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

[Nigel Worc's]

Serious question, as apart from the odd bottle of real ale on a summers evening, at home, I don't normally drink.

I'm in England, so sensible limits apply.

I've had five pints of black sheep bitter, with a meal, at a Christmas party over the course of an entire evening, the last one being at 22.30 hours.

I do feel impaired, but not pissed by any means.

When do the collective think I'll be below the limit again , roughly ?

[Nigel Worc's]

Roughly 12 hours from my last drink is good enough for me chaps, I don't do it very often, hence the question, I wouldn't drive if I felt impaired anyway, alcohol related or not.

As long as I feel ok, legal is what I'm looking for, rather than zero.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Nigel Worc's]

garyhun said:

As I have said throughout, the only sure way is to get a breathalyser.

For many people (I'm not one), that may well become the norm if the limit drops but the punishment remains the same.

[Nigel Worc's]

SamHH said:

Nigel Worc's said:

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.

What are they proposing to do and why is it illegal?

They are proposing to ban people from driving on English & Welsh roads for failing a Scottish limit test.