Drink Drive

[StevePil]

Hi,

Stupid & Quick question re drink/driving, I am very nervous driver due to a problem when I was younger, I am going on a lads holiday soon and driving home from airport after the holiday, am I ok to drive the next day - we arrive back at 23.00 so staying in hotel but last drink will prob be in hotel bar until we drop (usually around 02.00) we will prob leave airport at 9ish

What do you think? I would never want to get caught drink driving and never do it, but not so sure now on morning after due to all the reports about clamping down on it now.

They are usually heavy weekends, we go from Thurs - Sun, and prob talk about 10-11 pints per day :( ashamed i know.... I have heard each pint usually stays in your system for 2 hours? is this the same even with the excess alcohol?

I dont want to be boring and not drink but at moment see this as my only option :(

Can the police just pull you over just to breathalyse you? not that I would be prepared to take this risk,

Thanks all

Steve

[tigga]

A pint of regular strength lager is approx 2.5 units, your body takes 1 hour to break down 1 unit. Therefore 2 and a half hours per pint. For safety's sake if we count from when you have your last drink (rather than trying to note the time you finish each pint and being drunk, get it wrong) then you are looking at 25 hours from your last of ten pints before you have completely broken down all of the alcohol in your system. Hope this helps.

[Rubyrose]

I'm not sure!

My mate went out and got drunk, came in at 3am, went to sleep, got up and left for work in the morning and the police pulled him over and did him for drunk driving! He is now banned from driving for a year! It was about 8:30 when he was driving to work!

[tigga]

P.S. This means at 9 am you will still have 18 units of alcohol in your system, the legal limit being approx 5 units.

[StevePil]

Thanks, I have worked out over the course of the 3 days if I were to drink 30 pints - total of 75 units, I am away from 19.00 Thurs to 09.00 Mon - total of 86 hours, I should be safe?

Does that make sense or is that far too risky? I wont drink so much on the Sun anyway as flying back and knowing I have to drive next AM

How much had your friend drank Rubyrose?

[Rubyrose]

I'm not sure to be honest but he mostly drinks beer and he had been on a good 5-6 hour bender!

[StevePil]

One other thing, I also assume the alcohol is digesting as you are drinking, example by time ive drank 3 pints in say 3 hours, one of the pints would already be out my system?

Do you also note the units for a standard JD & Coke?

[Reese]

There is no doubt that you will be over the limit the following morning. I think that there is little chance that you will be able to cut down on the night before - it just doesn`t work that way. Although very many people do drive when over the limit the following morning they just do not even think about it and probably are not any danger anway. BUT for someone who is a `nervous driver` AND very much aware of the possibility of being over the limit, should you drive and see a police car, you will draw attention to yourself and that would be the danger. There is no question that the unaminous answer will not to drive in these circumstances.

[crispynugget]

How many units are you sposed to have in a week at the max?

[StevePil]

Thanks all, I really dont know what to do, I have agreed to drive, does this mean I should not drink after say lunch on Sunday??? even with my workings above

[morg_monster]

I definitely wouldn't drink on the Sunday. Even with that, you might still be over the next morning, but I doubt it. It all depends on how big a guy you are, how much sleep you get etc. I reckon that if you don't drink on the Sunday you will probably be fine to drive back on the monday morning. I don't know how you can be sure though. I once asked a question on here whether you could go into a police station and ask to be breathalysed - didn't get a defniitive answer but the general consensus was probably not!

I know of two people who got banned from driving due to being over the limit the morning after. One was shopped by the taxi driver who drove him back in the morning to where he had left his car the night before. He was banned for 1 year. The other was banned for 6 months and it has caused big problems as his mum is disabled and he was the only one who could drive her to hospital appointments etc.

[morg_monster]

Hey steve - the automatic AB links might come in useful (for once!) - why don't you buy a self testnig thingy from here. they might not give you as accurate a reading as a police breathalyser, but they should give yuo an idea of whether you are around the limit and hence not safe to drive, or if it is fine.

[morg_monster]

damn mozilla - it was www.kitztests.com.

