When would you drive after this much alcohol?

[MondaysAreFineItsYourLifeThatsShit]

Started 2.30pm (all day wedding) finished 7pm. Two full bottles of prosecco... 16 units in total. Would you drive the next day after a certain time or leave it altogether?

I’d be too hungover 🤢

I think so! Prosecco is weaker than wine too.

I think this is one of those topics where mn posters fall over themselves to be the most cautious though.

Do not take that to mean I don't take drink driving seriously.

You stopped drinking at 7! Surely you'd be hungover about 3 in the morning and would've slept it off by the time it was time to drive home 😆

After lunch if I’d been well enough to eat breakfast and lunch and wasn’t still hungover.
If I was hanging and unable to eat I wouldn’t drive at all.

Prosecco is really not much different to wine - most wines are 11-13% and Prosecco is 11-12%

Yup.

it seems to be an MN peculiarity that you add hours onto the time you finish drinking. As if your body knows when you’ve had your last drink and only starts metabolising the alcohol then.

If you start drinking at 2.30pm you start metabolising alcohol at 2.30pm at the rate of roughly 1 unit per hour; less than 1 unit an hour if you are asleep.

If you drink 16 units of alcohol, starting at 2.30pm (and, obviously assuming a relatively even rate of drinking, not smashing the last 1.5 bottles in the last 15 mins), most people would be well under the limit by 2.30 the next afternoon, I.e. 24 hrs later.

A liver working at 100% function/ health will process 1 unit of alcohol per hour, not including the first hour, which is ignored. Most adults do not have a liver that works at 100% efficiency, due to age, ill health, and many other factors.
For those who drink to excess daily etc one is then in the topping up zone, whereby it's very tricky to know when it's safe/ legal to drive/ ride, and work out what's in your system.

Depends on your weight and mass.

Small, slight build - next day.
Tall, big boned, over 12 stone - sooner.

Also to point out that the human body stores excess alcohol not yet processed in many parts of the body, including all organs, esp. the brain.

How do you calculate alcohol units?

You can work out how many units there are in any drink by multiplying the total volume of a drink (in ml) by its ABV (measured as a percentage) and dividing the result by 1,000. For example, to work out the number of units in a pint (568ml) of strong lager (ABV 5.2%): 5.2 (%) x 568 (ml) ÷ 1,000 = 2.95 units.

That is a bit of an old wife's tale. whilst someone heavier might avoid a positive breath test the Livers ability to process alcohol is the same maximum: I unit per hour, ignoring the first hour. All routes lead to the liver, 97%of alcohol is processed through the liver, 3% via sweat and urine.

Yes but people rarely drink steadily, so without knowing how the glasses were distributed over the timeframe I’ve been cautious. I’d assume one would most likely be fine after breakfast but without a bit more information I can’t be sure if the maths supports that’s.

I tend to work on a unit per hour then a few hours to spare for margin of error.

Never trust waking up and feeling great either!

Your body starts metabolising alcohol when you start drinking it, do you think your brain says to your organs ‘right, she’s finished now, you can finally start processing it all!’ 😂
anyway, 2 bottles of fizz finished by 7pm, other than feeling like shit (I can’t drink the stuff at all!) I’d not question driving the next day from about lunchtime - I rarely move much before midday if I’ve been drinking the night before because it hits me hard now! Which is why I don’t drink often anymore 🙈
well, I mean I’ll have a beer or two but I don’t often go as overboard as I used to.

I’d feel fine to drive the next day, considering you stopped at 1900. I don’t think I’d even feel hungover! I only feel hungover if I drink until late and don’t get enough rest!

No, I would leave it a week before I drove.

@ChobKnees

Not for me. Hangovers last the whole next day, even for afternoon drinking . I don't feel particularly ill, but I do feel sluggish and generally fit for nothing

I'd say lunch time. If I felt fine.

The next morning after a good sleep coffee and food

I don't have hangovers but I doubt that's an indication of what alcohol is still in my system.