How Much Alcohol is in a Drink and How Can You Tell If You Drank Too Much to Drive?
DUI
lawyers, represent many clients who are arrested for DUI or DWI who aren't drunks, but got
arrested for DUI simply because they only counted the number of drinks they had
and didn't understand how much alcohol they had.
I hear all the time "I only had two drinks". People are unaware of
what they are drinking and what will cause them to get impaired or drunk.
The number of drinks is is not an accurate indicator of your blood alcohol
content. That's because the number of drinks usually referred to being
necessary to make you legally drunk is based upon a standard sized drink and
when you go to a restaurant or a bar, you will not be served a standard sized
drink.
How much alcohol is in a standard sized drink? a drink contains 1.2 tablespoons of pure alcohol.
Besides counting the number of drinks you had, you need to know:
Who made the
drink? You, a friend or a bartender? (did a bartender give you an overly generous amount of alcohol
for a big tip?)
How big is the glass? Is it a tall glass or a standard size wine glass or
12 ounce can of beer?
Is it a mixed drink
that uses more than one shot of alcohol, such as a Long Island Iced Tea?
5
large glasses of orange juice each containing 1 ounce of 100 proof alcohol; and 5
small glasses of orange juice each containing 1 ounce of 80 proof alcohol will
have very different effects on you.
A
study by the Alcohol Research Group (ARG) of the Public
Health Institute, found that "alcoholic beverages served in bars and restaurants
are often as much as 50 percent larger than the assumed standard for drink
sizes." That means that even though you may think you had four drinks, you
may actually have consumed the equivalent of six standard drinks.
The study found that the average glass of wine was 43 percent larger than a
standard drink. The average draft beer was 22 percent larger and drinks mixed
with spirits were 42 percent larger than a standard drink. Only single shots of
spirits equaled the established standard.
One of the drinks, probably responsible for more DWI arrests than any other
drink is the Long Island Iced Tea, probably because it is very popular; has an
elegant sounding name; has been seen on TV and in movies such as Sex and the
City; and is a large drink with a substantial amount of alcohol. A
Long Island Iced Tea is made with 5 equal parts of different alcohols and one
Long Island Iced Tea can have as much alcohol as 6 beers:
1 part Vodka
One of my former DUI clients is a female who weighs 95 pounds and told me at the cop was lying
when he said that she was weaving in and out of her lane because she only had two drinks.
She blew a blood alcohol level of .23. I asked her what she was drinking;
how big were the glasses; how long a period of time elapsed;
and what she was doing at the time.
She said that she was at a restaurant having dinner with a friend and only had
two Long Island Ice Teas during the course of 1 1/2 hours. She indicated
that the size of the glasses were large. She probably had the equivalent
of 8-10 drinks. Since an average adult
body breaks down one drink every two hours, by the time she left the restaurant
she was seriously drunk.
She never thought of how much alcohol was in her drink and only thought that since she only had two drinks over the course
of 90 minutes, she was ok to drive. The reality was that she was so drunk,
she was pulled over on the street just outside the restaurant. She never
got very far.
Additional factors which must be considered when drinking and driving:
Are you a male or female? (alcohol
affects women differently)
How much do you weigh?
How much time has elapsed over the course of your alcohol consumption?
While there are other factors you need to consider, you need to
know how much alcohol is in your drink.
Next article:
BAC
- How drunk are you?
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