What is the Definition of Too Much Alcohol Consumption Before Driving?

When your blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08% or higher, you’re considered legally impaired in the U.S.

How Many Drinks Does it Take to Reach 0.08 %BAC?

If a police officer deems you “noticeably impaired”, or if you fall under your state’s zero tolerance laws (e.g., you’re under 21 or have children in the car), you could face a DUI even if you are under the legal limit. This might even happen if you’ve been consuming medical and/or recreational marijuana.

Intoxication begins with the very first drink. You should never drink and drive, no matter how much you’ve consumed. You can be impaired and arrested even if your BAC is under 0.08%.

Seeing as there are many factors affecting BAC, it’s very difficult to estimate how many drinks it would take for an “average person” to reach 0.08%. Additionally, not all drinks are created the same — a cocktail served at one bar may have double the alcohol as that served at another bar.

It’s important to realize that BAC can vary widely depending on a host of factors. Results can be different if you don’t consume food, or even the wrong food, during a specific time frame, and also whether you’re a male or female and your body weight.

We often say in our posts that we don’t condone drinking and driving but we also recognize that even if we don’t believe we’re impaired, we could still be arrested if an officer is suspicious. You might be pulled over for a traffic violation, a speed trap, or swerving to miss an animal or because of inclement weather. Regardless of your circumstances, we understand humans make mistakes.

Questions we get a lot: Will I lose my license? Will I go to Jail?

That depends upon each case. There are a series of questions we’ll ask you and encourage anyone who has been arrested with a DWI/DUI, to contact us immediately. We may be able to help you. It’s much better than going at it alone, and laws change depending upon age.

Your case matters to us and we want to help!

Contact the Law Offices of Edwin L. Guyer today at elg@paduilawyer.com or call us directly at 215.542.9333.

Be safe on the roads and always remember we are the number one choice of legal expertise for criminal defense.

drinking and eating