road users. Why should my evenings be ruined just because a small minority of idiots can't stick to the rules. If people can't stick to the current rules and just have one pint of beer, glass of wine or whatever; what makes you think they're going to stick to the 0 alcohol rule?

I do not think you should be able to have any alcohol and then drive. This would would stop any grey areas.

I do not think you should be able to have any alcohol and drive. This would would stop any grey areas.

That would mean never drinking or never driving. Ever.

That would mean never drinking or never driving. Ever.

Ha ha ha ha, yes ban alcohol and driving.... Problem solved!

The limits are fine, a zero limit would not make it any more stright forward as there would be a lot of challanges around food ect. There would be more and more legal challanges with people claiming they didn't know X or Y had alcohol in it. At the moment the limit is set at a level where there is no defence, to be over the limit you must know you're over or on the border line.

The issue is the enforcement of the present laws. I've never understood the "Xmas clampdown", there should be a clampdown all year long. Drive past a pub and the car park is pretty full, are all the drivers on soft drinks or keeping to the limit? I doubt it. The police should set up road blocks regulary from routes away from popular pubs. They should do so in the morning as well. I get the impression that the police turn a blind eye occasionally,not wanting to check on certain occasions. The other thing that needs stronger action is the law around accidents and deaths through drink driving. The thought of running someone over and killing them, stops me from drink driving, how could you live with yourself or enjoy Xmas knowing someone is not with their family because I ran them over/crashed into them on the way home from the pub, makes me get taxis. Surely a 15 year sentance for casuing death by drink driving will persuade others as well.

I speak as someone who loves a drink and thinks pubs are one of the greatest inventions man has ever made, so I'm hardly a member of the Temperance movement .

It takes a hour for you body to process 1 unit of alcohol. Ten pints the night before means no driving the day after.

Not according to the calculator on the post 9

Lots of armchair lawyering going on. Heres the definitive answer.

1) there is no 'safe' amount (other than zero). There is no calculator. There is no spreadsheet or table. Everyone is different.

2) there are two relevant offences. The one that 99% of the population refer to as 'drink drive' is not, and heres the important bit, 'drunk drive'. How under the influence you are is irrelevant. It is a scientific measurement of the proportion of alcohol in your breath. I have seen people absolutely stinking drunk blow under, and i have seen 'sober' people blow over.

3) however, even if you blow under, but you are unfit, you still commit the other offence.

So basically, if you want to be sure of keeping your licence, dont drink any alcohol before driving.

I was arrested for drink driving back in 2002. I'd been out with a mate, had a few drinks, and driven home. I hadn't intended to drink quite as much, I usually had a couple when driving but no more, but as the night went on I just had that one more. I got home ok too - it was when my mate rang me up begging for a lift that I should've said no, but instead I got back in the car and picked him up and drove him home. Just as I left his house, the police car stopped me. I had a breaklight out but they could smell booze. I did the roadside breath test and failed it, so they parked my car up, arrested me, and took me to Maidenhead nick. I was very lucky that night - when they did the actual breath test, where you need to get 35mg, I failed and got 40mg. When I did the second breath test (as you get two), I passed with a rating of 39mgs, which apparently is the leaway they give you to pass.

I was very stupid, I've never drunk under the influence since and I never will again, but I did get very lucky that night.

I was arrested for drink driving back in 2002. I'd been out with a mate, had a few drinks, and driven home. I hadn't intended to drink quite as much, I usually had a couple when driving but no more, but as the night went on I just had that one more. I got home ok too - it was when my mate rang me up begging for a lift that I should've said no, but instead I got back in the car and picked him up and drove him home. Just as I left his house, the police car stopped me. I had a breaklight out but they could smell booze. I did the roadside breath test and failed it, so they parked my car up, arrested me, and took me to Maidenhead nick. I was very lucky that night - when they did the actual breath test, where you need to get 35mg, I failed and got 40mg. When I did the second breath test (as you get two), I passed with a rating of 39mgs, which apparently is the leaway they give you to pass.

 

I was very stupid, I've never drunk under the influence since and I never will again, but I did get very lucky that night.

I have never drunk under the influence. I have driven under it though.

No point in this anymore.

10 pints of beer is 23 units. It takes the average body 1 hour to process 1 unit... so it would be 23 hours until you are totally clean.

Wrong. Can you really not use a clearly explained alcohol calculator?

http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/tools/bac-calculator/index.php?gender=male&quantity=20&percentage=4&num_of_drinks=10&weight=160

Wrong. Can you really not use a clearly explained alcohol calculator?

http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/tools/bac-calculator/index.php?gender=male&quantity=20&percentage=4&num_of_drinks=10&weight=160

Fair enough, I stand corrected. I was just repeating the 1 hour per unit thing I have been taught.

For me it's a cultural thing.

When I'm back in the UK I never drink and drive and would wait until at least the afternoon before driving after a night out. I simply know and understand its not acceptable.

In Belgium however, culturally it's not considered that serious an issue and pretty much everyone does it (think the UK in the 70's).

