As someone who loves to go out and have a good time but also wants to be responsible, it’s important to understand how alcohol affects the body. If you are planning to drive home, you need to know that you’re going to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.07 or lower to prevent being stopped and charged with a DUI.
Of course, the best way to drive is with as little alcohol in your system as possible. Since alcohol affects each person differently, here are a few tips on how to know the BAC you may have.
A standard drink, which is identified as a 1.5-ounce shot of distilled spirits, five-ounce glass of wine or a 12-ounce beer, contains one half-ounce of alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Conventionally, it’s believed that if you have one drink per hour, you’ll be well within the BAC limits set by the law.
That’s not always true, though. Drinking on an empty stomach, eating with alcohol as a drink, being dehydrated and other factors play a role in how intoxicated you get after a single drink. Your age, weight and metabolism also play a role in how quickly you become intoxicated.
Some general signs of being close to the legal limit include feeling more outgoing than normal and feeling fewer inhibitions. At .08 and higher, you may begin to slur your speech and have mood swings. At that point, you’re not making good decisions, so you should not get behind the wheel.
For the most accurate count of where you are, you can carry a handheld Breathalyzer. It’s better to be safe than to be charged with drunk driving. If you have been arrested on suspicion of driving drunk, your attorney can help you look into your options.
Source: BAC Track, “How Many Drinks Does it Take to Reach 0.08 % BAC,” accessed June 06, 2017
