What is the legal limit?
The legal limit for drinking and driving is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (80mg/100ml). This is equivalent to 35 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath.BUT this can't be converted into a certain number of drinks because it's different for each person. Factors to take into account include the size and strength of the drink, your tolerance, weight, gender, whether you've eaten, whether you're on medication...You can't judge whether you're over or under the legal limit without a breathalyzer or blood test, so the safest thing to do is avoid alcohol altogether before driving.
You may still be over the legal limit after 1 drink or 1-2 units of alcohol!!!
Alcohol affects co-ordination, reaction times, and increases risk taking. Even very small amounts of can affect your ability to drive safely. Don't risk it.
Deaths and accidents
Drink-drivers are responsible for one in six deaths on British roads. In 2009 there were seven drink-drive deaths and 28 serious injuries every week. A further estimated 80 road deaths per year are caused by drivers who are under the drink-drive limit, but who have alcohol in their blood.Legal consequences
Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs could mean up to 10 years in prison, an unlimited fine and automatic disqualification from driving. (Road Traffic Act 1991)Being caught driving over the legal limit or failing to provide a specimen when required carries penalties of automatic disqualification, a large fine, and the possibility of a prison sentence.
Driving the next morning
Remember, you could still be over the limit the next morning - it takes the liver approx 1 hour to process 1 unit of alcohol. Therefore if you have a bottle of wine and finish drinking at 9pm, you may still be over the limit if you drive at 7am the next morning.Research by Brake and Direct Line revealed an ignorance about how long alcohol stays in the body, with 38 per cent of drivers and motorcyclists admitting to driving the morning after a heavy night. This was more than a 10 per cent increase compared to seven years ago, when 28 per cent admitted to doing so.
Drunk Passengers
Drunk car passengers can be as dangerous as drivers who drink, according to research which suggests that 100,000 accidents a year are caused by drivers' friends.Inebriated passengers can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicle, swerve or crash, while sometimes the drunks can grapple with the steering wheel or fiddle with the handbrake.
Why isn’t the drink drive limit zero?
There have been calls recently to lower the legal limit to at least bring it into line with most of Europe, which is 30mg lower than Britain (at 50mg/100ml). This has been unsuccessful so far.European countries who have reduced this limit have seen a decrease in road fatalities.
It would be very difficult to impose a zero limit because alcohol readings (although relatively slight) can be given by a person after eating certain foods.