When you go out to drink with friends, colleagues or on your own, you need to understand how alcohol affects your body. Failing to understand the rate at which your blood alcohol concentration increases puts you at risk of getting drunk. If you decide to drive in that state, then you could be pulled over and arrested for drunk driving.
Breathalyzers can pick up alcohol in your blood as soon as 15 minutes after your first drink. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism widely reports that if you drink only one standard 12-ounce beer, a 1.5-ounce shot of spirits or a 5-ounce glass of wine, you’ll stay within safe limits at all times.
However, that isn’t always true. A number of factors can lead to your body absorbing alcohol faster and raising your blood alcohol content higher than expected. Your age, body type and fat or muscle content play a significant role in how the body absorbs alcohol. If you’ve eaten, it can help balance out alcohol, whereas if you have not, it is absorbed faster into the body. Some people have a higher alcohol tolerance, so they may not feel drunk even when their BAC has reached a high number.
Most people know that you can be arrested for drunk driving if you have a BAC of 0.08 or higher. Did you know that you can be arrested even if your BAC isn’t that high, though? If you’re driving impaired, regardless of your BAC, you can face penalties and an arrest. You do have a right to a defense if you’re arrested, which can help you avoid harsh penalties or unfair biases in court.
Source: BAC Track, “When Does My “BAC Clock” Start?,” accessed March 16, 2017
