Anyone who has ever had one too many knows that you don’t always feel back to normal right away when you wake up the next morning. You might have a headache or need a minute to catch your bearings, but you may also assume that you’re dealing with the effects of a hangover and not the fact that you may still be intoxicated. That’s the story we hear from many clients who end up getting a DUI the morning after a night of drinking.
Getting a DUI the morning after drinking happens more often than you might think, because many people assume they will pass a breathlyzer because they stopped drinking and fell asleep for a period of time. Obviously this is not always true. So in today’s blog, we take a closer look at the problem and help answer the question of whether or not you’d pass that breathalyzer test the next day after a night of drinking.
Passing A Breathalyzer After A Night Of Drinking
There’s no black and white way to determine whether or not you would be under the legal limit without subjecting yourself to a professional grade breathalyzer before getting behind the wheel. With that said, we can provide some basics numbers so you can do some math in your head. These numbers can help to point out that you’re probably over the legal limit to drive the next morning, but they shouldn’t be relied on as a guarantee that you have fallen below the legal 0.08 limit.
In general, a standard alcoholic drink will raise your blood alcohol content by 0.02%. A standard alcoholic drink is considered a 12-ounce beer that contains about 4-5 percent alcohol, five ounces of wine that contains about 12 percent alcohol or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits that contain 40 percent alcohol. So if you drink two beers, your maximum BAC should be about 0.04%, but will likely be just a bit lower than that based on how your body metabolizes alcohol. That’s because your body eliminates alcohol at about 0.015%-0.02% per hour.
In other words, if you drank fours beers in an hour, your BAC would likely be around 0.065%, because each beer would raise it 0.02% while an hour of time would lower it by about 0.015%. These numbers can also fluctuate based on size and weight, but they act as a decent baseline.
However, it’s also important to consider alcohol content. Many IPAs and stouts are much higher than the standard 4-5% alcohol content, so you could be over the 0.08% mark much quicker if you’re drinking more alcohol-dense beverages. Same goes for bigger glasses of wine or distilled spirits with higher proofs, like Everclear or Barcardi 151. It’s important to remember that not all drinks can be counted the same. Counting that large glass of wine or that 32 ounce beer mug as “one drink” is a recipe for underestimating your BAC.
So when it comes to determining if you’re under the legal limit to drive, consider how many hours it’s been since you stopped drinking. If you were pretty hammered and didn’t stop until 2 a.m., odds are you’re still going to be over the limit if you’re trying to drive somewhere at 7 a.m. the next morning because only 0.1% of alcohol will have been eliminated from your body during those five hours. If you were three times the legal driving limit when you Ubered home from the bar, know that it’s going to take you at least 12 hours for all the alcohol to leave your system.
Finally, it’s also worth noting that you can still be cited or arrested even if you don’t blow over a 0.08%. If you’re driving carelessly and you blow a 0.05%, the police can still make a case that you were driving under the influence of alcohol and it inhibited your ability to drive safely. If you are in any doubt about whether you can safely drive the next day, take a cab or look into a rideshare option, because it’s just not worth it to get a DUI. And if you need help after a DUI arrest, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today.
