[Closed] Alcohol driving limit question

Unlikely I'd have thought.
I also thought it was really only people in their 50s+ who still believed at it was ok to drink and drive.

Depends on the person.

Bloody stupid thing to do though.

Slim to none, get her one of those breathalyser things. They're pretty cheap these days.

Got one for my grandad, he hates it but accepts that's his judgement sucks in that department.

A pint maybe a pint and a half depending what is being drun
k is around the limit anything else they'll be over

What's a few hours? 3? 12?

One pint of 4 to 5% beer is my absolute limit.

If it's 4% lager, she's had 9.2 units.

Allowing 1/2 hour for the first unit to get into your system, and 1 hour to 'burn off' each unit she only had to wait 9.5 to 10 hours to have no units in her system.

That's assuming she drunk the whole lot in one go at the beginning of the session.

If she think's thats OK, then good luck to her.

The only way to be safe is to drive when you know you've got 0 units in your system.

That said, I'm personally comfortable with 1 pint and nothing more.

It a bit of a it depends situation but I would think that anyone who had 4 pint would not be fit to drive. Unless, the few hours was more like 6 - 8 and they were big and drank regularly and had eaten. Then it [b]might be a possibility that they[/b] be ok but they would still need a breath test.

crikey i wouldn't drink 4 pints and consider driving at all for the rest of that day, even if I finished them at 12 midday.

May be an old wives tale but it heard that it takes 1 hour for the body to process 1 unit of alcohol, a pint is two units(ish).

So she has had 8 units and will more than likely be over the limit.

Ask her how she'd have felt if she had run down someone crossing the road. She would be fine but someone else's life would be changed forever or maybe they might not even get to experience that change. How would she feel if that was her, or her children?

Surely if in doubt don't fits this circumstance?

daveatextremistsdotcouk - Member
One pint is my absolute limit.
POSTED 59 SECONDS AGO # REPORT-POST

In fact, I'd go as far as saying she's a total idiot and should be snitched on. She's a danger to anyone else on the road.

Very unlikely everyone varies alcohol strength varies time taken to consume would be an issue . women take longer in general to metabolise than men . But no way I would drive within 8 hours of drinking the last of 4 pints . Even if under the limit you would be unlikely to be fit to drive.
fine and 12 month ban or 9 and a course is best outcome on an opl/unfit charge

Should make it like in france where you must have a testing kit in your vehicle at all times. Take the guessing out of it.

[quote=daveatextremistsdotcouk ]One pint of 4 to 5% beer is my absolute limit.

0% should be the limit, having dealt with the aftermath of many a driver who's "just had the one" I'll never drink or drive or get in the car of a driver who has consumed alcohol.

This is stateside - there was no reasoning with her whatsoever. Don't know what the limit is there. It's was over about 3 to 4 hours. I certainly wouldn't drink 4 pints and drive, but I also don't drink 3 pints daily.

The irony is she lost her father to a drunk driver -

Should make it like in france where you must have a testing kit in your vehicle at all times. Take the guessing out of it.

Someone who drinks 4 pints and drives isn't going to bother with a diy breath test.

"Should make it like in france where you must have a testing kit in your vehicle at all times. Take the guessing out of it."
That is a really good idea they could even do some sort of device that measured the cars speed so the driver could ensure they did not exceed the speed limit.

Get her to ask a rozzer, I imagine she'll recieve a concise yet comprehensive response

Probably fit to drive yes, if she is a heavy drinker but she might still be over the legal limit

Don't take this the wrong way but she wants a slap for even thinking that's acceptable!

This is stateside

IIRC the drink drive limits are the same here and there but the penalties there can be more severe (varies from state to state) and can include jail time in some instances, or having you're car confiscated in other rathers than just bans and fines

Personally speaking - and I accept this may be too extreme for some - but I wouldn't be friends with a person like that.

I found an online calculator for her state, and over a 4 hour period she would have been estimated just under. Very surprised. Still a stupid thing to do, and not something is ever do

So would a 40yr old female be fit to drive or not?

