Having had a few drinks this evening ( never mind the reason, what with it being a weekday ) I suddenly became overwhelmed with desire to know about alcohol absorption as related to driving ability, so I did a search - I was (and currently am) just about competent to operate a computer keyboard, never mind a car...
I found this. http://www.impaired-driving-defence.com/ It's a Canadian site with an "impairedness" calculator. Canadian rules seem to be similar to ours, i.e. 80mg/100ml so I'd think it's good enough for calculating whether you're too p!ssed to drive. Right?
Wrong. I'm rat @rse p!ssed (at least, it feels that way to me, an irregular drinker) and it says my BAC is 65mg/100ml - well within the legal limit! There's NO BL00DY WAY I'M GOING NEAR A CAR!!!
And I was 100% honest - perhaps I even overestimated the amount I'd had. I think sites like this( as mentioned, not this one! ) are dangerous - after all, I know I'm unfit to drive at the moment. Just how bad does it have to get before you are legally "impaired"? I'm impaired (my own deduction) for goodness' sake.
Mention "speeding" and the whole thing takes on a different aspect... Yes, I worked for a camera company, but I'm rational, even when p!ssed!
(interestingly, nobody's emailed me regarding the last discussion on speedcams. Seems that's OK then...)
Stu.
Drink Driving - I think this calculator is wrong!
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DervDonkey
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It always used to be reconed that the legal limit equated to about 5 standard drinks - ie single spirits, ordinary glasses of wine or about 2.5 pints of ordinary beer, not the superstrong stuff that I prefer.
It was also reconed that the average person would process the stuff at the rate of about 1 unit per hour so after 5 hours you yould have cleared your 2.5 pints.
Now the problems are that what you drink or eat can affect the time taken to absorb etc so these calculations are very rough. What complicates it is that your body is processing the alcohol while you drink - so if you go for a meal and have a double spirit before you start, and then linger enjoy your meal for a couple of hours with luck you can get away with 5 glasses of wine as you will have processed the scotch before you drive.
DD your observations are very interesting as the times you hear people whinge that they were only just over the limit when they were caught. As you point out they should have noticed something - but of course one of the effects of drink is to make the drinker bolder and so all well intentioned restraints can be forgotten.
Reminds me of an acquaintance of many years ago who told me over a pint or two that 'he couldn't do with this new fangled real ale - he prefered . . . as he could still drink 17 pints and drive home. In reality he wasn't that far wrong as when he was caught he was only about 2 x the limit. He was of substantial build however as I remember on another occasion him saying that his new years resolution was to loose 4 stone and get back to 19! Fortunately that pub was an easy walk for me!
Jeremy
It was also reconed that the average person would process the stuff at the rate of about 1 unit per hour so after 5 hours you yould have cleared your 2.5 pints.
Now the problems are that what you drink or eat can affect the time taken to absorb etc so these calculations are very rough. What complicates it is that your body is processing the alcohol while you drink - so if you go for a meal and have a double spirit before you start, and then linger enjoy your meal for a couple of hours with luck you can get away with 5 glasses of wine as you will have processed the scotch before you drive.
DD your observations are very interesting as the times you hear people whinge that they were only just over the limit when they were caught. As you point out they should have noticed something - but of course one of the effects of drink is to make the drinker bolder and so all well intentioned restraints can be forgotten.
Reminds me of an acquaintance of many years ago who told me over a pint or two that 'he couldn't do with this new fangled real ale - he prefered . . . as he could still drink 17 pints and drive home. In reality he wasn't that far wrong as when he was caught he was only about 2 x the limit. He was of substantial build however as I remember on another occasion him saying that his new years resolution was to loose 4 stone and get back to 19! Fortunately that pub was an easy walk for me!
Jeremy
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DervDonkey
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Ross_K
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">It's a Canadian site with an "impairedness" calculator. Canadian rules seem to be similar to ours, i.e. 80mg/100ml so I'd think it's good enough for calculating whether you're too p!ssed to drive. Right?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Maybe a better strategy would be to avoid drinking at all before getting behind the wheel? 0mg/100ml? People get a bit of bravado after a few drinks and overestimate their abilities - in a car, on the dancefloor [:)], or whatever.
Personally I think cops should be allowed beat the living sh*te out of drink drivers. What they never seem to get is that they endanger other people's lives when they drive drunk. [V]
Maybe a better strategy would be to avoid drinking at all before getting behind the wheel? 0mg/100ml? People get a bit of bravado after a few drinks and overestimate their abilities - in a car, on the dancefloor [:)], or whatever.
