Too Much ‘Adult’ Beverage

It’s Saturday night and its right before the College Freshman go to their first year of college. Talk about stress. As a volunteer EMT, I have been dealing with way too many drunk driving accidents of young people in the last few weeks.

This morning before my 23 year old daughter goes to work she asks me if there a device you can buy that tells you Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). She tells me that she has friends that she tries to convince them to let her drive them home because they have had too much to drink and they refuse. This got me thinking. Yes she may be talking about herself and not her friends. Like everyone else, I have seen .08 BAC warnings all over the place but what exactly does that mean? What are the laws in NY State for BAC and driving. They seem to keep changing all the time.

That raised the following questions:

• Do you and your family members know how many drinks it will take for them based on their weight and sex to exceed DWI of .08 ?
• Do you and your family members know how many drinks it will take to exceed Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI)?
• Do you and your family members even know what the BAC levels are for DWAI in your state?
• Do you know what the penalty is for DWAI in your state?
• Do you know the penalty for exceeding DWAI zero tollerence laws for under 21?

I did not know the answers to the above questions. I bet some of you are like me and can not answer all the questions above correctly. What was worse, trying to find the answers on the internet was not exactly easy. It would seem to me that more education would be more helpful than tougher laws. For example when you have to renew your drivers license you could be required to learn some of the changed driving laws in your state and calculate your personal information on how many drinks it takes to be DWAI and DWI .

If you have to and its not too cold, sleep it off in the back seat of your car.

Drive Smart and Drive Safe

great post catskills. especially the point that most people don't know their BAC after a certain amount of drinks. we always joked in college that we needed to get BAC meters to find out just how blown away we were. but then again, we always drank in our suite and never left campus in a car after drinking.

my rule of thumb is one standard drink = one hour before driving (after finishing the drink). unfortunately, i don't drink standard drinks very often perferring something on the stronger side, so i usually put a strong drink at two hours wait time per drink. when i used to go clubbing, i would slam back a regular beer and a long island as soon as i got to the club and party for four hours knowing by the time i got behind the wheel i would be good to go. most people leaving clubs are stumbling out the door, i have seen it first hand.

iirc, most people are at .08 after only two or three regular drinks back to back depending on a number of factors of course. though impairment occurs much sooner than hitting the illegal limit, another thing many folks don't consider. .08 is actually kinda high, imo.

riverc0il said:

my rule of thumb is one standard drink = one hour before driving (after finishing the drink).

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riverc0il- - good points. What works for you may not work for others. For example, my 120 lb daughter BAC after 4 hours and 4 standard drinks would be calculated as (.152 - (.018 x 4)) = .08. Note this is just an estimage and no guarantee. In NY State that would be upto $5000. fine and 4 years in jail and a Felony Charge. In many states you loose your right to vote if you are charged with a Felony.

I hate movies that show thin light weight 120 lb female out drinking a 230 lb fireman at a bar. It is physically impossible.

What number of drinks works for you may not work for others. I had this buddy Brutus (nick name) in College that had tree trunks for legs. First time I went out drinking with Brutus he was sober after many many drinks. I on the other hand woke up in the bushes outside a dormatory. Fortuantly we were walking and not driving. I found out the hard way that for every 3 drinks Brutus had I could probably handle only 1 drink given our weight difference.

History has shown, motor vehicles are the best killing machines ever devised by man even without alcohol. Throw in the alchohol and you got yourself a real killer.

I normally won't have more than 2 or 3 drinks over the course of a couple of hours if I know I have to drive. Seems to work well for me. There were a handful of times (waaaaay before kids) when it was questionable that I should be driving, but I didn't do it often. It would be interesting to know what it "feels like" as soon as you're at the limit.

Greg said:

It would be interesting to know what it "feels like" as soon as you're at the limit.

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I suspect for most people you hit the legal limit before you begin to feel "impaired".

roark said:

I suspect for most people you hit the legal limit before you begin to feel "impaired".

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Roark and Greg, the BAC of .08 for DWI is one legal limit. The other legal limit at least in NY State is the BAC of .05 to .07 which is considered Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI). The old rules that you and I used, no longer apply to .05 BAC, which is a lot easier to exceed. Two drinks can easily exceed the DWAI legal limit of .05. For small women even one drink can exceed the .05 legal limit.

