This number of drinks is equal to your permitted BAC

Alcohol is one of the risk factor’s more frequently involved in traffic accidents. Alcohol is present in between 30% and 50% of fatal accidents. There are many deaths that can be avoided if we all consume alcohol responsibly and never drive under its influence, so let’s explore a little more what are the amounts that are considered red lines and carry a penalty.

Drinks needed to test positive

At roadside checkpoints, the driver breathalyzer; that is, the amount of alcohol in your blood. This is done through exhaled air, whose equivalence with blood alcohol has been scientifically proven.

The DGT published a guide that can serve as a reference to know when we may be going too far (although we reiterate that the best form of safe driving is zero alcohol). This takes into account the gender difference of the drinker, although it is not the only differential factor and for this reason it would only serve as an estimate of the amount necessary to test positive.

Dir. Gral. Traffic

@DGTes

The million dollar question! 🤔

With what amount of alcohol do you test positive in a breathalyzer test? 🍺🍸
In this infographic we solve the doubt! 👆

Remember! The safe BAC is always 0.0 😉

#ZeroRisks

August 12, 2022 • 1:01 PM

The selected spirits are: absinthe (50º of alcohol), gin (37.5º), wine (13.5º) and beer (5.5º) in quantities of 100 ml glasses. Thus, according to the calculations of the DGT, only a glass of wine or beer They could be below the blood alcohol threshold. In the case of wine, the blood alcohol level that we would give would be 0.22 and 0.26 (blood alcohol for men and women, respectively).

Beer, with a lower graduation, is also a drink in which a 100 ml glass should not test positive, with figures of 0.09 and 0.10 (blood alcohol for men and women, respectively). Of course, we must bear in mind that we usually drink beers at least in bottles, whose quantity is 200 ml. This would double the previous amounts to 0.18 and 0.20, with 0.30 gr/l being the permitted rate for general drivers.

Factors that depend on blood alcohol

The breathalyzer depends of the quantity of pure alcohol that has been ingested and the volume of alcoholic beverage ingested, of the weight and sex of the drinker. That is why these previous data can only serve as a reference, but never as something 100% reliable.

The different factors and how they influence blood alcohol are the following:

• Amount of alcohol drunk: The first data is the most obvious. The more alcohol consumed, the higher the BAC will be. However, you must also take into account the % alcohol of each drink, also called graduation. Drinking three beers will have less alcohol than a glass (with a 40º graduation).
• driver weight: Other things being equal, a heavier person takes longer to get drunk. You have more blood in your body, so the same amount of alcohol is diluted better, and you will also generally have a larger liver to process the same amount of alcohol more quickly.
• Driver gender: In addition to metabolic differences, same factors as weight: men being larger than women have more blood and their liver is larger, so they take longer to get drunk.
• Time of the day: It depends on the biological rhythms of each person. As a general rule, alcohol is metabolized more slowly at night.
• Time since the end of the intake: Approximately 30-90 minutes after drinking, the maximum blood alcohol level is reached. Generally 0.12g/l is metabolized every hour that passes.
• Speed ​​with which you drink: If you drink slowly, the alcohol is metabolized and eliminated and the effects are not so marked. Drinking fast makes us get drunk faster.
• Empty or full stomach: On an empty stomach, alcohol passes faster into the blood.
• Driver age: People under the age of 18 and those over the age of 65 are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol.
• Personal circumstances: Circumstances such as fatigue, stress, mood, etc. influence how alcohol affects each individual.