Personally I think cops should be allowed beat the living sh*te out of drink drivers. What they never seem to get is that they endanger other people's lives when they drive drunk. [V]
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born2die
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Worse I think are drugs I couldnt and would not want to think about the consequences when a driver gets behind the wheel having had a couple of special fags he feels fine gets onto a fast a road the drugs kick in the world seems to move in funny ways and the next thing he knows is 2 weeks later in hospital having killed somebody.
Personally I dont do drugs nor do I drink and drive (well maybee 1 pint over dinner) but why bother to risk anymore than that yoy can have a good a time if not better because its you that can blackmail your mates in the morning you dont get a thick head and alchol affect straight away so you know how drunk you are whereas with drugs I imagin the potency of the homegrown can and does vary and if you smoke 1 thats a little strong andx it takes 5 mins to really kick in then I think that that is more dangerous than alchol.
I welcome the prospect of roadside drug annalysers so long as they are accurate and are not used innappropriatly by the few police that are out there that are jobsworths. (IE The plonker in an unmarked that gave a ticket to a motorist who beeped at him to move out when the road was clear and apparently causing an obstruction)
Personally I dont do drugs nor do I drink and drive (well maybee 1 pint over dinner) but why bother to risk anymore than that yoy can have a good a time if not better because its you that can blackmail your mates in the morning you dont get a thick head and alchol affect straight away so you know how drunk you are whereas with drugs I imagin the potency of the homegrown can and does vary and if you smoke 1 thats a little strong andx it takes 5 mins to really kick in then I think that that is more dangerous than alchol.
I welcome the prospect of roadside drug annalysers so long as they are accurate and are not used innappropriatly by the few police that are out there that are jobsworths. (IE The plonker in an unmarked that gave a ticket to a motorist who beeped at him to move out when the road was clear and apparently causing an obstruction)
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VisaGTi16v
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lol As for drinking, ive only driven once in 10 years after having 2 pints and I could feel it, whether i was over the actual limit or not I dont know but I stick to one at the most these days if driving and then go onto coke. The drink that is!Once again it sounds like im in the minority! Perhaps for fianacial reasons, or perhaps because i want to keep a clean license in the modern times, but i dont drink and drive! As a rule of thumb its either a pint in me or 20 miles on the road (student rates!) often making it very easy decision! I do however like a drink, and by most standard might even be considered a heavy drinker, but on many many occasions i've had a single bottle of p_$$ water (larger for the none drinkers) and have felt totally wasted!
I'm actually sat here nursing a 33cl bottle of Fosters, and in the last 20 ish minutes i've drank maybe 8cl, and its going to my head! I know myself when i get to the bottom of the bottle i wont be fit to drive, and im probably not now! So the whole mg/ml is a load of cobbles if you ask me!
And before you ask, it's been a VERY long stressfull day, hence the bottle of pop and early to bed! Plus i have no car to drive even if i wanted too!
I'm actually sat here nursing a 33cl bottle of Fosters, and in the last 20 ish minutes i've drank maybe 8cl, and its going to my head! I know myself when i get to the bottom of the bottle i wont be fit to drive, and im probably not now! So the whole mg/ml is a load of cobbles if you ask me!
And before you ask, it's been a VERY long stressfull day, hence the bottle of pop and early to bed! Plus i have no car to drive even if i wanted too!
I used to "smoke" and drive. I had no incidents at all until I almost hit a cylcist on a roundabout. That said, his lack of lights and dark clothing (this being at night) didn't help matters! Saw sense and cleaned up. One drive on LSD was definitely a bad move. Never repeated that one although I should never have done it in the first place.
Funnily enough, my mates said I drove better when slightly stoned as I knew I was a little out of it and concentrated more. Tended to do less "stupid" manoeveres (this being when I was 18 and prone to that sort of thing) and drove at respectable speeds. Definitely affected reaction times though but did it make me any worse than an elderly driver? There's another debate...
Have to say though, being out of it on anything is bad news. I could drink up to the limit and be very dangerous because I'm a lightweight who rarely drinks!
Funnily enough, my mates said I drove better when slightly stoned as I knew I was a little out of it and concentrated more. Tended to do less "stupid" manoeveres (this being when I was 18 and prone to that sort of thing) and drove at respectable speeds. Definitely affected reaction times though but did it make me any worse than an elderly driver? There's another debate...
