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Can you safely judge how much you can drink before driving?

On Behalf of | Oct 14, 2024 | Drunk Driving

Not all drivers like to abstain from alcohol altogether. While doing so is the most sensible option, the law does not forbid drinking before driving altogether. Provided you do not breach the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit, crash or drive in a way that leads the police to believe the alcohol is affecting your driving, you will probably be OK.

Yet, working out how much alcohol you can have is far more complicated than most people realize. For starters, not everyone faces the same BAC limit. The limit for commercial drivers is lower and under 21s are not allowed to drink at all.

People’s bodies react differently to the same amount of alcohol

Just because your friend is OK to drive after a certain number of drinks does not mean you will be. Everyone’s body processes alcohol differently. Gender and body weight are just two of the things that affect this. 

If you had a drink earlier in the day, or even the night before, this might also affect your BAC, as even though you only have one or two drinks now, there may still be alcohol in your blood from before.

The time you spend drinking or the time between drinking and driving also matters. Two drinks spaced out over two hours will result in a different BAC to the same two drinks in half an hour. Equally, having two drinks and jumping straight in the car after the last sip will result in a different BAC than finishing your drinks an hour before you take the wheel.

It’s also important to remember that not all drinks are equal. Maybe you normally have two beers and then head home. But what if the bar has run out of the beer you usually drink and the one they serve you is stronger? Would you still be OK to drive?

As you can see, it is easy to make a mistake if trying to calculate how much you can drink before driving. If you end up in trouble with the police, it will be important to understand your defense options.