{"id":6319,"date":"2015-12-08T07:09:03","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T21:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/?p=6319"},"modified":"2020-06-20T01:00:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:00:05","slug":"tis-the-season-to-avoid-drink-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/safety-2\/tis-the-season-to-avoid-drink-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tis The Season To Avoid Drink Driving*"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merry and jolly are words that crop up in only two contexts: Christmas and indulging in a drink or two, and by \u201cdrink\u201d, I don\u2019t mean a cup of hot chocolate. Tis the season when work parties, sports and other club breakups and family dos are pretty thick on the ground. This usually means that wine, beer and cider will be in evidence somewhat. So will the cops with their breathalyzers.<\/p>\n

\"breath<\/a>We\u2019ve all heard the horror stories and seen the safety campaigns, yada, yada, so I\u2019m not going to go on about all the reasons why you shouldn\u2019t drink and drive. However, one question that a lot of us have is how much you can actually get away with having before you get slapped with a great hefty ticket and\/or become a menace to yourself and others.<\/p>\n

The answer is, of course, it depends. It will depend on what sort of licence you have, what you\u2019re driving and who you are. It will also depend on what your preferred tipple is and what you\u2019ve been eating.<\/p>\n

The easy one to explain is the rules for L and P platers: zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. You even have to steer clear of mouth wash and sherry trifle. Technically, you should even avoid participating in Mass\/Communion\/Eucharist if you belong to one of the churches that use real wine in the ceremony. However, in New South Wales at least, if you do get caught with a bit on your breath or in your bloodstream on your way home from the church, this is considered legit but you\u2019ll still have to go to court and prove that you were actually at church that morning, etc. If your blood alcohol content (BAC) is over 0.2 mg\/mL, however, you won\u2019t get off even if the Pope himself came in to swear that you\u2019re the altar boy.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re on the subject, there have been instances where priests and vicars have ended up driving with a BAC over 0.2 mg\/mL. This is because, thanks to a heap of rather dry theology we won\u2019t go into here, they have to get rid of all the leftover communion by drinking it. Communion wine tends to be the cheap red fortified plonk that\u2019s about 14% proof, so if the vicar\u2019s really overestimated the amount needed, there\u2019s a fair bit there to drink that a couple of chocolate chip biscuits and a coffee after the service aren\u2019t going to soak up (plus see below re soaking up). Add in the amount of church services that tend to go on in the lead-up to Christmas and the chances that the cops are going to catch the vicar out get a lot higher. This is the point where Baptist ministers and Muslims look smug, as this doesn\u2019t happen to them, given their avoidance of alcohol.<\/p>\n

However, the vicar is unlikely to be over 0.5 mg\/mL, which is the limit for those of us who aren\u2019t driving on a P or L plate, or driving a heavy truck or a taxi. If you are in charge of a vehicle that\u2019s over 13.9 T, handling dangerous goods or ferrying fare-paying passengers around (bus or taxi drivers), the limit is 0.2 mg\/mL.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s rather hard to calculate your own BAC. You can try keeping count of standard drinks but this is really inaccurate. For one thing, drinks don\u2019t always come in standard sizes \u2013 I\u2019ve got about four different sizes of wine glass sitting in my cupboards, for example, so \u201cjust one glass\u201d can range from about 100 mL to pretty close to 125 mL. For another, you don\u2019t always get the chance to see the label telling you how much of that particular tipple is a standard drink. Sometimes, in the case of home brew (which includes Granny\u2019s home-made ginger ale), there is no label and no real way of telling the true alcohol content. You can\u2019t always tell by the taste how strong it is, either. Mixing alcohol with something bubbly gets it into your bloodstream quicker, too.<\/p>\n

How many drinks it takes to reach your BAC will depend on a lot of factors. Your weight is one thing that affects it and is the one most often talked about. Your fitness and the state of your liver will also play a role. So will your gender and even your stress levels.<\/p>\n

It is widely held that eating will slow the rate at which the alcohol goes into your bloodstream. This is true\u2026 as long as you eat the food before having the alcohol. Attempts to \u201csoak it up\u201d afterwards by downing a plate of nachos are doomed to failure.<\/p>\n

Nothing but time alone will get your BAC down if you suspect that you\u2019ve overdone it. Coffee will not fix it. Nor will a cold shower. Nor will throwing up. Even getting some sleep won\u2019t do much if you\u2019ve really gone overboard, as you can still have a post-bender BAC over the limit up to 18 hours afterwards.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the answer? It\u2019s safest if you avoid drinking alcohol altogether if you\u2019re the driver and save your moments of indulgence for when you\u2019re the host. However, the following rules may help you negotiate the next party safely:<\/p>\n