Post Happy Hour Driving

[codefro]

Hello,

I went to a happy hour after work and had a couple cocktail teas. I ate lots of food while I had some drinks. Here is my confusion- I hung around for another half hour to make sure I was ok, and then walked to my car and sat in my car for 15-20 mins. I was waiting til I felt ok before deciding to drive home. I felt tired (long day), not buzzed, and drove home. How is one sure that they are ok to drive home and not put anybody’s life in danger?

 

[mikekle]

usually eating food will kill a persons buzz, especially bread or anything made with dough, this soaks up the alcohol. I think its different for everyone, Personally I just know when I am OK to drive and I also know when I am not, although I rarely drink more than one drink at one time, and thats only when we go out to eat somewhere, and I will have a scotch and ice or red wine, depending on the meal. The larger a person you are has alot to do with it too, as your body mass compared to the amount of alcohol you consume to make you drunk or buzzed is much more than a smaller person can consume.

Trust your conscience in this regard, I always have and has never failed me. Not everything can be measured scientifically either, its different for everyone.

On the other hand though,I have a few friends that are cops and one retired detective, they ALL say…if you ever pulled over and offered a breathalyzer, NEVER NEVER take it.

 

[codefro]

usually eating food will kill a persons buzz, especially bread or anything made with dough, this soaks up the alcohol. I think its different for everyone, Personally I just know when I am OK to drive and I also know when I am not, although I rarely drink more than one drink at one time, and thats only when we go out to eat somewhere, and I will have a scotch and ice or red wine, depending on the meal. The larger a person you are has alot to do with it too, as your body mass compared to the amount of alcohol you consume to make you drunk or buzzed is much more than a smaller person can consume.

Trust your conscience in this regard, I always have and has never failed me. Not everything can be measured scientifically either, its different for everyone.

On the other hand though,I have a few friends that are cops and one retired detective, they ALL say…if you ever pulled over and offered a breathalyzer, NEVER NEVER take it.

Right well it’s hard to tell what the legal limit is that you are at.

I waiting until I felt fine. I notice that I still drive home extra careful just to make sure that I am ok. I normally then over- analyze my driving just to make sure I am good to go.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Hello,

I went to a happy hour after work and had a couple cocktail teas. I ate lots of food while I had some drinks. Here is my confusion- I hung around for another half hour to make sure I was ok, and then walked to my car and sat in my car for 15-20 mins. I was waiting til I felt ok before deciding to drive home. I felt tired (long day), not buzzed, and drove home. How is one sure that they are ok to drive home and not put anybody’s life in danger?

By a small breathalyzer.

Keep it in your glove box. They are on amazon for 20-200 dollars.

Just saw this though on Shark Tank. It looks like a good and reliable set up www.breathometer.com (smartphone breathalyzer $49)

You’d be surprised how little it takes to blow a .08%. It doesn’t matter how you feel just what the screen says.

 

[Petaro]

For a man two standard drinks in the first hour then one for every hour after that. For a woman half that quantity. Keeps you under .05 blood level. Depends on the law in your State.

 

[Jon_S_1]

For a man two standard drinks in the first hour then one for every hour after that. For a woman half that quantity. Keeps you under .05 blood level. Depends on the law in your State.

Not this

This is a good way to get a DUI

 

[mikekle]

The time of day also plays a big part in whether the cops pull you over or not. if it is 2:30 in the morning and there is not many cars on the road, the police know what time the bars close, and closely watch cars coming from bar districts and much more likely to pull them over, however if you leave the bar by 10:30-11pm, even if you are slightly buzzed, you probably will be OK.

The thing about the home breathalyzers is it does not factor in when a person has eaten, eating and letting it digest seriously kills a persons drunkenness, but the device may still read they are over the limit.

Personally, I believe the powers that be would try something new if they were truly interested in stopping DUIs, if you look at years past, you will see DUIs are increasing in numbers, despite the laws against them, so this shows the current laws are not working. You can not expect new results when trying the same old thing time after time, everyone knows this. I tend to think cities and counties rely a bit too heavily on fines coming in from DUI cases, and if they were truly devoted to stopping drinking and driving, they would be coming up with something new to combat it, and not just another punishment, they would employee modern science and experts in this field to come up with alternatives, I for one, believe they could come up with a pill or syrup, that when taken, will kill a persons buzz within 15-20 minutes, allowing them to drive home. There is a chemical that has been shown to do this, but I cannot recall the name.

