# Drinking & driving **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199 "2004-07-09T01:15:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/1 "2004-07-09T01:15:08Z")
I’m new to both drinking and driving. Am I allowed to have an after work cocktail before driving home, or does that count as drinking and driving? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/2 "2004-07-09T02:12:58Z")
Well, it is “drinking and driving” because you drank and then you drove. The questions are a) is it illegal and b) are you capable of driving safely after one cocktail? I’m unable to advise on the first question and you know better than I on the second. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/3 "2004-07-09T02:14:03Z")
IANAL or anything else official; _but_ the general rule of thumb is that if you are at least of average size, you can consume one alcoholic drink per hour (one mixed drink, or one shot of hard liquor, or 5 oz. of wine, or 12 oz. of beer) and be safe to drive. If you are quite petite and/or lightweight you can probably handle less alcohol than that. If I were you, I think I’d have my first few drinks when I _didn’t_ have to drive, just to see how my body would handle it. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/4 "2004-07-09T02:41:18Z")
Take some of your booze money, [buy one of these](http://www.smarthome.com/9291.html) and put it in your glove compartment. The next time you finish your drinks and wonder if you should be driving, you’ll have reasonably accurate gauge of whether you’re too impaired to be driving. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/5 "2004-07-09T03:30:04Z")
People drink because it retards their thinking process, their judgement. It literally makes you less intelligent. People require this to make them relax, unwind. I’ll use beer for my discussion, people think that it is different from “hard liquor”. Let’s say “Joe” turns 21 today and decides to have one beer before he heads home from work. He doesn’t break any laws doing this and there is no real effect. It seems, also, that one beer really doesn’t help Joe relax either. It’s really not worth stopping for, maybe tommorrow Joe will have two beers before going home. One day Joe loses count of the beers he has before going home, his judgement has been impaired. He accidentally runs down a child in the neighborhood where he lives. I’m not saying that this will happen to you **pizzabrat** but there is a chance. My father thought that he was in control of his drinking. He was a man. On January 3, 1982 he didn’t make it home and a lady in Florida is crippled today. I thought I was in control of my drinking. I would not die drinking and driving like my dad. On April 5, 1987 I rear-ended a car when I was headed home. Obviously, I didn’t die, but I lost my license and destroyed my truck (the only material thing I owned of value), and my job when I couldn’t get to it Monday. The occupants of the other car got to pick over every other thing I owned when they sued me. It could have been much worse. **pizzabrat** drinking is a grownup decision and no one thinks about the pros and cons until it’s too late to change anything. Ethyl alcohol is the most widely abused drug in the history of all civilization and it always starts with one drink. Just call me a reformed whore!!! ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/6 "2004-07-09T04:12:05Z")
With most areas in the US being .06 for DUI, it only take a couple to be legally “not allowed to drive.” .06 is not much and if one feels the drinks they are probably over the legal limit. [http://www.beerboozebooks.com/bal.htm](http://www.beerboozebooks.com/bal.htm) DRINK/WEIGHT INDEX CHART # OF DRINKS CONSUMED/SEX WEIGHT 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 1 Male .04 .04 .03 .03 .02 .02 .02 .02 Female .05 .04 .04 .03 .03 .03 .02 .02 2 Male .09 .07 .06 .05 .05 .04 .04 .04 Female .10 .08 .07 .06 .06 .05 .05 .04 3 Male .13 .11 .09 .08 .07 .07 .06 .05 Female .15 .13 .11 .10 .08 .08 .07 .06 4 Male .17 .15 .13 .11 .10 .09 .08 .07 Female .20 .17 .15 .13 .11 .10 .09 .09 5 Male .22 .18 .16 .14 .12 .11 .10 .09 Female .25 .21 .18 .16 .14 .13 .12 .11 6 Male .26 .22 .19 .16 .15 .13 .12 .11 Female .30 .26 .22 .19 .17 .15 .14 .13 7 Male .30 .25 .22 .19 .17 .15 .14 .13 Female .36 .30 .26 .22 .20 .18 .16 .15 8 Male .35 .29 .25 .22 .19 .17 .16 .15 Female .41 .33 .29 .26 .23 .20 .18 .16 9 Male .39 .35 .28 .25 .22 .20 .18 .16 Female .46 38 .33 .29 .26 .23 .21 .19 10 Male .39 .35 .28 .25 .22 .20 .18 .16 Female .51 .42 .36 .32 .28 .25 .23 .21 11 Male .48 .40 .34 .30 .26 .24 .22 .20 Female .56 .46 .40 .35 .31 .27 .25 .23 12 Male .53 .43 .37 .32 .29 .26 .24 .21 Female .61 .50 .43 .37 .33 .30 .28 .25 13 Male .57 .47 .40 .35 .31 .29 .26 .23 Female .66 .55 .47 .40 .36 .32 .30 .27 14 Male .62 .50 .43 .37 .34 .31 .28 .25 Female .71 .59 .51 .43 .39 .35 .32 .29 15 Male .66 .54 .47 .40 .36 .34 .30 .27 Female .76 .63 .55 .46 .42 .37 .35 .32 Remember!!! This is only an estimation based on an average metabolic rate. Differences in metabolic rates, gender, types of drinks, food in the stomach etc. can contribute to substantial differences in your Blood Alcohol Levels. Also, there may be slight differences (.01 - .03) between the various BAL Charts that are available to you. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/7 "2004-07-09T06:38:56Z")
