Blood alcohol level

Tha Gopher

When Mel Gibson went off on a mad one, it was reported he had a blood alchol level of 0.12 when the legal limit for driving in California is 0.08. Do these readings start decreasing in number from 0.08 on? Lets assume we have the same limit as California, and the limit is generally agreed to be the equivalent of one pint of normal strength beer. Now, 0.12 would surely be a pint and a half? Although I wouldnt drink drive, if I did do it on two pints Im fairly sure my driving wouldnt be particularly erratic and when I was pulled over I wouldnt go off on one about the Jews. So why is 0.12 seemingly a sh1tload of drink when 0.08 is presumably around one pint? Ive seen this a few times, celebrities pulled over for erratic driving and speaking slurred to the cop for what sounds like a very minor amount e.g "he was twice the legal limit"

Or is Gibson simply a disgrace to his native Australian alcoholic traditions by being a lightweight?

Pocari Sweat

He is surely a lightweight.

Terry

going by the pictures of him, he looked fairly hammered.
either the test was wrong or he was doing more than drinking.

Black Swan

Someone can correct me if wrong (wouldn't be the first time:D ), but isn't blood alcohol level affected by many things? Like when you drank it, your body weight, how much you drank, whether you had something else with it like food, if you were dancing a lot (exercise), and what kind of test was taken (breath, urine, blood) and how long it took before the test was taken? Here's another thought... Maybe he was auditioning live for a part in the remake of the "Animal House" film? He looked really the part in the photo. A party animal!:p

Pocari Sweat

Soft, shandy supping, sheila.

WhiteWashMan

Tha Gopher wrote:

When Mel Gibson went off on a mad one, it was reported he had a blood alchol level of 0.12 when the legal limit for driving in California is 0.08. Do these readings start decreasing in number from 0.08 on? Lets assume we have the same limit as California, and the limit is generally agreed to be the equivalent of one pint of normal strength beer. Now, 0.12 would surely be a pint and a half? Although I wouldnt drink drive, if I did do it on two pints Im fairly sure my driving wouldnt be particularly erratic and when I was pulled over I wouldnt go off on one about the Jews. So why is 0.12 seemingly a sh1tload of drink when 0.08 is presumably around one pint? Ive seen this a few times, celebrities pulled over for erratic driving and speaking slurred to the cop for what sounds like a very minor amount e.g "he was twice the legal limit"

Or is Gibson simply a disgrace to his native Australian alcoholic traditions by being a lightweight?

actually, it would be less than 1 pint of normal strength beer. a bottle of stella is about 1.5 units.

either way, it depends on many things.

Sangre

It could work on a log scale i.e. 2 is 10 times 1 etc.,

Pocari Sweat

American shandy is about 1% proof anyway, it would take about 20 pints to start wobbling, and mel prob got pissed on 3 shandies.

sully-gormo

The legal limit might be different over there. Read this (hilarious) story which explains it.

http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/the_famous_sushi_pants_story.phtml#277

Victor

Tha Gopher wrote:

When Mel Gibson went off on a mad one, it was reported he had a blood alchol level of 0.12 when the legal limit for driving in California is 0.08.

0.08 is what we call 80mg/100ml

However, alcohol / blood is not linear. 300mg/100ml is capable of killing most people.

abetarrush

Milk will show up as alcohol in your blood

lazylad

Good question. Before leaving a pub, it would be good to test your alcohol level in one of them like condom machines. In dublin just before you get to howth, i saw a blood alcohol tester in the pub, it was like a cigarette machine. its some louge out near howth beach. i think it said it was the first one in ireland. pretty handy i guess lol but nothing condones drink driving

Terry

i've seen a few breathalyser machines in pub.
complete waste of time.
one pint is too much, so either you are going to drive after one or you are not. i don't think some machine is going to change your mind,

get some friends who don't drink and enjoy pubs.

RedorDead

Theres one of them machines in the cornerstone on camden street. You just end up putting a bloody fortune into them.

Great craic though. Bull about 300 may cause death. We got up to 240, 255 and 278 and none of us was even close to really really drunk.

danniemcq

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

just so you know in the future what you are

or

http://www.rupissed.com/

if you aren't up to the 12oz calculation stuff (it's actually .75L if anyone cares )

abetarrush wrote:

Milk will show up as alcohol in your blood

are you serious??? how much shows up and sow much do you need to drink to be over the limit?

Tucker max is a legend!lol

Pocari Sweat

Having a right load of stuff to eat and overall body size is also a factor to yer limit.

Once a long while back, a load of us piled off the pub and got tanked and no-one was in any condition to drive back, but a tall mate, even taller than me, who had well over 8 pints of lager and a fair few vodkas to follow, staggered into a chippy and got a shed load of chips.

He was insistent he was ok to drive back and half way home the cops pulled us over because he was all over the road, and doing his usual stunt of having his right leg hanging out of the driver's window while his left foot was on the gas.

The cops, thought they were on to a winner and breathalised him, but he passed no problem and the cops were fuming.

He was staggering around chuckling, and had his button undone on his keks because he was stuffed with booze and chips, and had to keep pulling the keks up, like some loon.

He got back in the car and drove us off, and the cops were scratching their heads and not impressed.

Victor

Eh, they normally do such people for dangerous driving or take them down to the station and get a blood or urine sample.

Lust4Life

The way they tell you to figure the alcohol level (staying under the legal limit) is by how many drinks you have had per hour for every hour you had been drinking - taking into consideration what proof of alcohol it was.

Here in Wisconsin they have only recently lowered the legal limit to .08 - I believe they just want to build up revenue with fines and the like. The limit used to be .10 here for decades - one of the last states to cave to the pressure and lower the limit to .08

And you are correct. That meand you can have maybe 3 drinks in 5 hours to stay under the limit. What fun is that?

Me? I just walk to the pub down the street!

L4L

Terry

Lust4Life wrote:

The way they tell you to figure the alcohol level (staying under the legal limit) is by how many drinks you have had per hour for every hour you had been drinking - taking into consideration what proof of alcohol it was.

Here in Wisconsin they have only recently lowered the legal limit to .08 - I believe they just want to build up revenue with fines and the like. The limit used to be .10 here for decades - one of the last states to cave to the pressure and lower the limit to .08

And you are correct. That meand you can have maybe 3 drinks in 5 hours to stay under the limit. What fun is that?

Me? I just walk to the pub down the street!

L4L

In Ireland you can't drink at all. simple as that.
i don't care if you are 40 stone and have just eaten a cow, you will still be over the limit.
zero tolerance is the only way.

coyote6

Blood alcohol is effected by your body compostion (muscle, fat etc.), and weather you've eaten. If the pyloric valve shuts (which happens after a meal) your body absorbs the alcohol more slowly. Women generally, due to body compostion, absorb alcohol quicker. Some people burn it off quicker than others. One pint of stout won't get an average size man near .08 % Br.A.C.