Page 4 | What time would you drive home after this amount of alcohol?

Hollyhead · 2022-12-25T18:30:52+00:00

I had 1.5 glasses of champagne and a small glass of wine between 12.30pm and 2pm with lunch. What time would you drive? Have obviously had a full meal and soft drinks only since then and now feel 100% sober. I figure I’ll be completely clear of alcohol by 8pm, but a couple of people we’re with have said that it’s drink driving because it’s still the same day. I don’t think they’re right because it’s about the alcohol wearing off. Where do you all stand on this? I agree it’s shaky ground if you don’t track carefully what you’re drinking but I am certain that’s all I had.

stayathomer · 26/12/2022 07:00

I think it although usually depends on the person-if I even had one drink that will be all that will be in my head and I wouldn’t be driving as confidently as I normally would. As for the sleep thing I think it’s more that your body gets a rest as alcohol gives you the high then low, nothing to do with shedding units or anything. Personally I always think if you’re counting units it’s a sign and you should be getting a lift from family/ friend or a taxi

SkinnyFatte · 26/12/2022 07:06

I'm a transport worker. We have to have zero alcohol in our blood whilst working. I know the law allows for a small amount if driving a car on the road. Our guidelines say no alcohol within 12 hours of starting a shift. Especially important when operating a large vehicle like a train or a bus.

babyyodaxmas · 26/12/2022 07:10

This quite useful

What time would you drive home after this amount of alcohol?

OhBeAFineGuyKissMe · 26/12/2022 08:06

babyyodaxmas · 26/12/2022 07:10

This quite useful

Not really useful. It doesn't mention how spaced out the units are nor how long it takes for them to be metabolised.

For those getting upset, the op drove home 9 hours after the last drink. She had about 5 units. She had a sleep and food in-between. She was absolutely fine to drive. Even with Scotland's reduced limit.

Overnight/ the next day is irrelevant. It is the time that is important.

CornishGem1975 · 26/12/2022 08:32

You don't need to be "free of all traces of alcohol" @Soontobe60

Daffodilis · 26/12/2022 08:52

Not getting into whether it was ok or not, but just wondering if there was any point to having a drink when you were having to meticulously measure etc to make sure you were on to drive later in the day. Surely it would have been more relaxing to go alcohol free and have a drink when you got home, worry free.

SaveMeCheezus · 26/12/2022 09:04

If I were driving much much later at night but having a Christmas lunch with family then yes I'd relax and have a small glass of wine or two with it because it would always be 'worry-free' in those circumstances. The OP drove home 9 full hours after a very moderate amount of alcohol.

MN is an odd place. Never in real life have I come across people that would a) be completely legless after one drink or b) wait a full 24 hours to drive after 2 small glasses of wine with a meal.

ecdysis · 26/12/2022 09:13

RuthW · 26/12/2022 06:48

I wouldn't drive until morning after a full night's sleep.

Sleep doesn't change how the body processes alcohol

SaveMeCheezus · 26/12/2022 09:31

Anyone who plays the alcohol / driving roulette game is a knob IMO.

@Soontobe60 It's not roulette for goodness sake, it's science.

An average and healthy human who's had 2 meals (both of which restrict alcohol absorption and speed up metabolic rate) will be perfectly fine to drive 9 whole hours after 2 small glasses of wine.

tigger1001 · 26/12/2022 09:55

UsingChangeofName
You can't say you've been extremely sensible. You've drunk 3 alcoholic drinks when your planning on driving. That's the exact opposite of sensible

This.

In answer to your question "What time would you drive home after this amount of alcohol?" I wouldn't.
If it were my turn to drive, I wouldn't drink alcohol.

I find it fascinating that so often on MN a poster will ask a pretty straightforward question and almost inevitably, there will be posters who have no intention of answering that question but only of using it to demonstrate their moral superiority by sanctimoniously telling us all what they would have done instead, and how they would be making an entirely different and much more superior decision."

The question the op asked was what time would you drive after this much alcohol.

The poster you quoted answered that question.

cakeorwine · 26/12/2022 10:03

SaveMeCheezus · 26/12/2022 09:31

Anyone who plays the alcohol / driving roulette game is a knob IMO.

@Soontobe60 It's not roulette for goodness sake, it's science.

An average and healthy human who's had 2 meals (both of which restrict alcohol absorption and speed up metabolic rate) will be perfectly fine to drive 9 whole hours after 2 small glasses of wine.

Do you think having food reduces the amount of alcohol absorbed?
If I have a glass of wine with a meal, will that meal reduce the amount of alcohol being absorbed into the blood stream? Or will it just reduce the rate of absorption?

