(The following information was released through St
Lukes Hospital,
Maumee, Ohio. If you drink keep in mind that
alcohol doesn't magically
disappear with sleep or coffee. Several hours later,
you could still
be "legally drunk" at work or behind the
wheel.)
So What If I Got Drunk
Last Night
If at 2:00 a.m.
you go to bed intoxicated, with a blood
alcohol reading
at 0.25 and you have to be at work at
8:00 a.m., let's
see what happens.
TIME SITUATION
BLOOD/ALCOHOL0200 a.m.
Went to bed drunk 0.2500300 a.m. Sleeping 0.2350400 a.m. Sleeping
0.2200500 a.m. Sleeping 0.2050600 a.m. Get
up for work 0.1900700 a.m. Drive
to work
0.1750800 a.m. At
work 0.1600900 a.m. You
spill some coffee
0.1451000 a.m. Still
legally drunk 0.1301100 a.m. Still
legally drunk 0.1151200 noon Still
legally drunk 0.1001300 p.m. Sleepy,
irritable, ill 0.0851400 p.m. Still
legally drunk (in some states) 0.0701500 p.m. Still
over DOT limits 0.0551600 p.m. Still
could lose CDL 0.0401700 p.m. Still
can't drive a truck 0.025
Alcohol leaves the blood at about 0.15 per hour, but metabolism, age, sex,
sizeand general health will affect the rate of loss.
Based on the above, if at any point in time you were tested for alcohol,
you wouldtest POSITIVE, and if you were caught driving
a commercial vehicle any time before5:30 p.m. you would be in violation of the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
Even at 5:30 p.m. you MAY meet the requirements but you are probably incapable
of reacting to driving situations as
quickly as you would normally.