I've had a drink, when can I drive again ?
Discussion
johnxjsc1985 said:
I had an accident about 5 years ago and was breathalysed and I thought s
t here we go having had a couple of bottle of wine
the previous evening until quite late.
12 hours later I passed no problem at all not even close so maybe its very much down to the day . I always have a huge bowl of Cereal before going to bed maybe that the answer.
A bottle of wine does only contain about 8 units of alcohol though, so two bottles is 16, or about 6 pints of a strongish lager.t here we go having had a couple of bottle of wine the previous evening until quite late.12 hours later I passed no problem at all not even close so maybe its very much down to the day . I always have a huge bowl of Cereal before going to bed maybe that the answer.
Edited by johnxjsc1985 on Tuesday 9th December 12:33
Devil2575 said:
johnxjsc1985 said:
I had an accident about 5 years ago and was breathalysed and I thought st here we go having had a couple of bottle of wine the previous evening until quite late.
12 hours later I passed no problem at all not even close so maybe its very much down to the day . I always have a huge bowl of Cereal before going to bed maybe that the answer.
A bottle of wine does only contain about 8 units of alcohol though, so two bottles is 16, or about 6 pints of a strongish lager.t here we go having had a couple of bottle of wine the previous evening until quite late.12 hours later I passed no problem at all not even close so maybe its very much down to the day . I always have a huge bowl of Cereal before going to bed maybe that the answer.
Edited by johnxjsc1985 on Tuesday 9th December 12:33
So start at 7 pm and finish around midnight and you SHOULD be safe to drive anytime from about lunchtime the next day.
Eating cereal or anything should not have any bearing on this although food can slow down the absorption of alcohol, meaning that the time when you are safe could be later!
TooMany2cvs said:
For 75cl to be 8 units, it'd be <11% wine.
There's quite a bit of 15% out there, especially Aussie, which is 11.25 units per bottle. So 23 units instead of 16...
Generally you expect red wine to be 12%-13% ABV and white wine around 11% ABV. There's quite a bit of 15% out there, especially Aussie, which is 11.25 units per bottle. So 23 units instead of 16...
(Obviously there is variance and I'm not disagreeing with you)
Where can one obtain a decent breathalyser?
The 'proper' ones the police use seem to be £££ and using one attached to a keyring seems unreliable to say the least....
I have done breathalyser training through work - same device as the Police use. Our trainer commented that to still be over the limit in the morning (say around 0700-0800) the average person must have had a serious skinful the night before and/or been up drinking very, very late.
This puts the mind at rest a little. I generally don't have more than a few beers, wrapping it up before 11pm, but the consequences of being inadvertently over the limit on the rare occasion one has more are unthinkable......
The 'proper' ones the police use seem to be £££ and using one attached to a keyring seems unreliable to say the least....
I have done breathalyser training through work - same device as the Police use. Our trainer commented that to still be over the limit in the morning (say around 0700-0800) the average person must have had a serious skinful the night before and/or been up drinking very, very late.
This puts the mind at rest a little. I generally don't have more than a few beers, wrapping it up before 11pm, but the consequences of being inadvertently over the limit on the rare occasion one has more are unthinkable......
Muzzer79 said:
I have done breathalyser training through work - same device as the Police use. Our trainer commented that to still be over the limit in the morning (say around 0700-0800) the average person must have had a serious skinful the night before and/or been up drinking very, very late.
This puts the mind at rest a little. I generally don't have more than a few beers, wrapping it up before 11pm, but the consequences of being inadvertently over the limit on the rare occasion one has more are unthinkable......
One of the most productive times for breath tests when I was a PC in London was around 6.30am when on night duty. I would stop a few cars, have a sniff around, and if I smelt alcohol I'd bag them - this when it was a bag. I would have few negatives. I would then have four hours work on overtime for doing little more than sitting around and waiting for the doctor to take blood. This puts the mind at rest a little. I generally don't have more than a few beers, wrapping it up before 11pm, but the consequences of being inadvertently over the limit on the rare occasion one has more are unthinkable......
Yet they would all have had 6 or 7 hours sleep after a night out. Some would say that they only had a few pints after a meal.
So your trainer, whatever he did, was not in need of a few hours overtime back in the 70s.
I used to do that three or four times a week. I actually was asked what I had against drunk drivers by my inspetor and I told him 'nothing'. They kept my bank balance in the black, at least some of the months.
With the court system ignoring shift work, apart from nights, I would often get a court appearance on overtime as well. A nice little earner.
The other aspect is that if there was ever an accident at change-over time - 6.45 - there would be a rush of PCs from the locality of the nick as there would be an almost certain positive breath test.
My opinion, not backed up by anything other than a brief conversation with a doctor who was attending a casualty I wanted to bag, is that when a person sleeps the absorption rate of alcohol is lowered as well as the liver's function slowing. But then, what do I know apart from the fact it used to be very easy to get a positive BT at 6.30 in the morning.
Derek Smith said:
So your trainer, whatever he did, was not in need of a few hours overtime back in the 70s.get a positive BT at 6.30 in the morning.
In fairness, drinking habits and the attitudes towards drink driving have changed significantly since the 70's though. Some of those drivers might have indeed had an absolute skinfull the night before and maybe even a top-up "hair of the dog" before setting off in the morning. 
TooMany2cvs said:
Devil2575 said:
A bottle of wine does only contain about 8 units of alcohol though
For 75cl to be 8 units, it'd be <11% wine.There's quite a bit of 15% out there, especially Aussie, which is 11.25 units per bottle. So 23 units instead of 16...
Blue nun is only about 9%...
JonRB said:
In fairness, drinking habits and the attitudes towards drink driving have changed significantly since the 70's though. Some of those drivers might have indeed had an absolute skinfull the night before and maybe even a top-up "hair of the dog" before setting off in the morning.
Yes indeed they were different in the 70s. This I believe was from 1972.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff