I've had a drink, when can I drive again ?

[Sheepshanks]

garyhun said:

The first unit takes 2 hours to be metabolised and each subsequent unit takes an hour.

Exactly.

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

One of the newspapers did a study like this a few years ago where they sent groups of people out for dinner with wine, evening in the pub etc. To be fair, none of them went mad (but then 5 pints isn't mad) and they all said they didn't feel they'd be able to drive. But none of them failed a breath test at any point.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Sunday 7th December 17:21

[anonymous-user]

Dr Jekyll said:

So if you have 1 unit at Noon, then 7 more at 8PM, that's the same as having the other 7 units at 1PM? It seems to me there must be a difference.

The calculation is, by its very nature, a simplification. It works well for working out whether you can drive the morning after a typical night out. It wouldn't work so well if you'd been on an all day and night bender.

At the end of the day, it's down to the individual. If they're not sure then they should either not drive, or buy a breathalyser.

[Toltec]

Dr Jekyll said:

So if you have 1 unit at Noon, then 7 more at 8PM, that's the same as having the other 7 units at 1PM? It seems to me there must be a difference.

Erm, well you could count from the first time in your life you consumed alcohol...

Which would be handy

[Nigel Worc's]

Sheepshanks said:

garyhun said:

The first unit takes 2 hours to be metabolised and each subsequent unit takes an hour.

Exactly.

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

One of the newspapers did a study like this a few years ago where they sent groups of people out for dinner with wine, evening in the pub etc. To be fair, none of them went mad (but then 5 pints isn't mad) and they all said they didn't feel they'd be able to drive. But none of them failed a breath test at any point.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Sunday 7th December 17:21

I've had many evenings with friends as the designated driver, because I so rarely drink.

It is an odd thing to say, but I have initially felt more impaired (once in the car),when I've had nothing to drink, than I did last night, when I guess I'd have failed a breath test.

Atmosphere can be an odd thing, you just have to tell yourself to man up, you've only had diet coke lol.

[rs1952]

Nigel Worc's said:

It is an odd thing to say, but I have initially felt more impaired (once in the car),when I've had nothing to drink, than I did last night, when I guess I'd have failed a breath test.

That isn't as odd as you might think. When you are stone cold sober you might be concerned about driving because you're tired (like I was at 2200 last night after getting up at 0315 to get to Southampton for an early IOW ferry), or you might be concerned about ice, fog etc etc etc

When you've had five points you are possibly full of "brewers confidence" - one of the main reasons we've got DD legislation in the first pace.

[anonymous-user]

Dr Jekyll said:

So if you have 1 unit at Noon, then 7 more at 8PM, that's the same as having the other 7 units at 1PM? It seems to me there must be a difference.

No - that's why I said SHOULD. It's based on an assumed rate of consumption of one unit per hour or more, not less

In your example above the first unit was metabolised at 2pm. When you start again at 8pm the whole process starts again so the safe time is 8 hours after 8pm (units + 1) = 4am.

[bramley]

7mike said:

http://internationaltransportforum.org/irtadpublic...

Perhaps you could elaborate on the rolled eyes smilie?
Looking at page two of this would suggest the answer to your comment is; yes. Quite a few of my colleagues do most of their work overseas these days. The founder of the largest post-test driver training organisation in the USA is an ex-met police driver.

Sorry, I'm not entirely sure what your point is - I don't mean that in a rude way. You've linked to a document that shows road deaths by country, and that list shows England at the bottom, but doesn't include Malawi. Are you suggesting that Malawi's omission from the list means that the roads of Malawi are safer than the roads of the UK?

As stated on that page it only shows selected countries, and there are no third world countries on that chart - clearly if there were the chart would look very different.

My initial post in this thread was mocking the system here in terms of drink driving; a £7.50 fine is not a deterrent. Also, I've heard one can buy a full licence without ever getting behind the wheel of a car (and that would give access to an International Licence too).

Here is a glimpse of life on the roads:







Needless to say the roads are not a safe place. Only a couple of days ago seven people, traveling in the back of a truck, died when the brakes failed. There is very little routine maintenance on cars, work is only done when something fails, often with catastrophic consequences.

[7mike]

bramley said:

Sorry, I'm not entirely sure what your point is -

Apologies, your post appeared to imply poorer safety standards in this country (UK); I misread it! Most third world countries would go way off the scale if they had the ability to record the stats.

Back on topic; some may find this a useful resource (not in Malawi obviously)

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/alcoh...

[ging84]

The thing with alcohol is it does not just impair you physically, it affects your judgement.
You may be equally or more impaired physically by tiredness than a moderate amount of alcohol, but your judgement will be far less effected and you will likely be far more aware and better able to compensate for for any impairment by taking less risks.

I rarely drink when i don't have to drive, let alone when i do, yet a disproportionate amount of motoring mishaps in my life have happened when I have consumed a small amount of alcohol which shouldn't have been enough to put me over the limit.

[Flibble]

Sheepshanks said:

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

Not sure how you figure that. Given the legal limit is around 3-4 units, and he's drinking 2.2 units per hour, he would hit the legal limit in the second hour and stay above it for several hours. By my reckoning it'd be early morning (around 6 am) before he was legal to drive.

[Sheepshanks]

Flibble said:

Sheepshanks said:

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

Not sure how you figure that. Given the legal limit is around 3-4 units, and he's drinking 2.2 units per hour, he would hit the legal limit in the second hour and stay above it for several hours. By my reckoning it'd be early morning (around 6 am) before he was legal to drive.

