'drink driving' related questions

PAz · 28 Dec 2002 at 08:30

hi, was in jaks last night with me mates and we were talking about drink driving, however firstly none of us knew what the actual legal limit is (none of us were driving btw, we arent idiots

we were just curious and on the subject) so i went and asked the barman and he said

"for someone ure sort of size, about 2 pints, for someone smaller around 1-1 and a half pints"

i mean what sort answer is that...so my question is, what is the actual legal limit? not that i drink when i drive because i think even one can affect you (i am a bit techy on the drink driving as someone was badly hurt because of a moron drink driver

)

the second thing we were wondering is say the night after a good bevvy, is it ok to go out and drive the next morning? say the police pulled you over and gave you a breath test - would you be considered over the limit? none of us had any idea on this question...

thanky

MindYerBeak · 28 Dec 2002 at 08:33

Blimey, a spam free post. If I were driving, I'd only ever drink 1 pint, no more.

If I have a hangover the following day I won't drive until it clears. Usually around midday is a safe time to drive.

Curiosityx · 28 Dec 2002 at 08:39

I was stopped the other night after 2 weak lager shadies, i got about a quarter of the way up the scale, and i consider myself to be quite a big bloke, basically there is no way to tell with each individual person, alcohol affects different people in different ways.

Oldun · 28 Dec 2002 at 10:05

I think i am right in saying the legal limit is still 80mg (imo it should be zero)
After a moderate drinking session it takes a minimum of 8 hours to clear the system,the heavier the drinking session the longer it takes.

Yossarian · 28 Dec 2002 at 10:10

I agree that drinking anything when you intend to drive is not ideal and i never do it BUT if the limit was 0mg how long would someone need to wait before they were clear following an evenings boozing. So a limit is necessary but its silly to exploit it.

Tag Bartok · 28 Dec 2002 at 12:16

80mg is the max legal blood alcohol limit. 35mg is the max legal breath alcohol limit. There is no safe limit to what you can drink as there are too many variables. Your height, weight, physical condition, diet. A friend who works at a forensic science lab told me that the ideal way to beat the breath test would be to be 4 feet tall weighing 20 stone, physically very fit and to have eaten two pounds of mashed potato just before entering the pup. Such a person would contain about twenty pints of blood so the alcohol would be more diluted. A fit person can metabolize and get rid of alcohol quicker than an unfit person. The mashed potato would slow down the alcohol passing from the stomach into the bloodstream. If you fit this description then take the risk but it is still a risk. Your drinking habits also matter. An occasional/moderate drinker may get drunk faster but be clear of alcohol sooner than a ten pint a night every night drinker. Beer and spirits get into your blood at different rates as well.
Maybe you are Joe average who drinks on an empty stomach and still feels ****** in the morning. If so don't even look at your car if you love yourself, your driving licence and reasonably affordable insurance cover. That's forgetting the risk to others while you're driving. Remember as well if you are a driver involved in an accident, regardless of blame you may be required to take a breath test.
My mate went to pub on a Sunday night. He insists he only had three pints and was in bed by 11.30pm. He got up for work at 7am and wrecked his new Golf 1.8T on the M6 at 8.15am. He was lucky to be alive, so was the woman in the car he crashed into. What he didn't consider was the fact he had been to a stag night the previous Friday and a wedding on Saturday. He was three times over the limit. He got banned for 18 months, lost his job as rep as a result, couldn't pay his mortgage, lost his house and wife. He now has ten points on his licence which stay on for ten years and can just about afford to insure a six year old Ford Escort.
Sorry to go on so much.

dirtydog · 28 Dec 2002 at 12:21

Originally posted by Tag Bartok
He got banned for 18 months, lost his job as rep as a result, couldn't pay his mortgage, lost his house and wife. He now has ten points on his licence which stay on for ten years and can just about afford to insure a six year old Ford Escort.

