Am I Too Drunk to Drive?
If you went to college (or even a fun-loving high school), attended a holiday party, New Years party, or went out to dinner with a loved one, there’s a good chance you’ve asked yourself “Am I too drunk to drive?” The simple and straightforward answer to this should be an obvious “Yes.” However, many new 21-year-olds are heading out to have a good time not really sure what it feels like to be drunk or tipsy and will have a hard time answering this, or won’t know how to determine the answer. Actually, not many experienced drinkers fully understand how to tell if they are too tipsy to drive, so regardless, if you have to ask yourself that question, the answer should be “Yes.”
At Donahue Law Firm, our attorneys want to educate people on how to drink responsibly, provide them with the knowledge and the resources to understand how alcohol affects everyone differently, and if the time comes, we want to represent our clients to the best of our ability in court. Whether you’re 21 and having your first drink at a bar or you’re 81 and have been enjoying the usual gin and tonic every Friday night, here are some things to consider to help you understand how alcohol can affect your body and to help you answer this important question.
How Does Alcohol Affect the Body?
It just takes a few seconds for alcohol to enter your system, where it will slow down the part of your brain that sends messages to the rest of the body. Alcohol will slow down your reflexes, it can affect your balance, alter your mood, and can affect how you remember things.
What About Weight?
You may have heard the rule about having one drink per hour, but if you’ve tested it out, you probably found that it’s not true — especially if you weight more or less than a 155-pound male. This is what many alcohol recommendations are based on. So if you’re a 120-pound female, alcohol will affect you faster, or a 180-pound male will be affected slower than the average. This is because there is more or less space in the body for the alcohol to diffuse through.
And Food?
When you go out and get a beer with dinner, you may have noticed that you don’t feel the effects as quickly. Eating food just before or while you drink is a method of delaying the alcohol from taking effect. However, keep in mind that food isn’t preventing the alcohol from affecting the body, it’s simply delaying it. Just because you have a burger and fries with your beer, doesn’t mean you won’t feel the affects later.
What About Time
If you’re wondering how long it takes for the effects of alcohol to wear off, this also depends on various factors, including your weight, how much you drank, what type of alcohol you drank, what food you had to eat, and your overall experience with drinking alcohol. As you can tell, this isn’t an easy question to answer, but it can give you insight into what it takes to finding an answer. If you’re a 35-year-old, 170-pound male who had three shots of bourbon over the course of two hours after eating four slices of pizza, the only thing we really know is that there will be some serious math and chemistry equations to find the answer. Keep in mind that there may never be an exact answer.
If you were pulled over for a DUII (driving under the influence of intoxicants), and need help from a DUII attorney, contact the team at Donahue Law Firm in Bend, OR. Our lawyers have the experience and the dedication to fight hard for your case. You can trust that we will always put your interests first.
Contact Us Today
Client Reviews
"Bryan was very straight forward as well as positive"
"I am absolutely impressed with the Donahue Law Firm"
"He’s a wonderful caring understanding person"
"I'm so very grateful to Bryan"
"I was thoroughly impressed with Attorney Bryan"
