Question about wine and driving

Hello,

I am brand new to drinking. I love taking my fiancee out to dinner at Olive Garden for example, and I have always wondered how people can go there, have a glass of wine, and then drive away a half hour later? Surely, people can't stay at the restaurant for hours in order to get it out of their system, can they? Or does one glass of wine with their meal not get a person intoxicated enough to impair their driving?

The last thing I want to do is drive when intoxicated (the risks are far too serious), but on the other hand, I'm curious how so many go to Olive Garden or any other fine restaurant, order a glass of wine with their meal, and then drive off. Is it safe and legal to have a glass of wine (5oz), and then drive?

Sorry for such a elementary question. I come from a non-drinking family, and look forward to enjoying wine once I am married. In the meantime, I am as ignorant as they come.

Thank you,
Robert

I presume you live in the US as you talk about 5oz glasses, so I am not going to comment on legal limits. But I would say that most people I know who drink in restaurants find some way of getting home that does not involve driving. Depending on the legal limit and various factors specific to yourself, even if you are within the legal limit you are not necessarily safe to drive. The options are:
1) Nominate a member of the party to stay sober, and have that person drive everyone else back
2) Get a friend to pick you up, and return the favour at a later date
3) Taxi
4) Public transport
5) Walk or cycle - though these could still be dangerous and/or illegal

...Is it safe and legal to have a glass of wine (5oz), and then drive?...

Legal? Yes. Safe? Personal choice. It varies the sex and size of the person. There are two interesting tables in the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content. One shows the "Progressive Effects of Alcohol" and the other shows "Approximate Blood Alcohol Percentage (US)". For instance, I'm a male and weigh 220 lbs. so I would not reach the "Legal" driving limit until I consumed more than 4 drinks. 2 glasses of wine (sharing a bottle) with dinner does not impair me.

[Robin Garr]

Robert, assuming you're in the US, not the UK, it is very unlikely that 1 glass of wine would impair you from driving legally; as Howie adds, there's the separate issue of whether you feel comfortable about driving safely.

Limits in the UK and Europe are generally much lower than the US or Australia and generally make it difficult for most people to drink in a restaurant and drive legally; it's my opinion that this level is set artificially low, is not particularly fair, and does not enhance the public safety.

Since you are new to wine, here's a simple suggestion: Try having a glass or two at home, with dinner, and see how you feel. This will help you better gauge your safety when you're drinking during a dinner away from home.

Hi Robert -

Another factor to consider is whether you're having your wine with a meal or not and how fast you're drinking it. Slugging down a glass of wine on an empty stomach will usually be a very different experience from drinking one or two over the course of a meal. I find that drinking a couple of glasses of wine with a leisurely meal doesn't seem to impair my ability to drive safely. I'm also pretty sure that I'm below the limit under such circumstances as I've had my BAC measured while drinking until I hit 0.1% and I was pretty heavily impaired at that point. The limit here now is 0.08, but I still think that would be beyond the point at which I'd drive.

It does differ for everyone, though, and Robin's idea of experimenting a bit at home is a good one.

Robert,
Also factor in the alcohol content of the wine you are drinking. Some wines (Zinfandel for instance) tend to be higher in alcohol.
Shaji

all of the above
1. traditional german wines have well under 10% alcohol; while CA wines often have 15%.
2. certain ethnic groups and any individual who is does not drink regularly will have less alcohol oxidizing enzyzme secreted in their stomachs and will thus pass more alcohol into their bloodstream.
3. people can actually 'learn' to handle the effects of alcohol; and after months or years will react more closely to the norm than when they first embibed. but this takes the sort of 'practice' one hesitates to recomend.
4. drugs effect things. do NOT take acid reducers - they also reduce alcohol oxidizing enzyzme. this is only one example.
5. general mood changes the effects
6. sparkling wines enter the blood stream more quickly.
7. since the important factor is blood alcohol level measured as a percentage it is important to make sure there is as much water in your bloodstream as possible. you may need to take lots of trips to the WC, but drink as much water as you possibly can.
8. make absolutely certain that every aspect of your vehicle is legal. in the US at least, you can't possibly get stopped for a burned out headlight or even taillight before 10 pm; and then you will positively be stopped. the % of people who have been drinking after that time is huge; so any stop for any reason has a good chance of catching the really bad guy viz. YOU.
i'm sure i forgot some things but will add if need be.

Limits in the UK and Europe are generally much lower than the US or Australia

Robin, something may have changed recently but AFAIK, maximum blood alcohol in the UK is 0.08%, same as in the US.

Wow, thank you all for the replies. I didn't expect so many!