A sobering tale, pun intended :rolleyes:

mctiny · 28 Dec 2002 at 12:37

i think the limit is simply 2 units of alcahol which is i think 1 pint (1 unit being half a pint), but i might be wrong.

i though it stayed in your system for at least 12 hours as well, meaning you could still be classed as drunk the next morning i nthe eyes of the law!!.

personaly if i am, driving i don't drink at all and i agree that the limit should be zero.

p.s. i would shop anyone for drink driving if i thought they was not safe on the road.

BENJAMIN HERBLE · 28 Dec 2002 at 16:33

alcahol stays in the bloodstream for up to 3 days..... :eek:

ben

Nozzer · 28 Dec 2002 at 17:40

Most people I know will have either a pint, or a couple of shandys and still drive.

Originally posted by mctiny

personaly if i am, driving i don't drink at all and i agree that the limit should be zero.

Whereas I live by that

PAz · 28 Dec 2002 at 18:05

Originally posted by mctiny

personaly if i am, driving i don't drink at all and i agree that the limit should be zero.

p.s. i would shop anyone for drink driving if i thought they was not safe on the road.

yeh - i think the same mate...drink driving is stupid, especially as ive seen what it can do...ruined my mates chance of playing professional football because of some drunken moron

i was just curious on the above questions as none of us last night knew the answers

Snash · 28 Dec 2002 at 18:11

I seem to remember a taxi driver being told by police that he should allow one hour AFTER his LAST drink for every unit of alcohol consumed so 20 units would be 20 hours after your last drink. When you think that eg a pint of stella has approx 2.8 units, you have say 7 pints that's 20 units. So if you stopped drinking at 10pm you should wait until 6pm the next day :eek:

Tweek_1984 · 28 Dec 2002 at 18:26

I got stopped on saturday night around midnight on a back road. I was stone cold sober. They didnt even breathalise me. I still brickin it tho incase they got me for speeding or something. But it was cool.

Personally, I can feel how drunk I am. Time has a huge influence on this topic aswell. I mean, if I drank 3 pints at 6pm and finished by 7:30pm, if I felt sober enough, I'd consider driving after around 10pm. But I never do that anyways. usually, If I'm drinking at home, I'll plan that night so I wont need to get in my car.

using the same constraints. If I started drinking at 7pm, downed a pint and went for a drive at 7:30pm, I'd probaly feel too drunk to drive to be honest.

Whenever I drink, I usually dont drive. But say, If I've been watching a footie match on tv with a few cans and then two or three hours later my sis or mum has rang to get a lift home. I'd probaly drive, but like I say, I'd judge how intoxicated I was.

Drink driving is stupid, no two ways about it. But it does irritate me when some of my 'new driver' pals wont go to a pub before a footie match because they're driving. I mean, there is a legal limit. Thats probaly one of the reasons why it is there. So people can have a tipple and still drive.

But yea. If you drink drive you'll get caught anyways. The police are everywhere at this time of year. Plus its ignorant and stupid.

Meridian · 28 Dec 2002 at 18:36

Originally posted by yadobber
I seem to remember a taxi driver being told by police that he should allow one hour AFTER his LAST drink for every unit of alcohol consumed so 20 units would be 20 hours after your last drink. When you think that eg a pint of stella has approx 2.8 units, you have say 7 pints that's 20 units. So if you stopped drinking at 10pm you should wait until 6pm the next day

IN general this advise is about right, but you need to factor in all that stuff Tag Bartok mentioned. Your gender is VERY important - men metabolise alcohol about twice as fast as women. The bigger you are the more the alcohol is diluted. The more you've eaten the longer it is retained - etc.

M

Muncher · 28 Dec 2002 at 19:31

Jest3r · 28 Dec 2002 at 19:36

wouldn't care in the slightest if it was 0mg limit,

in fact it'd make those "borderline" cases that cause accidents and so on non existant and simpler to prosecute

dirtydog · 28 Dec 2002 at 19:47

Originally posted by Tweek_1984
I got stopped on saturday night around midnight on a back road. I was stone cold sober. They didnt even breathalise me. I still brickin it tho incase they got me for speeding or something. But it was cool.

