Just One Drink

How many drinks does it take to put you over the limit? The sobering reality is just one drink could impair your driving.

The consequences of drinking and driving are devastating.

Drivers who consume alcohol before getting behind the wheel may kill or injure not only themselves, but also their passengers and other road users.

Alcohol slows reactions and even very low amounts of alcohol will impair the skills needed for safe driving.

It slows down the brain, impacting upon your judgement, reason, self control and reaction times.

Drivers feel a false sense of confidence, lose their inhibitions and are more likely to take risks.

Evidence shows that drivers who have been drinking tend to focus more on the most basic activities, such as steering, and less on other key driving skills.

How the body processes alcohol differs from person to person. It can depend on a number of factors:

amount and type - how much alcohol has been taken how quickly

1. age – younger people have lower alcohol tolerance coupled with a lack of driving experienceweight/size – the smaller you are, the lower your blood volume is likely to be and alcohol may affect you more2. gender – women are typically smaller and have proportionately more body fat and less body water than men so drinking the same amount of alcohol is likely to result in a higher blood alcohol concentration3. water intake – dehydration leads to a higher concentration of alcohol in the blood4. food intake – alcohol is absorbed more slowly if there is food in the body5. There are strict alcohol limits for drivers. It is impossible to say exactly how many drinks this equals as it is different for each person.

The legal alcohol limit for drivers in Northern Ireland is:

1. 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath2. 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood3. 107 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine

Plan ahead - if you are going out and you plan to take a drink or think you might be tempted to take a drink:

1. book a tax2. arrange a lift3. designate a driver4. check out the public transport options

It is important to remember that you may be over the legal limit many hours after your last drink, even if you have slept all night.

Sleep, breakfast, coffee or a cold shower will not sober you up – only time will reduce the alcohol in your body.