I did it for years and never thought anything of it. Fortunetly I grew up one day before something bad happened. It has been many years since I quit this incredibly stupid act. Check out Jacqueline Saburido’s story: [Pre-meeting a drunk driver](http://snopes.com/inboxer/adults/saburido.htm#add) [Post-meeting](http://www.helpjacqui.com/home.htm) No one has the right to do this to anyone. If you drive, you don’t drink. There are no excuses, no lower limits. Just don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/8 "2004-07-09T06:53:37Z")
Can we have just a little bit of reality here? One drink after work will not impair _pizzabrat_ on his/her drive home. **Blown & Injected** ’s first sentence is quite incorrect. The standard for DUI is 0.08 percent blood alcohol, with the only holdout from the feds currently being Delaware, at a whopping 0.1 percent. (Some states do allow a lower charge of driving while impaired. Colorado is one of these, using a 0.05 limit.) The chart posted does not seem to allow for elapsed time, nor does it bear much resemblance to a chart I saw in the paper here when Colorado caved in to the feds on July 1st. I’ll look for it tomorrow. I’ll also deal with flames tomorrow; I’m going to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/9 "2004-07-09T07:09:04Z")
> [@Hey you!](#): > > Take some of your booze money, [buy one of these](http://www.smarthome.com/9291.html) and put it in your glove compartment. The next time you finish your drinks and wonder if you should be driving, you’ll have reasonably accurate gauge of whether you’re too impaired to be driving. Horribly inaccurate, actually. Back when I lived in a fraternity house, we “invested” in the same portable breathalyzer, and it sucked. I was the first person to try it; in fact, I was the first three people to try it. The first time, I’d had one beer half an hour prior, and it came up with 0.12. The second time, I hadn’t had a drink in three days, and it came up with a 0.02. The third time, I was ridiculously (10+ shots) drunk, and it said 0.12 again. We sent it back; the manufacturer said it was functioning normally; we asked for our money back. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/10 "2004-07-09T10:03:05Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Can we have just a little bit of reality here? > > One drink after work will not impair _pizzabrat_ on his/her drive home. > > **Blown & Injected** ’s first sentence is quite incorrect. The standard for DUI is 0.08 percent blood alcohol, with the only holdout from the feds currently being Delaware, at a whopping 0.1 percent. (Some states do allow a lower charge of driving while impaired. Colorado is one of these, using a 0.05 limit.) > > The chart posted does not seem to allow for elapsed time, nor does it bear much resemblance to a chart I saw in the paper here when Colorado caved in to the feds on July 1st. I’ll look for it tomorrow. > > I’ll also deal with flames tomorrow; I’m going to bed. .08 for DW **I** (Driving While Intoxicated) but DU **I** (Driving Under the Influence) is about the same trouble as .08 for DWI. If one blows .06, there is a mighty good chance the cuffs are coming out, the points, fines, and legal fees are all about the same. About the chart. I never really paid much attention to them because I never felt as drunk as any of the charts say but I bet lots of people say I did not think I was that drunk. The Man is thick in my parts, if I have to look a chart to think about it, well I wouldn’t, I would just hand the keys over to the SO. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/11 "2004-07-09T14:49:17Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > I’m new to both drinking and driving. Am I allowed to have an after work cocktail before driving home, or does that count as drinking and driving? If you are new to drinking then a coctail is quite possibly too much. Have a glass of water and drink that for a half hour before heading home. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/12 "2004-07-09T15:20:29Z")
> [@flight](#): > > If you are new to drinking then a coctail is quite possibly too much. Have a glass of water and drink that for a half hour before heading home. I know you’re kind of joking, but I’ve changed my mind, as I couldn’t afford an after-work coctail anyway. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/13 "2004-07-09T16:20:32Z")
pizzabrat, I don’t think he was joking. If you rarely drink (and you appear to be a girl so you are smaller and have a lower tollerance) and your “cocktail” is a strong Jack & Coke or scorpion bowl, you might be impared a bit. The thing is, it’s hard to tell sometimes. If you are stumbling around and screaming the words to Neil Diamond songs, you generally realize that you shouldn’t drive. Unfortunately some people don’t realize this. You might not realize it if you are hanging out drinking beers all day at a barbeque but you could also be somewhat impared as well. I would suggest avoiding drinking and driving alltogether. In my younger days, my friends and I occassionaly found ourselves behind the wheel after way too many drinks. Thankfully no one ever caused harm to anyone but looking back as an adult, it was incredibly stupid. Worst example of drinking and driving was in college where my roomate and I were smashed and decided to drive to an off campus party in my car. We picked up three of our buddies who were wandering around on campus drunk with a 10 foot sapling they ripped out of the ground - root ball and all. So the five of us and our tree drove my busted up Olds to the party, parking half-on half off the lawn and knocking over garbage cans like Frank Drebin in Naked Gun. Someone yelled at us that we couldn’t even stand up and shouldn’t be driving to which I responded “a car is driven in a SEATED position ASSHOLE!!!”