To be fuming with MIL and Husband?

It's 1 hr per unit of alcohol. Doesnt matter about food, coffee, sleep etc.

Bottle of Moretti for example is 1.5 units, so 3 bottles would be 7.5 hours. If he really did have only 3 beers over the course of the afternoon and evening, he wouldn't have been over the limit to drive at midnight. Do you know how much he'd had by 7pm when you left?

It does sound like he might be lying because he lied about getting dropped off. What insurance does he have for your MIL car?

Could be a cans of weak beer or strong lager or pints of comparatively low alcohol beer. It could be 3 units, 6 units or 9 (or more). If you can remove about 1 unit an hour over 12 hours he might well be under the limit in all those scenarios.

How much did he drink when you were with them at the wedding? When did the wedding start? What was the plan for them getting home?

Sorry, MN is playing up and I’ve hit post on the wrong thread 😬

The OP didn't say he had 3 pints. She said 3 beers, could be a pint but could be a bottle or a can and that could make a big difference.

Yes, these days we never drink at all if driving, it is so easy to just have another one once you start to drink, particularly at something like a wedding where it's offered all the time. Perhaps he intended to get a lift, but it didn't happen for some reason, but then why take a car if you don't intend to drive home?

Lots of different opinions on this thread about being ok to drive after three beers. Best way surely is no drink at all if you know you’re driving.

Three pints over 12 hours probably wouldn't be over the limit, did he seem drunk? You might be making a mountain out of a mole hill, and if that is how he would expect you to react he may well have lied about the lift to avoid a scene. They both got home safe, no children in the car, life goes on. By all means remind him of the dangers of drinking and driving, but it's over leave it in the past.

Agree

In 20 years of administering police breath tests I’ve never met anyone who has blown 0 after having 3 or 4 bottles of beer unless it has had time to totally work its way through their system.

It still doesn’t cancel out the alcohol, or mitigate the amount in your bloodstream, it doesn’t clear it through your system any quicker, you just process it in a slower way, rather than it going straight to your head. It’s more comfortable to drink on a full stomach but you wouldn’t pass a breathalyser test just because you’d had your dinner. If you drink any amount of alcohol you shouldn’t drive.

This.
Whilst she didn’t drive back to your home after the wedding she was complicit in your husband driving whilst under the influence. They’re both as stupid, irresponsible and selfish as one another. I wouldn’t want to leave my children with her for the weekend nor would I want to spend any special time with him.

This, if he truly was fine to drive why did he say had got a lift and try and hide it. They both be out on their ear. Dispicable behaviour. Even under the limit the risks of driving after a couple of drinks are significantly increased.

This. Shame on them. It's inexcusable.

As OP left at 7.00 pm to take the children home and her DH and MIL had just arrived home after midnight, how likely is it that her DH stayed at the wedding reception for another 5 hours without drinking, particularly as he lied about driving home?

If he lied about how they got home, then obviously he knew that he was over the limit. I would not be leaving either of them in charge of my children, ever again. I appreciate that this has huge consequences for the marriage, but it's a red line for me.

Eating does mitigate alcohol absorption. If it is absorbed through the stomach, it has a much greater effect than if it is processed further on in the digestive system, and if the stomach is fully occupied with food then it will pass the liquid on pretty quickly. Hence the fact that drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea.

It depends what you mean by "after". Immediately after, no. But if I'd had them a few hours before I drove and had had lots to eat, possibly.

If he only had 3 beers and was fine, why the initial lie? And query how great their judgment was that they lied about a lift when it would be self evident that your mother in law’s car was now at your house.

Why did he lie if he was okay to drive. Okay then Pinocchio. Lying bastards

They don't need to spend money, just post on here with some of the facts and you will soon know if you're ok to drive or not.

Who needs to know if it was a pint or a bottle, high or low alcohol, when he drank them. No one needs all the facts do they.

How many people are driving after having 3 alcoholic drinks?

And a poster saying their husband would pass the breathalyser test with flying colours, is that just because he doesn’t seem drunk after a few drinks. Don’t think it works like that, it’s not like the rest of walking in a straight line.

This is why people buy portable breathalysers, takes all ambiguity out of the conversation.

My husband could have 3 or 4 bottles of beer throughout a wedding (nothing after 8pm) and easily blow zero

You may feel sober but that alcohol will still be in your bloodstream and you would not be safe to drive. Eating plenty of food does not mitigate the alcohol content, it just makes you feel as though it does. You would almost certainly be over the limit and your reaction times are affected by even a small amount of alcohol.