As such I'll quite happily get in my car, not leathered, but having had too much to pass a test. If I get caught the fine is a 2 week ban and about €250.

I do understand that I am more of a risk to other drivers by doing this, but suspect I am still more competent than old people, those having just passed a test (here you can even drive on your own for a year before having to take a driving test "as practice"), people speeding, not wearing glasses when they should etc.

Besides, half of all other road users are probably in a worse state than me, so it makes it easier to "blend in"!

I know if I read the above with my British head on, I would be appalled! There you go, thats the beauty and complexity of life.

Having been on a drink drive course there is no hard and fast rule about how much you can drink, how long it takes to rid your system becuase all of our bodies react differently to alcohol. You could two people drink 6 pints in an eve and one could be over the limit the next morning and the other not.

Best not to drink anything. I learnt the hard way.

Geneva Saint is wrong I think, random breath testing isn't illegal here (?) The police usually prefer to have a reason for pulling you over and testing you though as they do have to give a reason for doing so, if only for their own paperwork.

And for my fourpence worth, I reckon the current limit is about right. Its all very well to say "zero limit, no tolerance, everyone knows where they stand etc etc", but where they would stand is living in a community where the consumption of alcohol is part of almost every leisure activity in our society and the personal car is the only viable form of transport. "Going to the pub" is still the number one social activity, and almost everthing else Joe Average does has booze involved at some point. Going to the footy? Pint before, swift one at half time, couple afterwards. Theatre? Get your G + T ordered for the interval. Friends place for a meal?..dont forget to bring a bottle..... Now that public transport has long since been removed as a practical and economic alternative for so many of us I think this will be a problem until that side has been addressed. And I'm not an apologist for drunk drivers, but I can see why it happens.

I have never drunk under the influence. I have driven under it though.

Oh cripes, yes driving I meant! I guess all alcohol consumption is "drinking under the influence!"

Oh cripes, yes driving I meant! I guess all alcohol consumption is "drinking under the influence!"

plsshead

Just don't drink anything if you are driving. Safest policy. And if you have a right bender the night before then don't drive for at least 24 hours after.

When I first came down here there was no limit, simply a law that said IF you had a crash and were under the influence then you were in total sh1t & would get jail time. Mate of mine drove home after about 10 pints, was stopped as he was all over the road and the Boys in Green said - you look tired, one drove his car home for him while he passed out in the passenger seat. I, once under the same rules, came home so mortalled I got in my old Nissan patrol the wrong way and a Cop had to get my head out from the clutch pedal, he drove me home.

Fast forward a few years and the locals were killing themselves at a an unsustainable rate of knots so they brought in a new law - Zero, nada nicht.

Penalty now is one month in jail and a shaved head. 2 strikes and you get 2 months, 3rd time you are kicked out.

Since that came into effect it simply meant a lifestyle change. Going out? take a taxi. Have a beer or 2 while out? pick the car up the next day. It's a choice, I took it, but many ex pats still think like Brits. 3 of my mates have been banged up for it.

A month in a Dubai nick? They all got with the programme BIG time after that.

In UK it's a tough call, drive a mile home from the Village pub up Village roads? vs drive through a busy town centre.

UK has it right for the environment but the enforcement should be tougher ALL year. Here? The right solution, FFS a taxi home is less than the cost of a pint anyway

Wrong. Can you really not use a clearly explained alcohol calculator?

http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/tools/bac-calculator/index.php?gender=male&quantity=20&percentage=4&num_of_drinks=10&weight=160

Clearly explained, but inaccurate and completely useless.

The liver can metabolize only a certain amount of alcohol per hour, regardless of the amount that has been consumed. The rate of alcohol metabolism depends, in part, on the amount of metabolizing enzymes in the liver, which varies among individuals and appears to have genetic determinants. In general, after the consumption of one standard drink, the amount of alcohol in the drinker's blood (blood alcohol concentration, or BAC) peaks within 30 to 45 minutes.

A number of factors influence the absorption process, including the presence of food and the type of food in the gastrointestinal tract when alcohol is consumed. The rate at which alcohol is absorbed depends on how quickly the stomach empties its contents into the intestine. The higher the dietary fat content, the more time this emptying will require and the longer the process of absorption will take. One study found that subjects who drank alcohol after a meal that included fat, protein, and carbohydrates absorbed the alcohol about three times more slowly than when they consumed alcohol on an empty stomach.

Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently from men. They have higher BAC's after consuming the same amount of alcohol as men and are more susceptible to alcoholic liver disease.

It's effectively a zero limit here, which I like. There's no question of accidentally going over the limit. if you drink and drive you'll get banned. i don't know anybody here who's been caught for drink driving because if anyone has a drink at all, they just don't drive.

It's effectively a zero limit here, which I like. There's no question of accidentally going over the limit. if you drink and drive you'll get banned. i don't know anybody here who's been caught for drink driving because if anyone has a drink at all, they just don't drive.

It's the same here,eat a chocolate liquor and your'e over. A workmate got done,he was given a choice,a huge fine ( can´t recall how much) or a months prison which he took.

plsshead

Hung Over more like. (From being a **** head the night before.)