. I think my buddy might have swung the sapling at some people too. Anyhow, what ended up as a mildly amusing annecdote could have easily ended as a tragedy had we run down a group of students (unless it was jerks from Beta…they don’t look like they’d be missed). ---
**Author:** ![igloorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@igloorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igloorex)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/14 "2004-07-09T16:26:12Z")
Keep in mind that you can vey easily be somewhat impaired by even one or two drinks and still be quite legal. I got lucky when I was a young lad and got away with a few bouts of fairly severely drunk driving without hurting myself or anyone else. What stopped it for me was the first time I drove after having just 2 or 3 drinks. When plastered, I had no idea how badly I was driving. But with 2-3 drinks, I was still aware enough to realize that I was not driving nearly as well as I was when sober. When I extrapolated that out to driving while plastered, I scared the bejeezus out of myself. With even a modestly low amount of alcohol in your system, your vision deteriorates (insert beer goggling jokes here), your reaction time slows, and your ability to concentrate is diminished – particularly your ability to juggle on multiple tasks simultaneously (staying in your lane while looking over your shoulder to scan for traffic, etc.). If you’re new to both drinking and driving, it’s probably best to not mix them at all for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/15 "2004-07-10T00:09:33Z")
I am a lawyer, and to set the record straight, it is possible to get a DUI in many states while still being below the “legal” limit. In my state, Arizona, the legal limit is .08. If you are pulled over and arrested on suspicion of a DUI, and your B.A.C. is below .08, you can still be cited for driving while impaired to the slightest degree, which has exactly the same punishment as a standard DUI. If you have below a .05 B.A.C., you are considered sober enough to drive. Everyone’s metabolism’s different. Some of my clients claim that they didn’t feel a buzz with a .12. I’ve felt a little heady after only one beer. Lots of factors need to be taken into consideration: your body weight, what you were drinking (some booze goes into your blood stream faster, apparently), when the last time you ate was, etc. You can most likely drive legally with one cocktail in your system. If you have any doubts, however, don’t. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/16 "2004-07-10T00:29:13Z")
I don’t know about the laws in your state, but if you’re also new to driving, make sure you don’t have a zero-tolerance law attached to your licence if you plan on “just having a drink after work”. In Ontario, the G1 and G2 licenses (learner’s permit and "probationary"one) are zero-tolerance, so ANY alcohol in your system above what is medically normal for a sober person is illegal. The same rule applies in Quebec, and I presume in many other provinces and states. Franklly, though, if you have one drink and sip it over the course of an hour and a half or two, then I’d be surprised if you weren’t fine to drive, but it’s best to learn your tolerance before trying this. Do you live near work? How about your co-workers? Go HOME and have a drink, then have a meal together, and send everyone home once you know they’re sober. Rotate homes. That way, worse case scenario, you are already in a safe place and can crash there if you need to. Or cab it home. Or call a friend, or a parent, etc. A huge part of enjoying alcohol is learning to know WHEN and WHERE it ought to be enjoyed. “Just because it’s Friday” isn’t a good enough reason 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/17 "2004-07-10T00:45:24Z")
If you’re going to be at the bar after work for 15 minutes with coworkers, don’t have a drink. If you’re going to be there for two hours, have a drink first, then switch to soda or something. One drink is completely metabolised after two hours, no matter how big you are. Don’t let the fear of a thing keep you from trying it. I WILL REPEAT: one drink will NOT kill you, provided you give yourself time to process it. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/18 "2004-07-10T03:06:56Z")
The Delaware legislature dropped their limit to .08 week before last-they risked losing Federal Highway $$ if they didn’t. In PA, even if you’re below .08, you can still be charged with a violation of §3731 if you are deemed incapable of safe driving. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-driving/254199/19 "2004-07-10T04:50:27Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > If you rarely drink (and you appear to be a girl… No I _don’t_!