If you’ve ever wondered how long it really takes to reach the legal alcohol limit, you better watch this video.
These guys have done the hard work of testing how many drinks it takes to reach the legal alcohol limit so you don’t have to.
Just remember, you should avoid drinking and driving completely, even if you think you’re under the legal limit, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The consequences of drink driving can be severe even if they do not prove fatal, as they often do, you could be left paralysed, brain damaged or cause serious injury or death to others, sadly many people are ignoring the risks and choosing to drive while intoxicated. This irresponsible behaviour was the cause of crash which place at Clifton recently. A driver who was 6 times over the legal alcohol limit was injured in a crash.
The man was subsequently charged after police received the results of the blood test which they administered on the man which demonstrated that he was well over the legal alcohol limit. The man’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.321 and the legal limit is 0.05 per cent.
The article on www.warwickdailynews.com.au explains:
BLOOD taken from a man who was injured in a crash at Clifton has revealed he was more than six times over the legal alcohol limit, according to police.
Clifton police officer-in-charge Sergeant Guy Smidt said he charged the 45-year-old man on Tuesday after receiving the results of the blood test.
Sgt Smidt said the man’s blood was sampled after the car he was driving ended up on the railway line in a single vehicle crash at the intersection of Clark St and Wiedman Rd about 3pm on December 1, last year.
He said tests indicated the man had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.321.
The man was charged with driving under the influence of liquor as well as driving a vehicle that was not fitted with an interlock device.
Source: http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/crash-driver-six-times-over-limit/2134535/
According to a police sergeant the reading was particularly high. He expressed his frustration that drivers are simply not getting the message when it comes to the dangers of drink driving.
The culprit was transported to hospital for treatment after the crash. The man will appear in court on 19 February. The post goes on to explain:
“It is an extremely high reading,” Sgt Smidt said.
“We just can’t get the message through.”
He said at the time of the incident, the man had been taken to Toowoomba Hospital for treatment to injuries to his lower spine and sternum.
Source: http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/crash-driver-six-times-over-limit/2134535/
Despite the fact that alcohol slows down your brain functions and causes drivers to react slower and affects decision making negatively too many drivers are making the wrong choices.
Alcohol reduces your ability to judge your speed and distance, so you don’t notice how close other cars and objects are to you. It is important that before we even pick up a drink we should ensure we have a safe way home.
But sadly, alcohol makes you more confident than you would be normally, leading you to think it is safe to drive and resulting in more dangerous and reckless driving behaviour.
No matter what your vocation, drink driving is unacceptable and illegal as one Queensland policewoman has discovered. No one is above the law, even those tasked with enforcing it.
A Queensland police woman recently crashed her car and as is mandatory, was issued a breathalyser which tested positive for alcohol. Not only was she drink driving she was also well over the legal limit when the crash occurred.
The 38 year old woman was involved in a crash while recording a reading of 0.198, hers was the only vehicle involved in the accident, a testament to her intoxication.
In addition to appearing before the Petrie Magistrates Court, the officer may also face internal disciplinary action. The following excerpt was taken from an article on Yahoo News about the incident:
A Queensland policewoman has tested positive for drink driving after crashing her car.
The sergeant from the State Crime Command has been given a notice to appear for drink driving while off duty in a private vehicle.
The 38-year-old recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.198 per cent after she was involved in a single-vehicle crash at Murrumba Downs, north of Brisbane on Monday.
Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/19195082/qld-policewoman-above-the-alcohol-limit/
It seems across all states drink driving is a huge problem but there is another issue which may actually be surpassing that of drink-driving, that is drug driving. According to another post on Smh.com.au, more drivers in NSW tested positive for driving under the influence of drugs than alcohol during a police blitz recently.
Over a weekend blitz in NSW, which involved 3 separate traffic operations, 5 times more random tests were issued for alcohol than drugs but there were still more people caught for drug driving than driving under the influence of alcohol.
The following excerpt taken from the Smh.com.au post explains,
The operations, at Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west as well as Lake Illawarra and Shoalhaven both south of Sydney, detected 14 drivers allegedly under the influence of drugs out of the 735 tested.
At the same time eight drivers were allegedly over the legal blood alcohol limit from the 3824 tested.
“This is a concern that more people are taking the risk of being under the influence of an illicit drug before getting behind the wheel,” Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said.
“However the weekends operations were just a small sample of drivers.”
Eight drivers were detected allegedly under the influence of drugs out of the 202 tested by police at Lake Illawarra, four at Cabramatta and two in the Shoalhaven.
In Lake Illawarra and Cabramatta only 4 people were caught for drink-driving and in Shoalhaven no one tested positive for alcohol despite the fact that 1454 breathalyser tests were issued. Although the improvement in drink driving is good, the number of people seemingly replacing alcohol consumption with drugs is extremely alarming.
Motorists have been warned that police will continue to be on the lookout for both drink and drug driving perpetrators.