Below the limit ? Unlikely, though depends on a few variables

How big is she
What beer did she drink
Did she eat, and when
Did she drink steadily over several hours, or shovel it in and then sit around

Regardless, if I were you I'd ask her to STOP ****ING DRIVING DRUNK, especially if you ride on nearby roads

(Oh, in the US - so your pints are a bit smaller. I guess the limits vary by state, and some still might even just go for walking straight ?)

We all have our theories,however iff something happens when you have had your 1 pint/1unit or 4pints 2 pints your still classed as a drink driver.

Forty odd year old bloke myself, always used to be two pints and you'd be alright. Can honestly say whenever I have driven over the last ten years I haven't touched a drop.

M6TTF - Member

So a friend of mine texted me earlier. She had finished her exams and had been to the pub to celebrate. Four pints drunk, over a period of a few hours. She then drove home. I said it wasn't the smartest thing to do. She took offence. She often drinks 2-3 pints of an evening, knows it's not a healthy thing to do, but said she was in no way cause for concern. So would a 40yr old female be fit to drive or not?

Alcohol and driving ... not cool man ... not cool (Stewie's tone) ... advise her to move to Russia. 😯

It's a bit like Maria Carey trying to squeeze into tiny dress innit? Not cool man ... not cool ...

Bad idea full stop.

Several suggestions for breathalyser things - useful for the morning after IMHO, as it's sometimes hard to tell, but if you feel the need to check immediately after a session, surely the answer is not to drive, as even if just under the limit you're still an increased risk.

Though unlike some on here I'm not totally teetotal when driving I will no longer have more than a half (in the past I've driven after a couple of pints over a few hours, but not impressed with myself for doing so).

Yes it's a bad idea and no she shouldn't drink at all but what I would say is she was probably under the limit. I grew up with access to the same breathalyser as the police use and it was surprising how hard it was to fail the test.

Cue lots of people saying they were caught after 1 pint but I find it hard to believe. We used to play with the machine frequently and it took a fair amount to fail. I'm not condoning drink driving in any way and am against it but was surprised at how many drinks consumed over an evening it would take to put me over the limit. Personally I would never drive after consuming more than a small glass of wine or a pint of bitter these days and even then would probably have a soft drink instead

4 pints of cider and 4 jäger bombs between the hours of 7pm and 2.30am, mate was sleeping in his car when the police knocked him up at 3am.
Pop quiz, what did he blow?

Legal limit being 35

For me, it's incredibly rare that I'll drive with even 1 in me. (I did once this year, for the first time in years). Not because I'm super responsible, the opposite, I know once I've had a drink my judgement's screwed which means a) I shouldn't drive but b) I'll possibly not think that. Past evidence shows it's not safe to leave me in charge of a pint never mind a car!

There's a definite reason many people in the US have DUI records!

Their attitude is definitely off on the 'I'll be ok on a X pints' on a night out, but depending on location they often have big wide roads, fewer people on those roads and therefore less to hit, clearly it doesn't always work out that way. I'm not saying this is the right attitude by the way, just what I experienced when over there and hanging around in rural Pennsylvania.

OP, I would have though she'd be over and on an "average night" after 3 also. Sooner or later she's going to get caught and/or cause an accident and potentially kill herself and/or someone else. She should buy some of the cheap breatherlisers and test herself.

The irony is she lost her father to a drunk driver

I used to work with a girl whose mother was a heavy smoker/dying of emphysema. The girl smoked as she felt it kept her slim.

Theres no reasoning with some people. (women aren't different). There are thick people in every gender.

1 pint is my max. 4 is ridiculous. Over 2-3hours or not. I'd call that a bloody evening out.

I think that attitude is true of many rural areas where events and social spaces are miles away and alternative transport is non existant . in New Zealand it was acceptable to drive drunk as long as you stayed under 15 mph and had your nearside wheels on the verge.

I reckon your mate blew about 90 after drinking that lot

[i]So a friend of mine texted me earlier. She had finished her exams and had been to the pub to celebrate. Four pints drunk, over a period of a few hours. She then drove home. I said it wasn't the smartest thing to do. She took offence. She often drinks 2-3 pints of an evening, knows it's not a healthy thing to do, but said she was in no way cause for concern. So would a 40yr old female be fit to drive or not? [/i]

Either way a woman of 40 drinking pints will be a porker in no-time if not already.

