So... who is right about drink driving?

Soldato
Joined
18 Feb 2006
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who here has had a pint and then driven somewhere shortly after?

Nope. Most I have had is a mouth full of wine before changing plans to me driving. I didn't have the rest of the glass. The only other occasion was a weak gin and tonic several hours before driving the car back (probably around 4 hours).
 

uv

uv

Soldato
Joined
16 May 2006
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Manchester
I think I am going to bite the bullet and buy a proper breathaliser for myself - it's the only way to be sure.

I'm pretty certain that when I don't drive after drinking, I'm sure there's going to be no problem.

Job done, I just saved you £200 on a breathalyser.
 
Soldato
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Ipswich / Bodham
There are a lot of saints on here...

Personally I don't drink and drive. But, like many I suspect, I will go out for a night and then spend the next morning wondering when it is safe to drive. Safe can mean under the limit and also mean capable.
 
Soldato
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Most i ever will drive when pressed to is 1 pint and a meal. However a mate has passed after 5 pints and 2 smirnoff ices + a meal of wetherspoons mixed grill, literally 10mins after leaving the pub, i was a bit drunk and can only blame myself as i'd never get in a car with someone that drank that much usually.
 
Soldato
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14 Jan 2009
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4,325
Nothing really wrong with a cold pint of beer at country pub to be honest, if you can handle your beer anyway. Drop of ale, leave it a while and then drive home. 2 is pushing it slightly I feel, I could do 2 under the legal limit because of my size but I wouldn't.

I personally think that having the one has no effect on your driving, any loss in reaction time will be negligible. Most people won't feel the first pint.
Everyone handles their alcohol differently so it's down to the individual to assess whether they're safe to drive home.
 
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Soldato
Joined
13 Mar 2004
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Most i ever will drive when pressed to is 1 pint and a meal. However a mate has passed after 5 pints and 2 smirnoff ices + a meal of wetherspoons mixed grill, literally 10mins after leaving the pub, i was a bit drunk and can only blame myself as i'd never get in a car with someone that drank that much usually.

id call shenanigans on that. must have been a pretty large built lad?
 
Caporegime
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West Yorks
who here has had a pint and then driven somewhere shortly after?

me.

I do it every other week when i go out with friends.

I was even pulled for speeding once while doing it, tested and passed. I have a drink or two, with an meal, over the course of may be 3 hours and dont feel any the worse for it. Those who have met me at the meets no im not exactly a small lad, and i feel no effect from one or two pints of weak beer, especially when taken over a long period of time with food.
 
Soldato
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West sussex
whats with the
Small - gets drunk quick
Big/fat/tall w/e doesn't get drunk from the same amount of alcohol? i dont drive but i know i can drink quite bit more than people who are bigger or a lot bigger than me.. dont think the size matters here? if you drink dont drive.. simple..
 
Caporegime
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Buying a breathalyser would be a very bad idea, it would just encourage you to drink to the limit and also it won't give you the same reading the Police test would give. I just wouldn't trust my licence with a silly bit of kit that could be telling porkies.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Jan 2009
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4,325
whats with the
Small - gets drunk quick
Big/fat/tall w/e doesn't get drunk from the same amount of alcohol? i dont drive but i know i can drink quite bit more than people who are bigger or a lot bigger than me.. dont think the size matters here? if you drink dont drive.. simple..

I'm 6'6" 19 stone and a seasoned drinker, not many people can keep up with me as far as tolerance goes.

Theres a calculation you can do to work out your BAC after a certain amount of drinks and time, it is based around body weight, age and a few other factors. Size comes into it.
 
Associate
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Surrey
If I'm driving I'll limit myself to one pint. No more. I can understand not wanting to at all but I just don't see the problem with one pint. That said, I'm far from a small bloke and I have been known to... ahem... put it away...

I can iterate some of the feelings of "the next morning" situation though. It's entirely possible that after a serious session you can end up illegal for the entire next day which always makes you worry when you need to get back home from wherever you passed out!
 
Soldato
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Pembrokeshire
I don't and never really have socialised in pubs. I don't really drink at home at all. If I'm out for a meal I'll have a bottle of lager - at the very most a pint.

I don't actually like being drunk (its the worst "drug" IMO for effect) which is quite ironic considering I was banned yonks ago.

IIRC I had a can of lager before we went out - took a taxi into town. I had 2 (possibly 3) pints in town and one of the lads we were with started getting rowdy and violent (complete headcase) so I stopped drinking lager and drank coke. We went home and this cretin loses it and decides to use me as a punchbag - at this point I can't remember if I had another can but if I did I would have only sipped it. Anyway, I got in my car to get away from this idiot and he called the police and told them I was drink driving - nice :)

I get back to the house (2 or 3 miles) and am now inside. Within 10 minutes the police are at my door. I initially denied even going out but they said they had witnesses (in court the copper said my car engine was hot - it wasn't because I watched him put his hand on the bonnet to check and so did I and it was cold). It then takes about 20 mins to get to the station to do the sit down and blow reading. I was 47 so I had the option of a blood test which I took. The blood was taken say 30-40 mins again and it came back as 42.

The point being I'd had a can of lager, 2 or 3 pints at most and between the last pint and being tested was about 2 or 3 hours. Even longer for the blood. I was about 23 I think and about 9 stone. After just that relatively small amount of alcohol I was over the limit - not by much but still over. The amount I had, IMO, a high amount of people would say "it'll be OK".

I did fight it on mitigating circumstance but it was a fine May afternoon and the judge was probably late for golf so it cut no ice.
 
Man of Honour
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Plymouth
In the UK there is a widely held belief that a couple of pints will put you over the limit, 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. That same limit exists in America, where your average Joe will say 'err - the limit is probably about 8 or 9 beers'. At first I thought to myself - wow - Americans are stupid. But then I spoke to a doctor, who said that most of the stuff in the press was rubbish. He pointed me to webMD.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/alcohol-abuse/blood-alcohol?page=2

FYI normal liquor is 40% ABV, 1.5fl oz is about 44ml = 1.77 UK units, so working on that basis you'd have to drink about 8 pints of normal beer in a 3 hour pub session to be over the current limit.

Evidence I have for this probably being correct:
-A doctor told me so
-My former boss (who would never BS) bought an ~ £200 breathaliser said that to blow a .08 he had to be very hammered indeed
-This Tucker Max story (read it just for the hilarity) http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/date/the_famous_sushi_pants_story.phtml#277
-One of my friends got hit by a driver in Hampshire who was apparently so drunk that he couldn't stand up straight and kept dropping his keys, yet the Police told him the next day that by the time he was breathalised at the station he was below the level at which they could prosecute (which I think is 0.088). Not many men are that 'drunk' after a couple of pints

Evidence I have for this probably being optimistic:
-The widely held belief in the UK that the drink drive limit is just over a pint
-Articles like this which say the drink drive limit is currently about 1.5 pints
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article7061168.ece

So who's right? It's very confusing. I think I am going to bite the bullet and buy a proper breathaliser for myself - it's the only way to be sure.

Your fatal flaw is confusing breathalyser data with blood alcohol level. The legal limit for breath alcohol is 35micrograms per 100ml of breath. So if you blow 0.08 on a breathalyser you are over double the limit...

Secondly, look up the widmark equation for a better understanding of how the body processes alcohol.
 
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