In NY, DWAI carries $500 - $750 fine, maximum jail term 15 days, license suspended for 90 days, and its on your record for 10 years. Repeat DWI or DWAI offendors within 10 years receive higher penalities and possible jail time. On top of that NY State has surcharges of $160 to $270 per year.

Do I know the costs or penalties of DWI, or DWAI? No I can honestly say that I dont. I do know that they are bad, and I cant afford them finacially or my record. If I have anything to drink, I have a ride or place to sleep, as I am under the no tolerance.

BAC Calculator

If you're wondering what your alcohol tolerance is here's a link to a BAC calculator. It might not be the most accurate reading for each individual person, but should give you a good ball park figure.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

My typical night out is 3 beers over the course of 2 or more hours. I am a beer drinker and know what's in each drink I'm ordering. If I'm going to drink a strong beer (6% alc. or higher) I drink it first. Also, having a glass of water between drinks greatly improves your recovery time.

TenPeaks said:

If you're wondering what your alcohol tolerance is here's a link to a BAC calculator. It might not be the most accurate reading for each individual person, but should give you a good ball park figure.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

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That sit is way off. According to it, I can drink 8 regular beers at once, and only be at .06 I am pretty sure if I drank 8 that quick I would be over the limit.

Hawkshot99 said:

That sit is way off. According to it, I can drink 8 regular beers at once, and only be at .06 I am pretty sure if I drank 8 that quick I would be over the limit.

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yea, it gave me a .04 for two martinis and two hours. don't think so. they must be using small glasses cuz two martinis (vodka extra dry w/twist, thanks!) puts a good buzz on me.

riverc0il said:

yea, it gave me a .04 for two martinis and two hours. don't think so. they must be using small glasses cuz two martinis (vodka extra dry w/twist, thanks!) puts a good buzz on me.

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maybe you're just a lightweight.
[beer]

ctenidae said:

maybe you're just a lightweight.
[beer]

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well, i certainly am not in college any more. my best drinking accomplishment in college :roll: was drinking .75 liters of 80 proof vodka in one night in addition to three or four beers. all in about 8 hours. didn't pass out or puke amazingly. now i would be hard pressed to put down a pint in one night if i tried. and i haven't 'tried' in a long time. i have no problem admitting i am a light weight since i am not an active drinker any more. you don't keep your tolerance averaging only one six pack per month.

riverc0il said:

well, i certainly am not in college any more. my best drinking accomplishment in college :roll: was drinking .75 liters of 80 proof vodka in one night in addition to three or four beers.

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Sadly, I've seen people drink roughly twice that much.

Hawkshot99 said:

That sit is way off. According to it, I can drink 8 regular beers at once, and only be at .06 I am pretty sure if I drank 8 that quick I would be over the limit.

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How did you factor that? That must be a glitch. I did a couple of tests and found the site to be fairly accurate. For example, I am a wine drinker. It is not uncommon at all for me to consume a bottle of wine in a night over the course of 4 hours. That would be five glasses by that scale. At 180 lbs after 4 hours my BAC on that site is .04. With my tolerance because I do drink wine consistently about 4 nights a week, that is a perfectly acceptable BAC for me to be driving. For others, it would not be.

The confusion lies in tolerance. Some people can tolerate .04 better than others. In fact, I would venture to say that many people can operate a vehicle better at .08 than some people can stone cold sober. Mind you, I am not advocate for drunken driving - I'm the furthest thing from it as in my younger more irresponsible years, I certainly was foolish on more occasions than I care to admit, to which this day I am completely emabarrassed about.

I know a fair bit on the subject. I'm a certified TIPS trainer. (Training for Intervention Procedures). This is the national standard in training for responsible alcohol service

catskills said:

I hate movies that show thin light weight 120 lb female out drinking a 230 lb fireman at a bar. It is physically impossible.

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This actually is not true. In terms of BAC, yes the petite female will have a higher one than the 230 lb guy, but not necessarily right away.

There are a number of factors that go into alcohol entering the bloodstream. If this girl is in good physical condition and recently ate and the 230 lb man has a high percentage of body fat and drank on any empty stomach, it is indeed possible for him to get drunker quicker than her. Unlikely, yes, but impossible no. Overtime the girl will definitely end up with a higher BAC, but not necessarily right away and even then she might not appear to be as drunk as the larger man. Again, people confuse BAC and tolerance. Some people can simply 'handle their booze' better than others.

bump for stoke!!!!!