If you are heading out this New Year, you might be wondering how much you can drink before driving home. If you are thinking this, you are setting yourself up for problems.
Firstly it is important to remember that you do not need to be over the legal limit to pick up a drunk driving charge. The police often arrest people based solely on how they observed them driving. They argue that the alcohol was clearly affecting the person otherwise they would not have been driving in that way. Remember, the police can arrest you if alcohol is impairing your driving as it could make you a danger to others.
Calculating what you can get away with drinking is difficult
How much you could potentially drink while staying under the legal limit depends on several things. First, know which limit applies to you. If you are under 21 then it is zero. If you are a commercial driver it will be less than the usual 0.08% blood alcohol content (BAC), too.
Secondly, know that each person’s body processes alcohol at slightly different rates. For the average person (whatever that is) their BAC will drop by about 0.015g per hour. This roughly equates to one standard drink per hour.
However, no one is truly average – we are all slightly different. Secondly, drinks of the same type can vary in size and alcohol content, even if they both appear to be standard at first glance.
The only sure option is to forget trying to calculate things and avoid drinking and driving altogether. If, however, you try and get it wrong, you may still have defense options available.
