At some point or another, most recreational drinkers end up asking themselves, Am I okay to drive? The smartest, safest, and most responsible way to answer this question is usually, If you have to ask, you should probably find a ride home.
But that sort of answer sidesteps the real point of the question, which is about perception. You know that alcohol impairs your judgment. Unfortunately this includes your judgment about whether you’re intoxicated. Can you trust your intuition? Where’s the line between just enough and one too many? How does it feel to be .08?
In more practical terms: How do you know when you’re approaching the legal limit for intoxication? The answer, of course, depends.
Many things influence your level of intoxication. Some of these factors are obvious. For example, consuming a lot of alcohol in a short period of time accelerates your intoxication. Eating a big meal before drinking will have the opposite effect.
Other things that can affect how quickly you become intoxicated are not so obvious. These include your:
- age;
- weight;
- body type;
- prescribed medication;
- fatigue; and
- stress level.
Even your gender affects your level of intoxication. Men and women may be equal under the law, but whiskey still treats us differently.
An alcohol concentration equivalent (ACE) is a measurement of grams of ethanol per 100 milliliters of blood or per 210 liters of breath. The variables listed above make it impossible to know precisely how many drinks it will take before you reach the legal limit of .08 ACE.
In place of certainty, we now offer some pretty good guesses.
Generally speaking, a 200-pound man can drink four 12-ounce beers before he reaches .08. A 140-pound woman can have about two five-ounce glasses of wine before she reaches .08. This assumes a standard alcohol content of about 5% in beer and 12% in wine.
We also know that the average human body eliminates alcohol at a rate of about .015 grams per hour. So if the 200-pound man who drank four 12-ounce beers waits for an hour, his ACE should be down to approximately .065. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
If you or a loved one is facing DUI / OVWI charges, call the Marc Lopez Law Firm at 317-632-3642, and remember—always plead the 5th!