How Much Is Too Much To Drink Before I Drive?
How Much is Too Much to drink before I drive?
People often ask how much can they drink before they go past the limit?
Here is a "basic" answer:
1 metric tot is 8,4 g of ethyl alcohol.
The average beer contains between 13 - 16 grams of ethyl alcohol.
One beer is, therefore, the ± equivalent of a double eg brandy.
In trials, all the participants (Male & Female students) exceeded the legal limit = 0,05g/dl after two beers.
According to the Widmark formula:
A = p x c x 10 x r
A = amount of alcohol in grams
p = mass of the person
x 10 = to convert promille ( parts per thousand) to g/dl or g/%
"r" = Widmark factor which is on average 0,7 for men and 0,6 for females.
c = blood alcohol level.
Blood alcohol level = A divided by p x r x 10.
As far as wine is concerned: It would depend on whether you are referring to fortified wine or not. (Fortified implying that alcohol had been added to the wine)
Usually, on any bottle, the % of alcohol is indicated. 10% would imply 10 grams/alcohol per 100 ml of wine. Then once again the Widmark formulae can be applied to get an estimation of expected blood alcohol level.
Many other factors determine the uptake of alcohol.
These factors include:
Volume, strength, type of dilutant ( eg Coke), type of meal, medication, previous operations, temp of drink, the water content of organs, diffusion gradient, the rate of blood flow, any GIT disease etc. The effects vary from person to person. No set pattern of behaviour does exist. We do not wish to elaborate on all these factors. As you can probably deduct, there is not a simple answer to the question !!
It is important to understand that alcohol affects the cognitive functions of the intoxicated person. Driving is an action that requires good multitasking with the driver having to concentrate not only on steering the vehicle- but also road conditions, other vehicles and pedestrians, signs and traffic lights etc
Visitors to the Arrive Alive website often ask how many drinks they may have before they go on the road. This is a question we need to approach with caution. It is important to recognize that there are too many variables to provide an exact answer - and we can only provide a rough guide.
It is also important to recognize that this is only a guide to what might keep you within the legal limit.
If the question is “How many drinks may I have before my ability to drive is reduced?” - the answer would be NONE!
Why should we rather not ask "How Much Is Too Much To Drink Before I Drive"? https://t.co/w47QfHfk6Q @SADD_SA pic.twitter.com/Ar3Fy6bHtx
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 27, 2015
We would rather like to recommend that you DO NOT drink before you drive and that you plan ahead and have a sober designated driver take you home!
We would like to share the guide provided by the Institute of Alcohol Studies:
The basic guideline in South Africa is that 2 drinks within 1 hour will put you on/over the legal limit so don’t drink more than this if you will be driving.
View: Alcohol and You - Institute of Alcohol Studies
Alcohol can also contribute to inattentional blindness - the failure to detect unexpected salient objects that appear in the visual field of the intoxicated person.
Click Here for the International Study: Blind Drunk: The Effects of Alcohol on Inattentional Blindness
A study by Seema L Clifasefi, Melanie K T Takarangi & Jonah S Bergman
To conclude - do not drink and drive!
View this Guide from South Africans Against Drunk Driving [SADD]
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