[StevePil]

Thats what im so frightened off as dont want to lose my licence :( Its hard not to drink when on a holiday with the lads, but think thats the sensible thing. I always thought 1 pint took 2 hours, if that was true then I could drink upto 30 pints on the holiday and be OK? thats by my workings anyway but I dont understand how it works :(

One of my mates has a breathalyser which is apparently very accurate, he is gonner take this with him and if over then we will hang around at airport until its good enough to drive, its so annoying - I would never drink and drive but you also need to worry about the AM after :(

[StevePil]

Thanks morgmonster, that was wierd as just posted that my mate has one of them, just found out :)

this may help a little bit to understand how good the status is, my workings if I went to bed at 1.00 and drove home at 10.00, thats 9 hours to clear any drink out the system? as it is wont drink on Sunday until back athotel on sun eve around 00.00 (only have time for 1 or 2) as am nervous flyer so think I will be OK but still worries me.

[jjaammeess]

Hello ---Do not rely on the cheaper digital alcohol testers They are very unreliable and inaccurate.The only accurate ones are the fuel cell types and they have to be calibrated frequently.They are also ---the fuel cell types ----very expensive and the cheapest you get is about �400. So the only way to be sure is to leave enough time between your last drink which in your case is quite difficult to calculate.but I would be inclined not to drive at all and arrange for some other mode of transport.Play safe

[medsecslave]

Sorry to be a bore but why don't you forget about the drinking for one day. You'll have had a great holiday, loads of booze and laughs - is it really worth risking your licence, not to mention the safety of your mates etc etc, it's a hefty price to pay if it all goes horribly wrong.....

[curiosity]

Have a good holiday, not sure how far you have to go, but wouldn't it be fairer to chip in for a minibus to pick you all up, or pay another friend or relative?. You're not going for two weeks, you're going for a long weekend so the Sunday is going to still be a big part of your holiday, did you draw the short straw fairly or are you the only driver? Otherwise, I'd firstly look for other ways of getting home, or if not ask your friends to engage in something on Sunday that takes into account your abstinence.

[StevePil]

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses, I am the only driver hence reason I pulled the straw this time, they paying ofr my hols so I drive etc cos didnt have enough money to go otherwise :( I cant take any risks, my mate has a sensor that you blow into from the side and it takes 5 seconds to give you a reading, its meant to be highly accurate and cost him �50. Think I will only drink a little on the Sunday (couple of drinks) as by then surely my system would have digested the alcohol? I have been told it takes 2.5 hrs to clear 1 unit, based on that I would be fine but not sure if the above figures are the same no matter how much you drink over the course of the weekend or if they are based on just 1 night ??

[StevePil]

Thanks for all your advice, still thinking about it all - what do you think if I were to say have a couple of drinks on the Sunday, so my last heavy drinking was late Sat Eve, I just had a couple to be sociable, say last one being at 01.00 sun Eve? so they would be staggered over the day, say Lunch, Dinner, Plane & Hotel?

Does that sound sensible as I know I can do that without ruining my hols? my main worry is does your body take longer if you are drinking for more then 1 night, ie) 4 consec days? as know it takes roughly 2.5 hrs to clear 1 unit, if this was the case I could drink 10 pins every day and be safe, based on these workings but not prepared to risk it so need to sort it ASAP, so worried :(

Thx

Steve

[StevePil]

This is gonner seem really sad, but ive put this together based on our usual hols etc, does this sound sensible o damn stupid?

Thurs Night - 19.00 - 01.00
4 Pints Drink
Fri 14.00 - 16.00 - 13 hours since last drink
0 Drink in System
2 Pints
Fri - 19.00 - 0100 - 3 hours since last drink
0.5 Drink in system
6 Pints
Sat - 14.00 - 16.00 - 13 hours since last drink
0 Drink in System
2 pints
Sat 19.00 - 01.00
0.5 drink in system
6 pints
Sunday 14.00 - 16.00 - 13 hours since last drink
0 Drink in system
1 Pint
Sunday - 19.00 - 20.00 - 3 hrs
0 Drink in System
1 Pint
Sunday - Flight - 22.00 - 2 hrs
0 Drink in System
1 Pint
Sunday - Hotel - 00.00 - 02.00 - 2 hrs
0 Drink in system
2 pints
Monday Drive Home - 09.00
Body clear off all alchol.

This is based on 1 hr per unit...

Also I usually drink JD & Coke, would this make much difference, I have assumed 1 pint is a JD & Coke... Usually drink a pint with lunch and dinner so maybe 2..