On the other hand, if the self driving car comes to fruition like many say it will, DUIs will be a thing of the past anyway, I believe CA has these on the road now and probably within the next 10 or so years, the rest of the country will get them.

 

[Jon_S_1]

The time of day also plays a big part in whether the cops pull you over or not. if it is 2:30 in the morning and there is not many cars on the road, the police know what time the bars close, and closely watch cars coming from bar districts and much more likely to pull them over, however if you leave the bar by 10:30-11pm, even if you are slightly buzzed, you probably will be OK.

The thing about the home breathalyzers is it does not factor in when a person has eaten, eating and letting it digest seriously kills a persons drunkenness, but the device may still read they are over the limit.

Personally, I believe the powers that be would try something new if they were truly interested in stopping DUIs, if you look at years past, you will see DUIs are increasing in numbers, despite the laws against them, so this shows the current laws are not working. You can not expect new results when trying the same old thing time after time, everyone knows this. I tend to think cities and counties rely a bit too heavily on fines coming in from DUI cases, and if they were truly devoted to stopping drinking and driving, they would be coming up with something new to combat it, and not just another punishment, they would employee modern science and experts in this field to come up with alternatives, I for one, believe they could come up with a pill or syrup, that when taken, will kill a persons buzz within 15-20 minutes, allowing them to drive home. There is a chemical that has been shown to do this, but I cannot recall the name.

On the other hand, if the self driving car comes to fruition like many say it will, DUIs will be a thing of the past anyway, I believe CA has these on the road now and probably within the next 10 or so years, the rest of the country will get them.

The police breathalyzer’s don’t factor in if you just ate either. They don’t measure “buzz” level. They measure blood alcohol level. That’s why everyone who drinks and drives should check before they drive.

I can’t tell you how many innocent fender benders I’ve responded to where one of the parties (even the not at fault party) gets asked a few questions and before you know it they are blowing in the breathalyzer. All it takes is to hit the limit .08 and your off to jail, losing your license, paying thousands, perhaps losing your job, etc…

 

[Petaro]

Not this

This is a good way to get a DUI

A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol. This will be exuded from the blood in one hour. No more of less. It is a good guide as it keeps you at .05%. Most American States use .08% giving you a leeway for error. Australia has .05 as a legal standard and this regime is recommended by the authorities when you don’t have a breathalyzer
I don’t know the standard in the US; you may have super-sized it…

 

[catholictiger]

Hello,

I went to a happy hour after work and had a couple cocktail teas. I ate lots of food while I had some drinks. Here is my confusion- I hung around for another half hour to make sure I was ok, and then walked to my car and sat in my car for 15-20 mins. I was waiting til I felt ok before deciding to drive home. I felt tired (long day), not buzzed, and drove home. How is one sure that they are ok to drive home and not put anybody’s life in danger?

it really comes down to knowing yourself how much you can drink and still but fully conscious of what you are doing. Personally I say if you are driving drink just a-little not much. I will never drink more than one beer if I have to drive afterwards, I don’t think I would drink any mix drinks if I had to drive.

 

[ExGratia]

If you are consuming mixed drinks, counting isn’t going to work so well. Different bartenders measure differently (or not at all) or are generous (either to ensure a better tip, to be “nice”, to get one over on management…). And even properly measured, at bars or even corporate chain restaurants, Long Island Iced Tea (what I assume you mean by cocktail tea) has more alcohol than a standard drink. Let us not forget that different beers and wines have different alcohol contents as well. A heavy red wine tends to have more alcohol than a pinot grigio, for example. It would take a lot of math skill to figure out how much to drink.

Yes, time of day does matter. I have gotten pulled over but not cited for anything late at night, coming home from working at the bar.

It doesn’t sound like drinking at bars is fun for you. Rather than stress so much, enjoy your food, slowly sip 1 drink, and then switch to club soda. Or plan to call a cab ahead of time!