Many people would never knowingly drive while over the limit. Yet, many of those same people might not hesitate to drive after having some alcoholic drinks.
A lot of people believe they can calculate how much they can drink while still staying within the legal limit. They may base it purely on a certain number of drinks, or factor in the time over which their drinking has taken place. Either way, they are playing a very risky game as research shows people are typically poor at estimating their level of sobriety.
What’s more, any amount of alcohol will affect someone’s driving ability – so any amount of alcohol will raise the risk of a collision.
You can still face consequences if under the legal limit
If you have a collision, the police are likely to test your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Being over the limit will automatically have serious consequences but insurers could use any amount of alcohol to try and blame you for the crash and negate your claim for compensation.
Crash or not, the police may also charge you with an offense, if they believe alcohol has affected your driving. Maybe they see you being slow to pull away from the lights, or drifting slightly over the lane boundary. It might be that you are tired after a long day at work, but if the police discover you had even one drink, they might decide the alcohol-impaired your driving and charge you with an offense.
Avoiding all alcohol when driving is the safest option. However, if you make a mistake and get charged with a drunk driving offense when you thought you were okay to drive, it is important to remember that you may have defense options available.