He's also getting rid of it at a unit an hour while he's drinking.

[Corpulent Tosser]

Sheepshanks said:

Flibble said:

Sheepshanks said:

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

Not sure how you figure that. Given the legal limit is around 3-4 units, and he's drinking 2.2 units per hour, he would hit the legal limit in the second hour and stay above it for several hours. By my reckoning it'd be early morning (around 6 am) before he was legal to drive.

He's also getting rid of it at a unit an hour while he's drinking.

Accepting the strength as 3.8, which is 2.16 units, call it 2.2.
Starting at 6.30, 5 beers, one per hour would have the last one finished at 11.30
6.30 - 7.30 = 2.2 units
7.30 - 8.30 = 2.2+2.2-1 = 3.4 units
8.30 - 9.30 = 3.4+2.2-1 = 4.6 units or probably over the limit
9.30 - 10.30 = 4.2+2.2-1 = 5.8 units
10.30 - 11.30 = 5.4+2.2-1 = 7 units

3 to 4 units to process so OK to drive around 03.30 next morning.

I would give it a bit longer though.

[Nigel Worc's]

I appreciate the answers, and the discussion chaps.

This is a very rare thing for me to do, but others do this weekly, some nightly.

It is such a serious subject, the road safety aspect is important of course but just as importantly to me the legal side too, as I use my licence for work like hundreds of thousands if not millions of others.

IF, we were to adopt the Euro level, but Scottish punishment side of things (twelve month ban like ours but at less of a level), this has the potential to become an important issue for a lot of people.

[Corpulent Tosser]

Nigel Worc's said:

IF, we were to adopt the Euro level, but Scottish punishment side of things (twelve month ban like ours but at less of a level), this has the potential to become an important issue for a lot of people.

Agreed, if the Scottish parliament had changed both the limit and the penalty to align with the EU I would have objected less - but still objected as I think it is an unnecessary change.

The loss of a driving licence can have a major impact not only on the driver but also on his family.

[Nigel Worc's]

Corpulent Tosser said:

Nigel Worc's said:

IF, we were to adopt the Euro level, but Scottish punishment side of things (twelve month ban like ours but at less of a level), this has the potential to become an important issue for a lot of people.

Agreed, if the Scottish parliament had changed both the limit and the penalty to align with the EU I would have objected less - but still objected as I think it is an unnecessary change.

The loss of a driving licence can have a major impact not only on the driver but also on his family.

I'm absolutely in agreement with you regarding Scotland, and I'm struggling to believe that what they are proposing to do is actually legal.

[trashbat]

Nigel Worc's said:

It is an odd thing to say, but I have initially felt more impaired (once in the car),when I've had nothing to drink, than I did last night, when I guess I'd have failed a breath test.

Atmosphere can be an odd thing, you just have to tell yourself to man up, you've only had diet coke lol.

I find this as well. My guess is it's partly psychological - an association of effectively the same activity in the same environment with being drunk - but also the fact that you've stuffed yourself full of a weird liquid that is itself full of chemicals. Caffeine, sugar for normal Coke, and whatever else are bound to have their own effect.

[anonymous-user]

Sheepshanks said:

Flibble said:

Sheepshanks said:

I see Black Sheep bitter at 3.8%ABV (it's the Ale which is 4.4%). The OP doesn't give a start time, but if he drinks a pint at 6.30 and then one every hour until 10.30 he'd be over the limit from 10.30 to 11.30 ish and then should start to drop away from the limit.

Not sure how you figure that. Given the legal limit is around 3-4 units, and he's drinking 2.2 units per hour, he would hit the legal limit in the second hour and stay above it for several hours. By my reckoning it'd be early morning (around 6 am) before he was legal to drive.

He's also getting rid of it at a unit an hour while he's drinking.

So assuming your original 6:30 was PM, then Flibble is correct, the safe time to drink is around 6am next morning (actually 6:30).

The calculation is:

Start time 6:30
Number of units consumed to 10:30 = 11 (2.2 units per pint x 5 pints, i pint at 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30)
Time to metabolise = 12 hours (11 + one extra for first pint)
Time safe 12 hours after first drink = 6:30am.

[Corpulent Tosser]

garyhun said:

So assuming your original 6:30 was PM, then Flibble is correct, the safe time to drink is around 6am next morning (actually 6:30).

The calculation is:

Start time 6:30
Number of units consumed to 10:30 = 11 (2.2 units per pint x 5 pints, i pint at 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30)
Time to metabolise = 12 hours (11 + one extra for first pint)
Time safe 12 hours after first drink = 6:30am.

I would agree that he would be safe to drive at 06.30, you are not considering that his body will be processing the alcohol during the time he is drinking, so he would be safe to drive before that.

[Nigel Worc's]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I would agree that he would be safeLEGAL to drive at 06.30, you are not considering that his body will be processing the alcohol during the time he is drinking, so he would be safe to drive before that.

Legal was my worry, I feel I'm big enough and old enough to call safe myself.

[anonymous-user]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I would agree that he would be safe to drive at 06.30, you are not considering that his body will be processing the alcohol during the time he is drinking, so he would be safe to drive before that.

The body cannot metabolise more than 1 unit per hour. However, and this may be your point, about ten percent of the alcohol will leave through the breath, perspiration, and urine so you are correct that you should be safe before the 12 hour period.