How much can I drink and be under the legal limit?

One of the most common motoring offences committed in the UK is driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit. This is often referred to as “drink driving”. When it comes to consuming alcohol and driving, one of the very first questions that most people have is how much can you drink and still be under the legal limit?

Drink Driving  – The Law  

Section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“RTA”) states that it is an offence to drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in breath, blood, or urine exceeds the prescribed limit. Therefore, it is not strictly an offence to consume alcohol and drive, the offence is only committed when the consumption of alcohol leads to a reading in excess of the legal limit.

Drink Driving – The legal limit

The drink driving limits in England and Wales are:

• 35 micrograms in 100 milliliters of breath
• 80 milligrammes in 100 milliliters of blood
• 107 milligrammes in 100 milliliters of urine

These limits do not reflect what would be necessarily a safe amount of alcohol to consume and drive, as any alcohol can impair driving. These limits reflect the amount at which prosecutions can occur for the offence of drink driving. If a motorist provided a specimen which was under these limits, it would still be possible to face prosecution for an alternative offence of driving a motor vehicle when under the influence of drink

Can I calculate what my level of alcohol would be?

Whilst scientists can calculate what a motorist’s likely level of alcohol would be by considering a number of factors such as number of drinks consumed over a period of time, gender, height and weight, the calculation can only give an approximate (or most likely) value. This means that there will be a range of what the alcohol level could be and will not be exact.

There are many calculator tools online where motorists can try to work out what their most likely alcohol level would be, however, these will not produce an exact guaranteed figure which is safe to rely on and therefore should be used with caution.

How much can I drink and be safe to drive?

The simple answer is that there is no amount of alcohol which is safe to consume and drive. As alcohol affects everyone in different ways, it is impossible to say what would be a safe amount for any one person to consume.

How can Olliers help if I am charged with drink driving?

If you are facing a drink driving charge, it is important to obtain expert advice. Early legal advice can make a significant difference to your case. Our expert drink driving solicitors are here to help, offering confidential and professional legal support at every stage of your case. 

Contact our specialist motoring team by emailing info@olliers.com or by telephoning 01618341515 (Manchester) or 02038836790 (London).