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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that you shouldn't drive following 2 glasses of wine.....?

61 replies

Thankyouandgoodnight · 01/10/2008 21:06

DH says you metabolise one unit of alcohol an hour, so you can have 2 glasses if you don't drive for 2 hours (or one hour after the last glass if you had the first one an hour before that).....is that right?

OP posts:
spicemonster · 01/10/2008 22:00

Why don't you drive then and save arguments?

JuneBugJen · 01/10/2008 22:02

Why are men like that!

My FIL is a perfectly mild mannered man until a couple of drinks then insists on driving MIL and gets really shirty about not driving. It is insanity.

Sorry, but if anyone tried to drive my dcs after any alcohol I would knee them in the bollocks. Then they would know the meaning of nasty. Stand up to him, dont drink yourself if he is planning to have a couple. It is not worth your lives.

whichwaynow · 01/10/2008 22:06

If you drink and drive - however little you have had, whatever bodyweight, gender, however much you've eaten could you look yourself in the mirror after and forgive yourself if you cause an accident in which anyone is maimed or killed? 12 hours sounds about right.

Tinker · 01/10/2008 22:08

How big is the glass? What % is the wine? Yes, at getting rid of a unit per hour. I would drive after 2 units

schwotz · 01/10/2008 22:13

And it is not just you an your dc in the car who are in danger, it is the other people in cars and on pavements who have not been drinking that are in danger too if he drinks.

It happens all the time, of course and he may think he is OK, but why risk EVERYTHING for a drink?

frasersmummy · 01/10/2008 22:18

I dont touch alcohol if I am drving .. I personally think what if a child steps out in front of me. Even if there was no chance I could stop in time I would always be thinking would it have been different if i hadnt had that glass

Bridie3 · 02/10/2008 08:41

I think the chances of a child stepping out at me in a quiet country lane at 11.45pm are remote, which is why I feel differently.

Driving through a built-up area at, say, school closing time, would feel like more of a risk.

SaintRiven · 02/10/2008 08:44

I don't think any alcohol should be allowed when driving. Can people really not get through an evening out with alcohol?

mumoverseas · 02/10/2008 09:23

YANBU, DH is being an idiot. several people have correctly pointed out that everyone is different and although one person may be able to (legally) drive after 2 glasses, many other people won't be. Also, many people think that one glass is ok but quite often it isn't. It depends on any number of things, ie whether you've eaten beforehand, your weight etc. I used to be a police officer and breathalised many people who were over the limit and 'claimed' they had only had one glass. I also sadly saw several accidents where people were killed or badly injured as a result of a drink driver. The only safe guideline is don't drink at all.

kazbeth · 02/10/2008 10:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotCod · 02/10/2008 10:04

THAT POEM IS DIRE!!!

mayorquimby · 02/10/2008 12:56

that is the general uideline, but it is only that a very vague general guide line.
fwiw i would drive after a couple of beers if a substantial amount of time had passed after my last one, say about 2 hours. but everyone is different.

VictorianSqualor · 02/10/2008 13:08

The only reason that the drink-drive limit isn't zero alcohol in your bloodstream is because some foods metabolise themselves as alcohol in the bloodstream, as can some mouthwash types on the breath.
It is inadvisable to drink anything and drive.
FGS is that one glass of wine worth the taxi fare? If not don't fucking drink it.

DaphneMoon · 02/10/2008 13:21

It's simple as far as I am concerned:

Drink = don't drive.

Drive = don't drink.

WorzselMummage · 02/10/2008 13:56

Drink = don't drive.

Drive = don't drink.

^^ thats my opinion aswell i have to say.

Blondeshavemorefun · 02/10/2008 14:49

i would normally have a glass of wine and drive - but often make it in to 2 sprizters

2 i think is too many

CountessDracula · 02/10/2008 14:57

If I am driving I will usually have a glass of wine at the beginning of the evening and another at the end

So yes I would

loobeylou · 02/10/2008 15:10

I honestly cannot believe the number of people on here admitting to drinking and driving at all. I think its very sad and just do not see why you would take the risk, with yourself/passengers, as well as other road users. It reminds me of the thread the other week about whether it was OK not to put your kids in carseats. Why?

Unless you do a breathaliser/blood test before you get behind the wheel you cannot know if you are below the limit or not, regardless of how you feel/past history etc

I firmly believe, as others have said, that it should be zero tolerance, do not drive if you have had a drink. If you know you are going to have to drive, then do not drink at all.

DorisIsAPinkDragon · 02/10/2008 15:35

Loobylou people are admitting to drinkiong and then driving, but the LAW does not state that people can not do so, so why would you be so shocked..... they don't suggests they are having 10 pints then getting behind a wheel.

iirc recent research suggests that txt messaging is a dangerous ( don't ask me to quote as I think it was on the news)

I personally don't have anymore than one glass sipped slowly over an evening (rarely as I don't go out often) but I enjoy it and it does not impair my driving,

loobeylou · 02/10/2008 15:48

Doris - I did not say it was illegal, just that I was surprised so many people still do it at all instead of playing it totally safe ie zero tolerance, which we and most of our friend do stick to

I did not say anyone was driving having had 10 pints(it would take no where neaer that to be over the limit tho)

as for texting and using non hands free phones, yes, i am sure this is a much bigger problem, as I see idiots doing this 2 or 3 times a day, negotiating difficult roundabouts and all sorts

makes me so

CountessDracula · 02/10/2008 16:30

well if they change the law to no booze then I will have none

Actually there is research that says women drive better after a couple of glasses of wine (and men worse I believe)

VictorianSqualor · 02/10/2008 17:29

They can't CD. As I said earlier, some things manifest themselves in your bloodstream or on your breath as alcohol, so you could be wrongly done for drink-driving. Hence the limit of 2units. You have to have been actively drinking to be over the limit then.

Awordofwarning · 02/10/2008 17:42

YANBU. Have name changed as don't want to be judged by this when I post in the future.

Last year my DH went out for dinner after work, had a couple of glasses of wine. Got on train home - aboou a 75 minute journey and got in his car to drive the 5 miles or so home from the station. He got stopped by the police, breathalysed and found to be over the limit. He was only just above the legal limit, but went to court and lost his licence for 12 months. Actually, he lost it for 9 months as he agreed to do a rehabilitation course which reduced the ban by 3 months. On this course one of the things they stressed was that 1 glass does not equal one unit. A large glass of wine could easily be 4 or 5 units depending on the alcohol content of the wine.

It was a bloody nightmare time for us - I was 7 months pregnant when he lost his licence and we have no family or close friends nearby so getting to/from hospital was a challenge. I remember driving to the supermarket 2 days after DD was born as we needed supplies...in a world where DH had not got done for drink driving he obviously would have done this whilst I stayed at home!

Podrick · 02/10/2008 17:47

It is easy to buy your own breathalyser

This will give you a definitive answer.

However remember it is possible to be under the limit when you start to drive and over by the end of the journey as the alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach for some time after you stop drinking - and usually as a faster rate than you are metabolising it.

Individuals have different rates at which they metabolise alcohol so one rule does not fit all.

zippitippitoes · 02/10/2008 17:51

well you may not get a child in the country lane at 11.45 but you do get badgers, sheep, foxes, cows deer etc etc

and of course adults walking back home

people on bikes and other people in cars