# Hard drinkin', somewhat drivin' Lithuanian dude hits 18 TIMES the legal limit!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 27, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471 "2006-05-27T19:02:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/1 "2006-05-27T19:02:24Z")
Now check [this story](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060523/ap_on_fe_st/lithuania_record_drink_driver) out (work safe, but definitely barstool discussion)!
There’s this Lithuanian dude, who was out drinking the night before. They pull him over the next day, and he hits _eighteen times_ the legal limit of alcohol in the blood. I don’t know what this equates to back in the states (do we measure by volume or weight), but man alive, this guy was literally pickled!!
> [@](#):
>
> _From the article_:
>
> “He was of high spirits and grinning the whole time he was questioned.”
Yer damn straight he was “of high spirits”! Me thinks it was paint thinner and methyl ethyl keytone! :eek:
Tripler
Although, I admit, I have partaken of “hair of the dog” on occasion. 😃
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/2 "2006-05-27T19:03:38Z")
How much you wanna’ bet Fark carries the article with the “HERO” tag? 😃
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/3 "2006-05-27T19:10:06Z")
I very much doubt the limit is 0.4g/l as reported in the article - 80mg/l is the most common blood alcohol limit. If they’ve got that fact so very wrong, I wouldn’t trust the rest of the article. (Maybe it’s actually 40mg/l which makes the guy nine times over a more familiar limit)
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### Author:  [@Rachm\_Qoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachm_Qoch)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/4 "2006-05-27T21:32:18Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> I very much doubt the limit is 0.4g/l as reported in the article - 80mg/l is the most common blood alcohol limit. If they’ve got that fact so very wrong, I wouldn’t trust the rest of the article. (Maybe it’s actually 40mg/l which makes the guy nine times over a more familiar limit)
0.4g/l is probably correct – 0.08 blood alcohol level is 80 mg/dL (ie 0.8 g/L). Still, nine times the legal limit is impressive.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/5 "2006-05-27T21:58:55Z")
Oh, good point that I was wrong about normal limits being per 100ml not per litre.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/6 "2006-05-27T23:03:50Z")
According to that reliable legal tome, Wikipedia, Lithuania has a legal limit of [40 mg/dL.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content#Limits_by_country)
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/7 "2006-05-27T23:05:54Z")
Hear the one about the Lithuanian who took an IQ test?
Came back negative.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/8 "2006-05-27T23:11:14Z")
The slightly more reliable [International Center for Alcohol Policies](http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/DrinkingandDriving/BACTable/tabid/199/Default.aspx) backs this up.
(The UK and USA levels are double this)
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### Author:  [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drinkin-somewhat-drivin-lithuanian-dude-hits-18-times-the-legal-limit/358471/9 "2006-05-27T23:27:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Sungaila […] told police he had been drinking the night before and tried to freshen up by downing a pint of beer for breakfast.
This may just be the greatest thing I’ve ever read.