I think I will do as someone suggested here. I'll try it first at home, and get the feel of it. Knowing what I know about drinking and driving, I would highly unlikely have more than 1 glass of wine (4 or 5 oz) over a meal, and that's only if I knew it wouldn't impair my driving abilities. I know that just being tired can impair your driving abilities, and I've driven dog-tired quite a few times before (my job requires me to once in a while), so I doubt one glass of wine over a meal would impair me that much.

Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!

Robert

[Robin Garr]

Robin, something may have changed recently but AFAIK, maximum blood alcohol in the UK is 0.08%, same as in the US.

Thanks, Mark ... I guess I made the mistake of lumping the UK in with Europe, where I'm pretty sure that many nations have dropped the mark to even less realistic levels.

Here's a (hopefully) interesting aside.

A friend took Psycholgy in 1st year at Uni. In the 1st term they did an experiment on reaction time with varying degrees of alcohol consumption (whiskey was the alcohol used).

For the vast majority of the men, reaction times dropped off with alcohol consumption (IIRC slowly initially, but significantly with genuine inebriation). However for women, the majority had improved reaction times with one or two drinks, subsequently dropping off rapidly with further consumption.

According to the tutor, this was quite representative of general experience.

regards

Ian

Hi Robert -

Another factor to consider is whether you're having your wine with a meal or not and how fast you're drinking it. Slugging down a glass of wine on an empty stomach will usually be a very different experience from drinking one or two over the course of a meal. I find that drinking a couple of glasses of wine with a leisurely meal doesn't seem to impair my ability to drive safely. I'm also pretty sure that I'm below the limit under such circumstances as I've had my BAC measured while drinking until I hit 0.1% and I was pretty heavily impaired at that point. The limit here now is 0.08, but I still think that would be beyond the point at which I'd drive.

It does differ for everyone, though, and Robin's idea of experimenting a bit at home is a good one.

I caught something on the radio wherein the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department was announcing that they would arrest anyone with ANY alcohol in their bloddstream. Did you catch that, or did I mishear?

I'm a criminal defense attorney in the Chicago area, and I have represented clients in D.U.I. matters for 17 years (after having prosecuted D.U.I. and other criminal matters for 9 years). In Illinois, the BAC (blood alcohol concentration) limit is 0.08%, but that does not mean that you cannot be arrested and charged or even convicted if your BAC is below that! I have had several clients arrested and charged with lower BAC levels; though none were convicted, the law in Illinois merely creates a presumption that you are D.U.I. if you test at or higher than 0.08%, but if your BAC falls between 0.05 and 0.08 there is no presumption either way, so consequently, if there is other evidence suggesting intoxication, one could lawfully be convicted with a BAC level lower than 0.08%, or conceivably,even lower than 0.05%! There are also provisions for driving under the influence of drugs, and a combination of drugs and alcohol (and the drugs don't have to be unlawful scheduled substances or cannabis to trigger criminal/civil sanctions; i.e. the presence in your system of lawfully ingested prescription medication alone, or in combination with alcohol can subject you to prosecution and conviction and/or civil liability for D.U.I. in Illinois).

The following excerpt is quoted directly from the relevant section of the Illinois Law ("Illinois Compiled Statutes") to which I refer re D.U.I. based on alcohol alone:

"...(b) Upon the trial of any civil or criminal action or proceeding arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person while driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, the concentration of alcohol in the person's blood or breath at the time alleged as shown by analysis of the person's blood, urine, breath, or other bodily substance shall give rise to the following presumptions:
1. If there was at that time an alcohol concentration of 0.05 or less, it shall be presumed that the person was not under the influence of alcohol.
2. If there was at that time an alcohol concentration in excess of 0.05 but less than 0.08, such facts shall not give rise to any presumption that the person was or was not under the influence of alcohol, but such fact may be considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the person was under the influence of alcohol.
3. If there was at that time an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, it shall be presumed that the person was under the influence of alcohol...." from: 625 ILCS 5/11‑501.2

Marco

I have a friend who's an aeronautical engineer and who was involved with testing the effect of alcohol on astronauts. According to him, any amount of alcohol has a measurable effect on reaction time. The question is, how much of an effect. Furthermore, the real degradation in reaction time occurs when one must make two or more decisions at the same time, as opposed to just one.

Otherwise, as in above posts. 1 (one) 6 ounce glass of wine with a meal should not significantly impair your driving skills barring outside complicating factors.

Robin, something may have changed recently but AFAIK, maximum blood alcohol in the UK is 0.08%, same as in the US.

Thanks, Mark ... I guess I made the mistake of lumping the UK in with Europe, where I'm pretty sure that many nations have dropped the mark to even less realistic levels.

The drink/driving limit in Europe varies from country to country. Here is a table giving the limits - http://www.safetravel.co.uk/EuropeDrink ... imits.html . I wonder if the figure for Finland is correct. My son thinks it is much lower.