If you ask people if they would knowingly drink and drive, many of them will tell you that they would not. This does not mean they will avoid drinking altogether. Someone may feel like it is fine to have a glass of wine with dinner. But they simply monitor their own intoxication levels and only drive if they believe they are sober.
Part of the problem with this, however, is that someone who is drinking will not always know exactly how intoxicated they are. Studies have found that people often misjudge this. Part of the reason is that impairment itself clouds a person’s judgment, so they may not realize they are intoxicated. But another part of the equation is how people rate their own intoxication in the first place.
Comparing themselves to others
To do this, studies find that people tend to compare their own impairment to the people around them. If you ask them to rate their intoxication on a scale of one to ten, the number they choose is often based on their environment.
For instance, one person may have three drinks. If asked about their intoxication levels in a quiet library or a public space, they may feel that they are highly impaired. They can really tell how intoxicated they are because everyone around them is sober.
But if the same person had three drinks and then walked into a nightclub or a bar, they may rate their intoxication much lower. There could be plenty of people in that environment who are more impaired than they are, so they start to feel relatively sober. In some cases, this can make people feel like it is safe to drive when it really is not.
DUI defense options
This helps to demonstrate how a simple oversight could lead to serious DUI charges. If you do find yourself facing charges, you need to know about all of your legal defense options to protect your driver’s license, your freedom and your finances.
