DUI – Staying Within Moderate Drinking Limits Does Not Mean You’re Good to Drive
Staying within moderate drinking limits may not prevent a DUI.
DUI – just because a person stays within “normal” – also known as “moderate” or “low-risk” – drinking limits does not make that person safe to drive. Getting a DUI is still a possibility.
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You may know or have read that “moderate” or “low-risk” drinking limits are defined as:
- no more than 7 standard drinks/week with no more than 3 of the 7 on any one day for women
- no more than 14 standard drinks/week with no more that 4 of the 14 on any one day for men
- a standard drink is defined as: 1.5 ounces of 80-proof “hard liquor” (bourbon, gin, vodka or scotch); 5 ounces of table wine or 12 ounces of regular beer.
One question I’m regularly asked is whether a person can be arrested for DUI if they have “a couple of drinks” and then wait a while before they drive — especially if their blood alcohol (BAC) is below .08. The short answer is, “yes.” It takes the body an AVERAGE of about one hour to metabolize one drink; 3 drinks – 3 hours. The longer answer is that it is against the law to drive while impaired. In California, for example, there are two DUI charges that are possible should a police officer pull you over:
– the 1st is for driving while under the influence of alcohol (or drugs) to the extent that you are “unable to drive [your] car with the same caution characteristic of a sober person, of ordinary prudence, under the same or similar circumstances,” and
– the 2nd is focused purely on body chemistry — the BAC. This is one based on the breathalizer test, for example, where the police officer conducts the test and records your BAC. Whether the driver was driving ‘perfectly’ before being pulled over or passed the field sobriety tests with flying colors does not matter. The only thing that matters is the BAC number of .08 or higher.
How does the prosecution in a DUI drugs case go about proving that alcohol (or drugs) impaired the driver’s abilities to the extent necessary to support a conviction when the BAC is below .08? The same way they do any criminal case based on circumstantial evidence, such as: the manner in which the car was driven, the physical signs and symptoms of the driver, the driver’s performance on field sobriety tests (the “touch your nose,” “walk a straight line” types of tests), the results of the driver’s blood or urine tests and/or the testimony of a alcohol or drug recognition expert.
Below are a few excerpts from the CA DMV chart to help you see where your BAC might fall after having “a couple of drinks” and then driving. These are based on weight alone, however there are many other factors that can effect how alcohol impacts one person’s brain as compared to another person’s, as well as how it impacts a person’s brain differently on different occasions. These include: gender, stage of brain development, taking other medications, levels of the liver enzymes that breakdown alcohol, amount of food eaten…. So based on weight alone, the following numbers of standard drinks in the time frames noted will likely result in blowing a .08% or higher and being cited for driving while impaired (DUI) — even though these numbers of drinks fall within “moderate” or “low-risk” drinking limits:
- 110-129 lbs: 2 or more standard drinks within 1 hour or less
- 130-149 lbs: 3 or more standard drinks within 2 hours or less
- 170-189 lbs: 4 or more standard drinks within 2 hours or less.
Lisa Frederiksen
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