Have to say though, being out of it on anything is bad news. I could drink up to the limit and be very dangerous because I'm a lightweight who rarely drinks!
you can try this site as well...it has links to an aussie drink drive calculator....personally speaking though i would rather not gamble my licence (and mine and other peoples lives) trying to work out how strong my beer is, how long i have been drinking and exactly how much i have drunk
http://www.drink-driving.org.uk/ddfacts.html
edited to actually add the link....doh [:I]
http://www.drink-driving.org.uk/ddfacts.html
edited to actually add the link....doh [:I]
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martyhopkirk
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by born2die</i>
Worse I think are drugs I couldnt and would not want to think about the consequences when a driver gets behind the wheel having had a couple of special fags <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
"funny fags" pahh! thats nowt compared with some of the stuff my "patients" shovel into themselves - then get behind the wheel of a car.
Thank god Blackpool constabulary are now doing roadside drugs testing. Imagine being a pedestrian when the driver of the uninsured non MOT'd 20 year old Metro as just necked 100mg of valium!
Remember kids, drugs and cars are a bloody silly mix.
Worse I think are drugs I couldnt and would not want to think about the consequences when a driver gets behind the wheel having had a couple of special fags <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
"funny fags" pahh! thats nowt compared with some of the stuff my "patients" shovel into themselves - then get behind the wheel of a car.
Thank god Blackpool constabulary are now doing roadside drugs testing. Imagine being a pedestrian when the driver of the uninsured non MOT'd 20 year old Metro as just necked 100mg of valium!
Remember kids, drugs and cars are a bloody silly mix.
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FrenchLeave
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I'm a very occasional "1 pint and a pub lunch" man and I have never done drugs. Whoops, I lie! I take an aspirin now and then. As far as the permissible limits for drugs are concerned, Jeremy, it's illegal so any presence of banned substances in the body is excessive.
On the subject of drinking and driving, does anybody else remember a television programme a few years ago where they put half a dozen drivers through a slalom course marked out with cones? The usual thing, forwards into a box, reverse into a "garage", through a wiggle-woggle section, that sort of thing. First they drove through sober and their times and the number of cones they knocked over were recorded, then they were each fed a couple of double whiskies and drove the course again. Without exception, they all recorded faster times and made less mistakes after the drinkies. It was amusing because it was definitely not the result that the programme makers either expected or wanted.
As far as drugs are concerned, there was a time (back in the '50s) when competitors in long distance rallies and races (including one S.Moss Esq.,) used to keep going on Uppers.
I report these events purely out of interest. I am not REPEAT not a supporter of drinking and driving or drug taking, so please don't start attacking me.
On the subject of drinking and driving, does anybody else remember a television programme a few years ago where they put half a dozen drivers through a slalom course marked out with cones? The usual thing, forwards into a box, reverse into a "garage", through a wiggle-woggle section, that sort of thing. First they drove through sober and their times and the number of cones they knocked over were recorded, then they were each fed a couple of double whiskies and drove the course again. Without exception, they all recorded faster times and made less mistakes after the drinkies. It was amusing because it was definitely not the result that the programme makers either expected or wanted.
As far as drugs are concerned, there was a time (back in the '50s) when competitors in long distance rallies and races (including one S.Moss Esq.,) used to keep going on Uppers.
I report these events purely out of interest. I am not REPEAT not a supporter of drinking and driving or drug taking, so please don't start attacking me.
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rbruce1314
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by FrenchLeave</i>
On the subject of drinking and driving, does anybody else remember a television programme a few years ago where they put half a dozen drivers through a slalom course marked out with cones? The usual thing, forwards into a box, reverse into a "garage", through a wiggle-woggle section, that sort of thing. First they drove through sober and their times and the number of cones they knocked over were recorded, then they were each fed a couple of double whiskies and drove the course again.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
yes, true but cones and parking bays do not move or do unpredictable things........
On the subject of drinking and driving, does anybody else remember a television programme a few years ago where they put half a dozen drivers through a slalom course marked out with cones? The usual thing, forwards into a box, reverse into a "garage", through a wiggle-woggle section, that sort of thing. First they drove through sober and their times and the number of cones they knocked over were recorded, then they were each fed a couple of double whiskies and drove the course again.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
yes, true but cones and parking bays do not move or do unpredictable things........