Noticable increase in morning after breath tests

[paul38]

Hi guys,

Dont get me wrong fully support getting drink drivers off the roads but be careful the morning after!! over the past week or two at least every other day ive noticed random breath tests being carried out with a line of cars waiting to be tested.

As i said im in support of this, but it can be all too easy to think you are ok and get caught out especially this time of year. Its that all too familiar question - when will i be ok to drive again!!!

[wasted years]

Yep, road side screening takes place both evening and the morning where many motorists are over the limit from the night before and don't realise it.

[paul38]

on one of the occasions they were waiting on a rural road early in the morning just down from a hotel where there had been many office do's the night before where people had been staying over.

is it just me that nearly craps themselves in this situation in fear of being tested even if you havent been drinking the night before just incase for some reason the test would be positive - stupid i know

[G51CAV]

Morning after or not if your still over the limit your reaction times are still slower than normal even if you feel fine!
Drink driving is easily avoidable and does destroy lives so no sympathy regardless of the time of day.

[s2art]

G51CAV said:

Morning after or not if your still over the limit your reaction times are still slower than normal even if you feel fine!
Drink driving is easily avoidable and does destroy lives so no sympathy regardless of the time of day.

You sure about that? I thought Mellanby demonstrated that the 'morning after' effect of alcohol was much less.

[Scraggles]

if I know am going to be driving in the morning, tend to have minimal beers, if likely to be drinking lots, say round friends house, will leave late afternoon

tend to drive less at xmas

[G51CAV]

s2art said:

G51CAV said:

Morning after or not if your still over the limit your reaction times are still slower than normal even if you feel fine!
Drink driving is easily avoidable and does destroy lives so no sympathy regardless of the time of day.

You sure about that? I thought Mellanby demonstrated that the 'morning after' effect of alcohol was much less.

Much less than what? Certainly not waiting until it is properly out of your system before driving again!

[wasted years]

You'd be surprised just how many people are still over the limit the morning after - they feel fine but are still over the limit.

[s2art]

G51CAV said:

s2art said:

G51CAV said:

Morning after or not if your still over the limit your reaction times are still slower than normal even if you feel fine!
Drink driving is easily avoidable and does destroy lives so no sympathy regardless of the time of day.

You sure about that? I thought Mellanby demonstrated that the 'morning after' effect of alcohol was much less.

Much less than what? Certainly not waiting until it is properly out of your system before driving again!

If you blood alcohol (BAC) is on the way up the there is more impairment then if BAC is on the way down. Basically someone who may be impaired at (say) 80mg just after drinking will be a lot less impaired at 80mg if measured the next morning (when the alcohol is being cleared, rather than on the rise)

[s2art]

wasted years said:

You'd be surprised just how many people are still over the limit the morning after - they feel fine but are still over the limit.

They may well actually be fine, just over the limit. Its a problem due to using proxies for impairment. If we had a 'sobriety test' it would be much better, we would pick up all those unfit to drive through drink or drugs. The current system doesnt do that and may well treat morning after people unfairly.

[DJFish]

I've zero intention of drink driving, not just because of the time of year, I just don't do it.
I would never knowingly get into my car on the same day that I've had a drink, mainly because when I have one I usually want more.

But I've no intention of spending Christmas day without a sniff of the barmaid's apron, however I do have to drive to work on Boxing day at around 6am.

So gentlemen of the gendarmes, how much can I have and when should I stop drinking on Christmas day so I'm ok to drive the next morning?

And are these self breath testing machines any good?
I'm thinking of getting one and testing it out by getting sh1tfaced tomorrow in the interests of science and the common good.
Regards
Dave

Edited by DJFish on Sunday 23 December 16:49

[wasted years]

s2art said:

wasted years said:

You'd be surprised just how many people are still over the limit the morning after - they feel fine but are still over the limit.

They may well actually be fine, just over the limit. Its a problem due to using proxies for impairment. If we had a 'sobriety test' it would be much better, we would pick up all those unfit to drive through drink or drugs. The current system doesnt do that and may well treat morning after people unfairly.