And no, she'll be on the limit at 2 pints - over it with 3.

Also don't know about others but it was after 40 when my alcohol 'abilities' went downhill.

Your body can process ONE unit per hour. Heavy drinkers a little more (1.3). Put units in faster than this and alcohol will accumulate. The drink driving limit is about two units straight down without food. A bottle of beer or one pint over an hour meal will not put you close to the limit.

For the OP - she will have been over the limit and a danger on the road. Heavy drinkers can function at a higher level with increased blood alcohol, but judgement will still be impaired.

Like many Americans, she has a drink problem.

Personally speaking - and I accept this may be too extreme for some - but I wouldn't be friends with a person like that.

This.

She will definitely be impaired, and over the limit. Personally I'd be pissed as a fart, but her tolerances are probably higher than mine.

Personally speaking - and I accept this may be too extreme for some - but I wouldn't be friends with a person like that.

I used to work with someone who I laughed all day long with. Like school children. He then let slip that he drove home pissed from central Manchester to Bury and he'd done this a few times. He also let slip that he woke up once to find a steering wheel in his hand and in the fastlane on the way back from a night out. I told him pointblank to stop as now I knew I couldn't be party to it. The friendship kinda ended there. Really sad. He moved to work overseas shortly after.

Thats the most moving story I've ever heard.

Did he not write, or anything?

She often drinks 2-3 pints of an evening, knows it's not a healthy thing to do, but said she was in no way cause for concern

This is stateside

Then a) she's probably not drinking pints and b) probably not drinking beer.

mate was sleeping in his car when the police knocked him up at 3am.
Pop quiz, what did he blow?

One way of avoiding a ticket I suppose.

Did he not write, or anything?

I think he was drinking alot, as a way of coping with having to drive back to somewhere like Bury?

Are you sure he wasn't drinking as a coping mechanism for not being able to reveal his true feelings for you?

Sounds a lot like your friend has a serious problem.

I like a drink as much (or probably more) than the next person. However, I'll never, ever mix it with driving. Even one pint leaves me feeling a little "floaty" and I don't trust myself to get behind the wheel.

The one that really scares me is the morning after. I wonder how many hung over drivers there are who are still over the limit...

I once told a friend that, if he drove home after having drunk four pints, I'd report him on the phone. He didn't believe I'd do it. We're not friends any longer.

I'd do the same to any of you. (and I love you lot)

Rachel

I once told a friend that, if he drove home after having drunk four pints, I'd report him on the phone. He didn't believe I'd do it. We're not friends any longer.

I'd do the same to any of you.

But you don't know where we live.

Or do you? 😯

If we were drinking in the pub, martinhutch, I wouldn't need to know where you live...

Rachel

Damn you and your logic.

One pint is the limit for driving for me, that counts for the whole day.

Are you sure he wasn't drinking as a coping mechanism for not being able to reveal his true feelings for you?

Well I am a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

Hora:

Well I am a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

My mate blew 30 and the officer told him to go home.

How I know not.

Well I am a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

A T-Sex?

(Wow, this thread took a turn for the weird...)

Like many [s]Americans,[/s] people she has a drink problem.

Whats that coming over the hill.....?

Nevermind rural areas, here in Nairobi, a very large urban area, it's common place too. The roads are barely wide enough for two vehicles and are in shitstate as well (you think British potholes are bad...). Most people justify it with the argument about the security situation out here and Nairobbery's reputation for criminality (i.e. getting in a taxi and getting robbed, usually at gunpoint)/carjacking/house invasions. Not uncommon on Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon mornings to see cars dumped in ditches or major damage to roadside infrastructure. How more people aren't killed or injured I don't know, maybe it's because they're all at it...

Like many Americans, people she has a drink problem.

It wouldn't surprise me if the majority of British adults are functioning alcoholics.

[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/AlcoSense-Breathalyzer-alcohol-tester--Breathalyser/dp/B001LZ3D02/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413288226&sr=8-2&keywords=breathalyzer ]Buy her one of these...[/url]

[img] [/img]

Pop quiz, what did he blow?

