How much can I drink??

[Brian_Matthewson]

This being the time of year when we all celebrate with a few drinks, I thought it might be useful to share with the RoV members some of a presentation I give as part of my work with MADD Toronto that talks about how much you have to drink to reach "legally impaired".
In Canada, legally impaired is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres
of blood (also referred to as .08%). A 12 hour license suspension is
given if a driver blows 50mg to 79mg. Legally impaired carries a penalty of 12
months license suspension, a criminal record, and a financial cost of about $20,000, most of which is increased insurance cost.

I have some data on blood alcohol levels for a "standard" drink which is defined in Canada (US definition is slightly different because an Imperial fluid ounce is a little larger than a US fluid ounce) as 12 oz of 5% beer or 5 oz of 12% wine or 1.5 oz of 40% liquor. The levels are calculated for a 175lb and a 200lb man, consuming the drinks over a 2 hour and 4 hour period:

                  2 hours                 4 hours
Standard
drinks     170lbs   200lbs   170lbs   200lbs
2            18.5            11.2            00.0            00.0
3            42.8            31.9              6.9            1.9
4            67.1            52.5             37.1          22.5
5            91.3            71.3             61.3             43.1
6              115.6            93.7             85.6          63.7

It's a bit more complicated than just this table....
1. What are you drinking? Beer ranges from 4% to 7.5%, wine from 11% to 23%, and alcohol from 35% to 79% so the amount of alcohol you're consuming can be significantly more than the standard drink. To calculate the alcohol content of hard liquor, divide the proof by 2 (100 proof = 50% alcohol by volume). Most beers & wines have the alcohol content shown on the label (in Canada anyway).
To find out the alcohol content of your favourite drink, visit
www.alcoholcontents.com
2. Male or female? Men have more water in their bodies than women so can absorb more alcohol than women. Also, women tend to be smaller so their level rises faster.
3. Eating or not? If you're eating before or while you're drinking, the rate of absorption will be slowed down, but it will eventually get into your blood stream. Without eating, it usually takes 30 minutes for all the alcohol
to enter your bloodstream.
4. Your metabolism? The rate at which people eliminate alcohol from their blood (their liver performance) can vary widely, most are between 15mg and 20mg per hour. This elimination is factored into the table at 15mg.
5. The more fat in your body, the lower your blood alcohol reading will be.

Note that while the legal impairment level is 80mg, for most people, their ability to operate a motor vehicle is measurably impaired at 20mg or more.
No data is available on how likely you are to crash a Vision at 20mg.

More info on this subject is available at
http://www.madd.ca/english/research/cclr.pdf
...look under "BAC for Dummies"

I hope this is useful information and will help you have a safe holiday season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!

Brian

[Tiger]

 :) The simple rule...

      8).......DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE/RIDE....... 8)

A Merry Christmas & a Happy, Healthy New Year to every one... 8)

Tiger.

[Brian_Matthewson]

Tiger....yup, that's the simple, safe, 100% effective rule. However, there are folks who just won't listen, they're the intended audience for my post. That's why there are 90,000 arrests in Canada every year for impaired driving.
Brian