Hello

I'm getting my open license tomorrow and am wondering what peoples experiences are with drinking and driving, and the associated BAC %s

http://www.roadsafety.qld.gov.au/qt/LTASinfo.nsf/index/rs_drinkdriving_bac

Says to have two standard drinks in 1 hour then one every following hour but this is generally and says stuff like your weight affects it.

I weigh 95kg, am pretty fit and drink semi-regularly. Is it possible to do like 3 in the first hour then 1 every following with my body?

woudln't it just be easier to just not drink? i mean 1 drink per hour isn't going to do anything to you getting drunk-wise. unless you can't go without the taste of beer or something doesn't really make sense to me.

but to answer your question, maybe. 95kg you're probably bigger than average so that would help you out. as long as your not a marathon runner the fitness shouldn't be a problem and the drinking regularly should mean you have at least some tolerance. but why risk it?

if you really wanna know, you can buy personal breath-o-lisers (spelling?) from those innovation catalogs or whatever they are called, i think you can get them from places like dick smiths too. ~$100 i think.

My rule of thumb, if you can't unlock your car. Then you're pretty drunk.
Solution: get a mate to open the door.

Well I'm on my provisionals for another 4 months (f*** 3 years is waaay too long) and I'll ocasionally go over a mates place, have a single standard drink then wait about 3 hours then drive home. I've read around the place that the average human male can process 1 standard drink per hour, though no doubt this figure would wildly vary with each individual. Really I wouldn't risk it and drink more than 1 standard drink if I knew I had to drive in the near future. I had a mate get done for DD and was only 0.056 - a bee's dick over the limit but nonetheless it was over and we both had to get a cab home. It sucked major flaming bags and I felt really bad for the guy afterwards cause he had offered to take me home (I was quite drunk at that stage). I did ask him if he was ok and he must've thought he was else he wouldn't have. Whilst standing on the side of the road at the RBT site and getting filthy looks from passersby I saw some absolutely f***ing maggot people getting asked to leave the vehicle after blowing well and truly over the limit. I also saw some f***wit on a motorbike accelerate towards the RBT lane and nearly knock over a couple of cops. Needless to say the cops sitting waiting in their patrol cars revved the living s***e out of their commodores (f*** me a VZ commo sounds bad near redline) and took off after this dick. I think he may have got away too.

But yeah back on topic, its not worth the risk - you might think you're ok but legally you're not. Not only that, if you measure your BAC at one of those things say at the casino they may not be accurate, or as the cop at the RBT explained to me, your BAC may be rising or falling depending on how much you've drunk and over how long.

think you can get them from places like dick smiths too. ~$100 i think.

$100 is a bit expensive (unless it can give precise double/triple decimal readings?), otherwise id go with one of these for $10:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=294&item=5790597003&rd=1

(searching alcohol on ebay brings up a big varity of breathe-o-lisers)

last edited by Jem at 23:41:28 29/Jul/05

As I said, don't put much, if any, faith into those breathalysers... the cop at the RBT told me they don't have any legal value and may not be an accurate representation of your true BAC. Do not rely on them - the cops will simply tell you that you've blown over and that you're now going to be charged with drink driving.

serious dont get in the habbit of drink driving even if u r under the limit . the time will come when u take the risk too many times . know a few people that have

If your gonna drive,dont risk it by drinking.

the breathalyser is to give an indication, and it is fairly accurate. if you register, you blow again in 20 minutes time, if you still register over, then they take you for a urine sample, from what i recall.

I remember looking forward to when I could get my opens so I could drink.

Once I got them I was so s*** scared of going over or doing something stupid, I never took the chance.

The risks out-weight the benefits. Don't bother.

the breathalyser is to give an indication, and it is fairly accurate. if you register, you blow again in 20 minutes time, if you still register over, then they take you for a urine sample, from what i recall.

Sorry tung I was referring to those breathalysers that you can buy from chemists/servos or the ones on the walls in casinos, pubs etc... those aren't something I'd put faith into. The ones the cops use are actually pretty accurate tho.

the problem is, there are discrepancies even with the cop ones. mainly because it is using your breath, and say you just gargled listerine, thats gonna give a way high false reading. hence the 20 minute gap, re breathalyse and then the urine test
(someone correct me if im way wrong here)

You're right - they can't breathalyse you if you've had a drink of anything with alcohol in it within the past 20 minutes. They don't do a urine or blood test unless you specifically ask for it. Basically they got my mate to blow into the bag, stood there for a few seconds then asked him if he had had anything to drink in the past 24 hours, he said "yes I had several drinks earlier this evening" cop said something like "Sorry but you've blown over the legal limit blah blah please exit the vehicle, leave your keys in it and follow me". Then he had to sit down behind a cordoned off area and wait for his turn to have a second breath test (which unfortunately he was still over the limit) then finally they charged him.

serious dont get in the habbit of drink driving even if u r under the limit . the time will come when u take the risk too many times . know a few people that have

If your gonna drive,dont risk it by drinking.

