Your best drink driving defence is to stay within the legal limits. These are different depending on the sample; blood, breath or urine.
- Blood – 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres (50mg Scotland)
- Breath – 35 Microgrammes per 100 millilitres (20mg Scotland)
- Urine – 107 Milligrammes per 100 millilitres (67mg Scotland)
Call Ashmans Motoring Lawyers now if you have tested over these limits. We would be happy to provide a free initial consultation. 03330 096 275
How much alcohol will put me
over the limit?
It is not possible to accurately calculate how much alcohol you can drink before you will be over the legal limit. This is because the effects of alcohol are different for each person, depending on factors like age, weight, gender, whether you have eaten prior to drinking and what you ate, how tired you are or your stress levels.
The only guaranteed way to remain below the drink driving limit is to avoid drinking entirely.
How long after drinking am I safe to drive?
Again, it is impossible to provide advice with 100% accuracy. How quickly your body processes alcohol depends on your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). This is the ratio between the amount of water and the amount of alcohol in your blood.
Your BAC can be impacted by a range of factors such as the weight, age, when you last ate and what you ate, or whether you are taking any medications that alter the BAC ratio.
As a rough guide, research suggests it takes around an hour to process a single unit of alcohol. Assuming it takes an hour for your first unit to be processed you can estimate when you may be safe to drive again, based on the following table:
For example, if you have three pints of strong beer, or three large glasses of wine, that equates to 9 units of alcohol. With an additional hour added to allow for the first drink to enter your system, that means you may be safe to drive again 10 hours after consuming your first drink. If you finished drinking at midnight, you should not consider driving until 10am the next morning at the very earliest.
Always remember everyone’s body processes alcohol differently. Whilst some may process 9 units in 10 hours or less, for others it may take significantly longer.
Drinks and alcohol units
Standard Glass of wine (175ml, 12%)
Large Glass of wine (250ml, 12%)
Pint of beer (5.2%)
Pint of beer (3.6%)
Bottle of beer (330ml, 5%)
Can of beer (440ml, 5.5%)
Small shot of spirits (25ml, 40%)
Can I get alcohol out of my system faster?
The short answer is no. Do not believe in common myths about drink driving. Eating, drinking coffee or sleeping will not enable you bring your blood alcohol level within legal limits more quickly. Drinking water can reduce your BAC, but the alcohol in your system still metabolizes at the same rate so even this cannot be relied upon as a quick way to reduce your blood alcohol level to within the legal limits faster.
The only way to ensure you are driving safely and legally is to wait until the effects of alcohol have worn off over time.
For example, if you have three pints of strong beer, or three large glasses of wine, that equates to 9 units of alcohol. With an additional hour added to allow for the first drink to enter your system, that means you may be safe to drive again 10 hours after consuming your first drink. If you finished drinking at midnight, you should not consider driving until 10am the next morning at the very earliest.
Always remember everyone’s body processes alcohol differently. Whilst some may process 9 units in 10 hours or less, for others it may take significantly longer.