Personally, I can feel how drunk I am. Time has a huge influence on this topic aswell. I mean, if I drank 3 pints at 6pm and finished by 7:30pm, if I felt sober enough, I'd consider driving after around 10pm. But I never do that anyways. usually, If I'm drinking at home, I'll plan that night so I wont need to get in my car.

using the same constraints. If I started drinking at 7pm, downed a pint and went for a drive at 7:30pm, I'd probaly feel too drunk to drive to be honest.

Whenever I drink, I usually dont drive. But say, If I've been watching a footie match on tv with a few cans and then two or three hours later my sis or mum has rang to get a lift home. I'd probaly drive, but like I say, I'd judge how intoxicated I was.

Drink driving is stupid, no two ways about it. But it does irritate me when some of my 'new driver' pals wont go to a pub before a footie match because they're driving. I mean, there is a legal limit. Thats probaly one of the reasons why it is there. So people can have a tipple and still drive.

But yea. If you drink drive you'll get caught anyways. The police are everywhere at this time of year. Plus its ignorant and stupid.

No offence m8 but a lot of people who are caught drinking & driving will be just like you - they have a few drinks and "know" they are okay to drive because they don't feel drunk or whatever :rolleyes:

You contradict yourself a few times in your post.

If you've had anything to drink, don't drive - it's the only safe way.

schnipps · 28 Dec 2002 at 19:49

Originally posted by Yossarian
I agree that drinking anything when you intend to drive is not ideal and i never do it BUT if the limit was 0mg how long would someone need to wait before they were clear following an evenings boozing. So a limit is necessary but its silly to exploit it.

i agree, im sure there are also other things that have small alcohol content such as medicines etc: if the limit was 0% it would just be chaos for the police having to arrest shed loads more people for having alcohol content when they are no danger.

I think the biggest concern for thousands of blokes is the driving to work the next morning thing. I personally wouldnt have a pint or a can and drive, not because i know i would be hovering on the limit but i find driving after a pint and keeping 100% concentration harder, so i dont do it.

The morning after the night before though is different as you just dont know what limit you are at. If im at work on monday morning and leave the house at 7:30 i would never have a heavy night at the pub and cetainly wouldnt go clubbing but i do like drinking cans in the house on a sunday and sometimes have quite a few. In the morning i feel rough but i dont think im over the limit (or i hope i am not ) id like to think i can take my lager being 17 stone and quite fit, but how can you be sure you arent over the limit?

we need some kind of test you can take yourself that says if you are over or not, and not these rubbish self test things u get in halfords that are'nt really calibrated properly. Something thats reliable.

dirtydog · 28 Dec 2002 at 19:56

Originally posted by schnipps

The morning after the night before though is different as you just dont know what limit you are at. If im at work on monday morning and leave the house at 7:30 i would never have a heavy night at the pub and cetainly wouldnt go clubbing but i do like drinking cans in the house on a sunday and sometimes have quite a few. In the morning i feel rough but i dont think im over the limit (or i hope i am not ) id like to think i can take my lager being 17 stone and quite fit, but how can you be sure you arent over the limit?

If you feel rough chances are you are over the limit, or close to it.

I agree there should BE a limit, cos otherwise it would criminalise people who have a minute amount of alcohol from a small drink ages ago or mouthwash or whatever.

Maybe if you know you're gonna be driving in the morning you shouldn't drink much - not a popular view I imagine but the only way to be sure you're safe.

schnipps · 28 Dec 2002 at 20:02

Originally posted by dirtydog
If you feel rough chances are you are over the limit, or close to it.

I agree there should BE a limit, cos otherwise it would criminalise people who have a minute amount of alcohol from a small drink ages ago or mouthwash or whatever.

Maybe if you know you're gonna be driving in the morning you shouldn't drink much - not a popular view I imagine but the only way to be sure you're safe.

i know lots of peole that do the sunday nite drinking thing and drive on monday morning, nearly everyone i know does it. I think its a much much bigger problem than night time drink driving, as for starters loads of peole dont realise they are doing it, which brings me to my point again we need some sort of self test kit, so if you are over in the morning you dont drive. As lets face it in the morning unless u have had a shockingly hard nite you dont get up and feel drunk, which is why people drive to work.