It's not like I'm going out planning to get trashed, just like if I go to a friend's place and just want a few relaxing lights or something instead of saying "OMG GET THAT ALCOHOL AWAY FROM ME IF ONE DROP LANDS ON MY CLOTHES I'M GOING TO JAIL FOREVER"

play it safe. a standard drink every hour.

well, i drank a 6 pack one nite not expecting to drive and the missus called me in an emergency

went and picked her up, got breathlised at an RBT, was fully poopin my pants, but apparently, was fine to go

probably 3 hours from start of drinking until finish and in car

and on the flipside, petal had ONE burbon and coke at my mates place picking me up one day and she blew .048 half an hour later

i think the moral of this story is im much better at drinking than petal

Sheesh, I'm on open in two months, completely forgot about it till i saw this thread. The time has just flown by.

2 standards in the 1st hour, then 1 standard after that - Period!

Basically, that means in the first 2 hours, you can have the equivalent of 2 heavy beers, and then ONLY if you have eaten something as well.

Speaking from experience, it's just easier to not drink anything at all

2 drinks and that's it. Or none which ever comes first.

i'll have a few drinks but always leave 1.5 - 2 hrs before i get in the car, and never more than 2 drinks first hour etc pretty safe, blown under (0.01-0.03 usually) many times. always good to know if i want to have a beer with the guys after work i'm safe.

I used to try the 2 drinks in the first hour, 1 every hour after that, then wait 1 hour after drinking.

I got complacent with the rule and one night I got RBT'd and blew .056. Which while pretty f***ing close to the legal limit, was still .006 over. The cops laughed at when they read the reading.

So yeah, had to go to court cause I blew .056. Lost my licence for 1 month, got $100 fine, and was on my P plates for a year once I got my licence back. (3 weeks after I got it back, I got caught speeding cause I had to get my stupid f***ing pathetic girlfriend at the time to the airport and lost 3 points, so I was on 1 point for almost a year, paranoid I'd get caught doing something wrong and losing my licence again).

Ah well, it was for all the times they didn't get me I say.. :)

it's only $100 for DD?!
-_-
Drink more, speed less.

He was a tiny fraction over the limit. The guys that blow 0.1 are getting bigger fines than that you can be assured.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=294&item=5790597050&rd=1
Tempted to get one of these. Not so I can drink and drive, but so my mates can see who gets the most drunk LOL!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=294&item=5790597050&rd=1
Tempted to get one of these. Not so I can drink and drive, but so my mates can see who gets the most drunk LOL!

mate of mine had one at his party and they're pretty stupidly inaccurate - you could actually make it go higher by blowing really hard into it.

So yeah they might be a nice idea but don't gamble your license on it. As for 2 heavy beers in the first hour - be careful handing out that advice. Just read the f***en label. For eg i had two coronas last night and noticed they were 1.2 standard drinks - so i gave it well over an hour before i got into the car.

ill never forget the time i blew 0.4 on a pub dealy, direcly after downing most of a jug myself

good times

I normally drink one drink per hour at the most. It just isn't worth the risks of drinking anymore.

i went out last night, had a shot straight up followed by a carona chaser.

After that i had another 5 caronas

I started at 10:30 and stopped drinking around 2:30, drove home at 5

I got pulled over for a random breath test and blew 0.045 ( phew )

I felt sober as hell and i was safe to drive, but 0.05 is honestly not that much at all...

Im 80kg and maybe this will help in giving you an indication ?

hahaha
coronas

Coronas......yummmmm

Mexican wee water...

You can have any beer you want, so long as its a corona.

I remember looking forward to when I could get my opens so I could drink.

Once I got them I was so s*** scared of going over or doing something stupid, I never took the chance.

The risks out-weight the benefits. Don't bother.

I remember reading the thread you posted on here when you got your opens.

I've driven home after a few nights out probably around 10 am when I would've stopped drinking at around 2-3am so I was probably over the limit. I'm on my Ps so if I got pulled over I would've been well and truly screwed. Luckily the second time the cop just wanted to follow me but I was still very careful not to do anything that would cause him to pull me over and breathelyse me.

I remember reading the thread you posted on here when you got your opens.

hahaha found it

I am pretty sure they take you for a blood test sometimes as well after you do blow over.

i went out last night, had a shot straight up followed by a carona chaser.

After that i had another 5 caronas

I started at 10:30 and stopped drinking around 2:30, drove home at 5

I got pulled over for a random breath test and blew 0.045 ( phew )

I felt sober as hell and i was safe to drive, but 0.05 is honestly not that much at all...

Im 80kg and maybe this will help in giving you an indication ?

Nice, so I'm guessing a corona is around a standard drink, so you had probably 7 standard drinks in 7.5 hours and were just under the limit?

I had two light beers last night and then drove, it felt fine. I don't think I'll be pushing my luck like you did though (even though it was unintentional)