There is a way of working out the time it takes for alcohol to exit the body for everybody if they KNOW how many units they have consumed.
I’ll try and find it but it might take some time.
The alcohol exits everybody at the same rate as all our livers are the same - male, female, large or small sized people - all the same.
Actually ROG the safest option would be to not drink at all the day before driving. I’ve been completely packed in drinking now for five months but before I stopped I’d be ■■■■■■ every night for my first three days off and then spend the fourth day sobering up ready for work.
my work place has a police style breathalizer bet it wasnt cheap neither, not aware of it being used yet but it was bought in mainly for any driver that may come to work smelling of booze or factory workers, but the limit is higher for factory workers compared to drivers.
We also have the option to ask to be tested if you are unsure which is a good idea if you think you may of had one to many the night before
I dont drink at all though, dont even like shandy’s.
stick to 12 hours, tbh you should have a good idea yourself in the morning if your ok or not.
I don’t do overnights, just early starts at 2am, so hardly ever drink the day before I’m working anyway, just when I’m off. The exception being if we go out for dinner or something, which would have been booked as early as possible, 6pm etc, I might have a pint with that, and I mean 1 pint.
pecjam23:
my work place has a police style breathalizer bet it wasnt cheap neither, not aware of it being used yet but it was bought in mainly for any driver that may come to work smelling of booze or factory workers, ]
Makes you wonder what a driver could have been doing to smell of factory workers. Nothing surprises me anymore.
allanwhyte77:
There has been lot in the press of late about drinking alcohol and still being over the limit the next day. What safe guards do you profesional drivers take to make sure you do not fall foul of the law and do the companies you work for have any extra restrictions on alcohol limits that joe public doesn’t? i.e. lower alcohol limits.
I don’t drink, plain and simple. Only time I drink is the first night of a weekend off or if I’m on holidays. Being on agency, you can have next to no notice of a shift.
ROG:
The alcohol exits everybody at the same rate as all our livers are the same - male, female, large or small sized people - all the same.
I don’t know where you got that from ROG, but I would strongly dispute it. I read some research a few years ago which demonstrated that a long-term alcoholic (hopefully this doesn’t apply to drivers though!) could potentially process alcohol many (I think the number was around 5) times faster than an ‘average’ person.
We conducted our own little experiment at work once: Several of us went to the pub, had exactly the same amount to drink at the same time, and measured our BAC using a Home Office approved portable breath tester at regular intervals. The differences between different people were very significant. I’m pretty sure that T&D did a similar thing about 6 months ago as well.
I find the “12 hour rule” a bit pointless, in that it doesn’t take into account how much you drink. I mean, the average person could have half a pint of bitter and be completely clear of alcohol in 2 hours. That same person could have 5 pints of bitter and fail a breath test in 12 hours time.
There are only 2 ways to be 100% safe:
Don’t drink.
Take an approved breath test before driving.
Realistically though, one hour per unit, plus one hour, is generally considered a cautious estimate which will work for most healthy people under normal conditions.
ROG:
The alcohol exits everybody at the same rate as all our livers are the same - male, female, large or small sized people - all the same.
I don’t know where you got that from ROG, but I would strongly dispute it. I read some research a few years ago which demonstrated that a long-term alcoholic (hopefully this doesn’t apply to drivers though!) could potentially process alcohol many (I think the number was around 5) times faster than an ‘average’ person.
.
complete and utter bollox IMO,ask your GP next time your there, if livers in different sized people (or alcoholics) are any different to that of a tee total and i can guess his/her answer(a heavy drinker will probably be swelled up due to the fact that it cant process the poisons fast enough)
its called “TOLERANCE” my friend, a heavy drinker may think hes fine but his blood levels would say otherwise,makes no difference to what you eat or drink or your size, your blood/alcohol level will stay the same the best way is not to drink at all,but if you use the 1 unit,1hour rule you cant go far wrong