One way of avoiding a ticket I suppose.

LOL!

It wouldn't surprise me if the majority of British adults are functioning alcoholics.

Define 'functioning'?

I've not had a drink since last Thursday pm due to being ill. TBH I don't miss it.

Maybe a good time to revert to alcohol only on a Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues and Wed night.

You don't do lunchtimes?

lightweight!

No no I mean 24hours Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues but only Wed night.

Before I say anything else can I declare that I do not think it's a good idea to drive after 4 pints. However, I've actually conducted some completely unscientific and anecdotal experiments with an electronic breathalyser (a good quality one at that, which is not used by the police), and the results were pretty eye-opening.

Myself and a few mates whilst sitting around drinking at home breathalysed ourselves at regular intervals throughout the night. I managed to get to 6 pints of ale/normal strength lager before the machine consistently said I was over the legal limit. Everyone in the room got to the equivalent of 4 pints before it starting showing the red light. Alarmingly if you smoked a cigarette it cut the reading by 50%. If you tested immediately after having a drink it doubled it. Maybe the machine was faulty but I doubt it. Of course it doesn't answer the real question of whether someone would be 'fit' to drive after 4 pints. I guess that can only be answered by other qualified people after assessing their inebriated state, which is why it probably makes sense to have a popularly understood 'limit' with a reasonably large safety margin.

When I was studying in Mississippi in the early 90s everyone DUI'd home from the bars - mostly because the Police would arrest people walking around after dark. Except for me, because apparently I was that crazy Brit who walked everywhere. In the end I just cycled everywhere instead.
We drove across the Delta in a 62 Buick with the driver finishing a pitcher of Gin and Tonic, then turning off the lights and demanding Abita Turbo Dog....
Hitched a ride in Memphis from a properly pissed up guy drinking a quart of Jack, who pulled out a pistol from underneath the seat...
the Beaux Arts Ball with the drunk frat boy redlining his 911 up and down the road outside and the Chevy with a bong that filled the trunk (and huge stereo playing Ween....)

. Maybe the machine was faulty but I doubt it.

I was once breathalised cycling back from the pub in the middle of the night with no lights on (I was 17 and daft) and, despite having been on the vodka all night and not being able to walk straight, I passed. I refused the offer of a lift home so they followed me all the way to my door to make sure I got home ok.

Maybe the machine was faulty but I doubt it.

Not defending her and I wouldn't do it - but isn't all beer in the States about 1% ? And not real pints ? I know this is a technicality, but she may have been less drunk than you think. Bodyweight can have an impact too.

I think the whole 1 hour per unit is based on similar "science" as the recommended weekly amounts. It just isn't a one-size-fits-all measurement. How do I know? Back when I was young and foolish, I blew an average 105ug in Huddersfield nick. It was 2:00am, and I was told to expect a long period of boredom as I was to be kept in the cells until I was below the legal drive limit of 35ug. I blew an average 32ug on the same instrument at 10:30am the same morning. Police were somewhat baffled, but the machine doesn't lie. (Before the pitchforks come out there were some... extenuating circumstances for driving whilst that pissed, as attested to by Huddersfield Magistrates Court endorsing my license with 0 points. It's a long and boring story.)

The point is, OP's friend may well have been fine driving after 4 pints over a number of hours. She may also have been a fuel-injected killing machine.

Either way, as has been said above the only truly safe level is 0 and I wouldn't flinch in the slightest if this became law.

If I tried I could neck 6 pints before the first one even registered.

I once had a work colleague who actually practised this routinely. The post-work Friday pub conversation would usually go...

WC: 'Right I'm off'
Me: 'Are you driving???'
WC: 'Yeah'
Me: 'But you've drank about 6 pints!'
WC: 'Yeah I know and if I don't go now it'll show up on a breathalyser'.

On a separate point, I actually think drink-driving is much more widespread than people think it's just people don't talk about it or admit it for obvious reasons. I almost have a grudging respect for those I know who are open about it.

Agree- go to any popular pub and its carpark will be full. Not all will be soda-drinking/drink sacrificing friends. In the morning there are always 2 odd cars left there. All have gone.

M6TTF
So would a 40yr old female be fit