[R_U_LOCAL]

s2art said:

wasted years said:

You'd be surprised just how many people are still over the limit the morning after - they feel fine but are still over the limit.

They may well actually be fine, just over the limit. Its a problem due to using proxies for impairment. If we had a 'sobriety test' it would be much better, we would pick up all those unfit to drive through drink or drugs. The current system doesnt do that and may well treat morning after people unfairly.

The trouble is, there are hardened drinkers who would pass a sobriety test when considerably over the limit. Hardened alcoholics perform better in these tests when they've had something to drink, than when they're suffering from the effects of withdrawal, so there would be drivers with sometimes high blood/alcohol levels who would slip through the net.

It was decided long ago that a statutory blood/breath/urine alcohol limit was the fairest system and I tend to agree.

DJFish said:

I've zero intention of drink driving, not just because of the time of year, I just don't do it.
I would never knowingly get into my car on the same day that I've had a drink, mainly because when I have one I usually want more.

But I've no intention of spending Christmas day without a sniff of the barmaid's apron, however I do have to drive to work on Boxing day at around 6am.

So gentlemen of the gendarmes, how much can I have and when should I stop drinking on Christmas day so I'm ok to drive the next morning?

And are these self breath testing machines any good?

Regards
Dave

It's impossible to say Dave - it depends on so many variables - your height, weight, how much you've eaten and at what times, how much you've drunk, what kind of alcoholic drinks you've taken, over what timescale, etc, etc.

[DJFish]

R_U_LOCAL said:

It's impossible to say Dave - it depends on so many variables - your height, weight, how much you've eaten and at what times, how much you've drunk, what kind of alcoholic drinks you've taken, over what timescale, etc, etc.

And herein lieth the problem, it's easy to tell people not to drive after a pint, but more often than not that's on the same day.

If you're talking about the morning after it's impossible for people to know if they're over the limit until they get pulled and tested, unless of course they get a widget for testing themselves.

I think I will get one and see how I fare, just out of interest you understand!

[DPX]

Been stopped 3 times in past 50 hours , to busy for a beer . But why do BiB give you the little white mouth blow in part of the tester aferwards .
You cannot even use them as an ice scraper

[wasted years]

DPX said:

Been stopped 3 times in past 50 hours , to busy for a beer . But why do BiB give you the little white mouth blow in part of the tester aferwards .
You cannot even use them as an ice scraper

Hygene reasons and lack of a bin in the car.

[CommanderJameson]

Never mind the BAC, the other physical symptoms of a hangover can make it very difficult to drive safely. Being fit to drive is not constrained solely to one's BAC - although that's the thing they can measure.

[philbes]

DPX said:

Been stopped 3 times in past 50 hours , to busy for a beer . But why do BiB give you the little white mouth blow in part of the tester aferwards .
You cannot even use them as an ice scraper

To prove to you that they won't be taking a DNA sample!!!

[dcb]

wasted years said:

You'd be surprised just how many people are still over the limit the morning after - they feel fine but are still over the limit.

I've heard a lot of people claim this.

I've always put it down to a myth.

I've never seen any actual numbers which verify the claims.

I've also tried to use maths to figure out how many
pints an average man needs to consume the evening before,
have let's say an average eight hours sleep, spend
an hour between waking up and getting in the car
and then spend let's say an hour driving before
they get stopped and breath tested.

Last time I did the sums, it was something like eight
or nine pints.

I don't know what you are like after nine pints,
but for me, in the car driving by 9am the following
morning isn't usually on the cards.

Of course, for a woman or a small size man, or for
a shorter sleep interval, the numbers are different.

Just a shot of reality into the debate on drink driving.
Claims are easy to make - verifiable facts are a bit
trickier.

[wasted years]

Some people just have to look at alcohol to become drunk whilst others can drink vast quantities before succoming. And has already been pointed out the drink drive limits take no account of the state of the person breathalised - you are either over or under.