Think About the Morning After, the Night Before

I popped into my local library the other day – searching for some light reading about the mutiny on the bounty and the South Pacific, which would vanquish the winter blues steadily approaching and instead came across the Southend on Sea road safety campaign table.

As I had a little extra time, what caught my eye (aside from the mobility scooter guidebook- which after a few near miss experiences both on the pavement and in the car, leads me to believe sometimes, that there should be some sort of test with the drivers of these particular vehicles, before they are allowed on the road) was a leaflet distributed by www.morning-after.org.uk.

I thought it might be worth mentioning some of the interesting information I’ve found out about.

DON’T DRINK and DRIVE

is obviously the best advice a driving school can give any pupil. This takes away any doubts or concern about how much you can have to drink, when driving and how your body absorbs it.

Remember: If your driving instructor thinks you may be hung over, or if have been drinking the night before and may still be over the limit, he will most likely cancel your lesson on the spot. My husband did this a few times when he was instructing. Most culprits who fell foul to losing a lesson and the money it cost (as the instructor still turns up) were young men between the ages of 18 – 25.

To clear your body. The morning-after org states it can take:

• 330 ml bottles of beer or lager at 5%. 2 hrs
• Large glass of wine at 15%. 4 hrs
• One pint of beer or lager at 4%. 2.5 hrs
• One pint of cider, strong beer or lager at 5%. 3 hrs
• Spirits: a single standard 35ml shot. 1.5 hrs
• Bottle (3 glasses) of wine at 15%. 12 hours
• 440ml can of cider or lager at 5 %. 2.5 hrs

They recommend you tot up the drinks you’ve had and then add an hour so your body has absorbed the alcohol and then calculate from when you stopped drinking. From their point of view to remain as safe as possible.

Morning-after.org.uk example:

Drive 5 (330 ml) bottles of 5% lager and you should not drive for at least 11 hours. That’s 11am in the morning, if you finish drinking at midnight.

What’s the law on drink driving in England and Wales?

In England and Wales, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath or 107milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine. In most other European countries, the limit is less, usually 50 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood. In Scotland it is only 50 milligrammes. 

DRINK AWARE also have a unit and calorie calculator to help you with working the number of alcohol units and calories consumed, which is really interesting to explore.