Does having a meal affect the rate that the enzymes work in the liver to metabolise the alcohol?

Survey99 · 26/12/2022 11:03

FurAndFeathers · 26/12/2022 00:28

I find it fascinating that so often on MN a poster will ask a pretty straightforward question and almost inevitably, there will be posters who have no intention of answering that question but only of using it to demonstrate their moral superiority by sanctimoniously telling us all what they would have done instead, and how they would be making an entirely different and much more superior decision.

Show quote history

You should maybe go back and read the OP carefully

The straightfoward questions asked were

What time would you drive home after this amount of alcohol?

Where do you all stand on this?

The op is asking others what they would have done instead. I find it fascinating how so often MN posters try to demonstrate their superiority by sanctimoniously telling posters their unwanted opinion on how to post on a disscusion forum.

SaveMeCheezus · 26/12/2022 12:22

@cakeorwine Alcohol isn't digested, it's absorbed by stomach lining, so eating along with it slows (and sometimes reduces) that absorption by very simply meaning there's more stuff sloshing in the stomach to dilute the alcohol's direct contact with the stomach lining.

And yes, experiments have shown that having eaten does stimulate the liver (through higher blood flow) to metabolise alcohol faster.

But in the grand scheme of things, even if the OP had had an empty stomach, with an approximate blood alcohol count of 100 after what she drank, after 9 hours it would have cleared through her system to well below a safe limit.

cakeorwine · 26/12/2022 12:43

SaveMeCheezus · 26/12/2022 12:22

@cakeorwine Alcohol isn't digested, it's absorbed by stomach lining, so eating along with it slows (and sometimes reduces) that absorption by very simply meaning there's more stuff sloshing in the stomach to dilute the alcohol's direct contact with the stomach lining.

And yes, experiments have shown that having eaten does stimulate the liver (through higher blood flow) to metabolise alcohol faster.

But in the grand scheme of things, even if the OP had had an empty stomach, with an approximate blood alcohol count of 100 after what she drank, after 9 hours it would have cleared through her system to well below a safe limit.

I never said alcohol was digested.
It is absorbed mainly via diffusion into the blood stream, and the food content affects the rate of absorption. You seemed to imply that food reduced the amount of alcohol going in. It really only affects the rate of absorption.

So your blood alcohol concentration does rise slower with food giving the liver a chance to metabolise it using its hepatic enzymes

Interesting on the rate of metabolism. I know that the police use forensic techniques to work out the level if they take a sample a few hours after arrest. I think there is some debate about that as the rate of metabolism can vary.

DappledThings · 26/12/2022 12:44

It's not roulette for goodness sake, it's science.

An average and healthy human who's had 2 meals (both of which restrict alcohol absorption and speed up metabolic rate) will be perfectly fine to drive 9 whole hours after 2 small glasses of wine.
Quite. I will be having one small glass of wine at lunch today around 2 and happily driving home at about 6.30. Which in no way constitutes roulette.

UsingChangeofName · 26/12/2022 13:07

@ecdysis The next day. To include a full night's sleep and enough hours after any alcohol has been drunk. (not for sleep as such but for number of hours).

@FurAndFeathers - though not sure why you are particularly picking up my post, when so many others have said the same - really not sure why being sensible leaps to 'sanctimonious' in your mind. Having alcohol impacts on all of us. It isn't a case of "up to this amount I am fine and after that amount I am unfit to drive", one unit means you can drive legally, but your reactions will be slightly less sharp than if you'd had none. Two units might make slightly more impact on your reactions. Five hours between drinking and driving might be better than two hours, but, 12 or 18 hours will be better. It isn't a switch, it is a continuum.
This poster started the thread to ask "What time would you drive home after this amount of alcohol?".

You insulting, or trying to ridicule posters answering that honestly says more about you to be honest.

LlynTegid · 26/12/2022 13:49

To answer the question, for me it would be next day. Or I would not have had the alcohol to begin with.

Pelo22 · 26/12/2022 14:39

I had one pint of lager shandy with my meal and drove home a few hours later
I know that I'm fine because it's one diluted drink, and I did the same last year and was breathalysed! Insurance company hasn't changed my reg plates despite being told, and so I was stopped by the police for the first time ever
After my insurance company apologising, they asked if I had a drink as it was Christmas, I said yes, and breathalysed me. Blew zero

cakeorwine · 26/12/2022 15:50

Don't drink and drive is 'a bit strange' because if you have a drink, there will come a time when you drive if you need to drive.

And it's obvious there are many factors that affect your blood alcohol concentration after a drink and the time the BAC was measured.

It's also clear that many people have different opinions on when the BAC level is safe - and yet really the only way to know is to measure your BAC.