Driving Think before you get in
Any amount of alcohol you drink will impair your ability to drive.
The risks
It's much safer not to drink at all than to try to calculate the number of units you are drinking before driving. You could easily find you're over the limit without intending to be.
If you risk having a drink and then getting behind the wheel, you could pay for it for the rest of your life.
If convicted of drink driving:
- You'll have a criminal record
- You'll be banned from driving for at least a year
- You could lose your job
- Your insurance costs will rocket
- Your lifestyle could change dramatically
- You'll be fined up to £5000
- You could face up to six months in prison
But even worse, you could kill or injure someone. If you do, you're looking at anything up to 14 years in prison. And you'd have it on your conscience for the rest of your life. Could you live with that?
It's not just as a driver that you take a risk. If you get into a car as a passenger when the driver's been drinking, you're risking your life. If in doubt, don't get in – find a safer way to get home.
The limit
Legally, the alcohol limit for drinking and driving is 80mg/100 millilitres of blood. In other words, two pints of normal strength beer or ONE large glass of wine could put you over the limit. Source: UK Department for Transport Road Safety Think!
If you've had a heavy night drinking, you may still be over the limit the next morning. If you drive you could be prosecuted, so don't risk it. Remember it takes your liver an hour to process one unit of alcohol (e.g. half a pint of beer or half a glass of wine) and flush it out of your system.
The myth
It's a common myth that coffee sobers you up. This isn't true. Caffeine in coffee and fizzy drinks is a stimulant, so it might make you more alert, but it won't make you sober.
For your body to fully recover from the effects of a heavy night of drinking, you should avoid alcohol for a full 48 hours.