Resources | Be careful of the DUI hangover — sleeping it off? |
| Friday, 17 November 2006 | |
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Still Drunk The Morning After? Are you still drunk the morning after a binge? We wondered how many people hit the road in the morning without even realizing they are still legally drunk. We asked four volunteers to conduct an experiment. They drank for four hours, took a drunk test, slept for eight hours, and took another drunk test. The results may surprise you. For more information on Atlanta DUI lawyers click here. Our volunteers started drinking at 7:30 on a Thursday night. A couple of beers into the experiment they start to slur their words. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration guide says that’s a sign of getting drunk. At 9:30 the group decides to finish a bottle of whiskey. At 11:00 Virginia Beach Police Officers arrive to conduct the first round of drunk tests. Officer J.J. Manago and Officer B.K. Womble give each man a breathalyzer test. “Just blow into this like you are blowing up a balloon, and stop.” The first tester has a blood alcohol level of .190. Keep in mind the legal limit in Virginia and North Carolina is 0.08. The research shows at the level of our first tester, most people lose coordination, vomit, or pass out. Our volunteer went on to do field sobriety tests. He failed each one. The next tester has a blood alcohol level of .150. That’s enough over the legal limit to warrant mandatory jail time. Next up blows a .108. Drunk, but not as bad as his friends. The last volunteers is the most drunk. His blood alcohol level is .194. He can barely stand and laughs a lot. After this first round of tests, the officers leave and the volunteers go to sleep for eight hours. 7:00 Friday morning Officer C.E. Elliot wakes them up for another round of test. The first tester blows a 0.085. He’s still drunk. Second up still has alcohol in his bloodstream, but can legally drive. He blows a .041. His reaction times may be off and he could be a danger on the road according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Next tester comes in at .03. He’s not drunk but could still be impaired. The final tester blows .077. Just under the legal limit but the Officer says he can still be arrested for drunk driving. So 8 hours after a night of drinking two testers are still drunk, two are not, based on legal limits. None of our testers drove after drinking at night or the next day. But this is frightening to imagine how many people partying this holiday season are on the road in the morning as you drive to work or your child’s bus travels to school.
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