This is the wrong question as it presupposes that there are a fixed number of drinks that are acceptable before you can get behind the wheel. That’s not the case. For some people, it often takes very little alcohol to become legally drunk and certain physical characteristics such as weight, gender and body fat percentage can all be factors in the equation.
Eating can also affect your outcome. You are more likely to fail a blood alcohol test if you do not eat. Additionally, this subject becomes significantly more important to ask when considering your reliability behind the wheel. So, practically, if you’re wondering how many drinks you can have before driving, the best answer is ‘None.’
Many factors determine the uptake of alcohol. These factors include:
- volume
- strength
- type of dilutant (like Coca Cola)
- type of meal
- medication
- previous operations
- temp of drink
- water content of organs
- diffusion gradient
- rate of blood flow
- any GIT disease etc.
Person to Person
While the effects vary from person to person, no set pattern of behavior does exist. As you can probably deduct, there is not a simple answer to the question: How much is too much?
Alcohol Affects More Than You Know
It is important to understand that alcohol affects the cognitive functions of the intoxicated person. Driving is an action that requires good multitasking with the driver having to concentrate not only on steering the vehicle, but also road conditions, other vehicles and pedestrians, signs and traffic lights etc.
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For a free and immediate consultation with Hillsborough County personal injury lawyer Bryan Caulfield, call him at 1-800-535-2529 or contact Bryan online. You only pay a fee or costs once Bryan has won your case. If no recovery is made, you owe nothing.