While many people still believe the drink drive limit is determined by the amount of alcoholic units you have consumed, this is not the case. It is impossible to say how many drinks the legal drink drive limit equates to, as it is different for each person.
There are lots of factors as to what makes you safe to drive when it comes to alcohol, including your height and weight. What is the drink driving limit in the UK – and are you over it? Take a look at our post below to find out how much you can actually drink and be safe to drive.
What’s the legal limit?
Legal Drink Drive Limits in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
35 Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath
80 Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood
107 Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine
Legal Drink Drive Limits in Scotland
22 Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath
50 Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood
67 Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine
What factors affect me getting drunk?
There are also a host of things that can affect you staying under the limit, so it’s worth bearing in mind that these measurements are affected by the following:
• Your gender (Men process alcohol faster than women)
• Your height
• Your age (younger people process alcohol quicker)
• The type of alcohol you’re drinking
• Your current stress levels (if you’re stressed the alcohol is processed faster)
• Whether you’ve eaten recently ( the less you’ve eaten thee quicker the alcohol will affect you)
Alcohol affects your ability to be able to drive for many reasons. For example, when you’re drunk your responses are delayed. Having this impediment when driving is what makes driving a car and drinking so dangerous.
Make sure you’re safe with a Breathalyzer kit
Ultimately, it’s safer not to drink at all, or to have a breathalyser test ready in your car so that you can check your levels before putting yourself, or anyone else at risk. There’s a whole range of kits available, and they are not expensive.
Insurance Revolution have produced the perfect online tool for you – our drink-driving calculator. All you need to do is input a few personal details and how much you have had to drink and our calculator can tell you if its safe to drive or not.
Driving the morning after
It’s also important to be wary of driving after the morning after a night of drinking. Many people have been caught drink driving the morning after despite the driver believing they would have been ok to drive. Make sure you check your levels the next morning with your home breathalyser kit, and just be sensible with deciding whether you should drive, if you had a lot to drink the night before the chances are you are not safe to drive the next morning.
Here’s how long it takes for your alcoholic measurements to break down:
• 1 large glass of wine: about 3 hours
• 1 pint of beer: 2 hours
• Strong larger: about 3 hours
Make sure you stay safe with our guide to the drink driving limits in the UK.
Not only is drink driving dangerous, but you could lose your licence, and when you get it back, drink drivers insurance can be expensive. Fortunately, Insurance Revolution treat all drivers fairly, and we can find you a drink drivers insurance policy that is suited to you.
