The Risk

Many late night revelers never think about the time it takes to sober up. You place yourself and others at great risk by driving the "morning after" without knowing your breath alcohol content (BAC). For example; if your breath alcohol content after an evening of heavy drinking is.20 BAC (well over the legal driving limit) when you finish drinking at 1:00 AM, you may not be under the legal driving limit of.08 BAC until approximately 9:00AM later that morning. You just might find yourself arrested for drunk driving to work the next morning. Or fired at work for being intoxicated.

In a recent study of Finnish drivers who owned breathalyzers, a large majority used their breath testers the next morning out of concern that their BAC had not yet fallen below the legal limit (Drinking and Driving Safely: Who uses Breathalyzers and When).

The Reason

Alcohol leaves the body much more slowly than it takes to get inebriated. At a conservative rate of about 0.5 oz. alcohol per hour or.015 percent of blood alcohol content (BAC) per hour it can take many hours longer to sober up than it took to become intoxicated. Someone with a BAC of.16, or twice the legal driving limit will require over 10 hours to be completely sober and after 5 hours may still not be under the legal driving limit.

A night of heavy drinking can easily find you in the morning with a BAC still over the legal limit. This level of impairment combined with a lack of sleep makes for a deadly combination on the road and possibly at work. Never hit the road the morning after a night of partying if you are unsure about your BAC level.

The Prevention

A quality personal breathalyzer can alert you if you are safe to drive the morning after. Look for a precision platinum fuel cell technology model that can be trusted to give an accurate reading.