How to ensure you don't drink and drive!

How much can I drink and stay under the limit?

There is no fool-proof way of drinking and staying under the limit. The amount of alcohol you would need to drink to be considered over the driving limit varies from person to person. It depends on:

1. your weight
2. your gender (men tend to process alcohol faster than women) 
3. your metabolism
4. the type and amount you're drinking 
5. your current stress levels
6. whether you've eaten recently 
7. age (younger people tend to process alcohol more slowly)

Even small amounts of alcohol can affect your ability to drive so the only safe advice is to avoid any alcohol if you are driving.
 
How alcohol affects driving

Many of the functions that we depend on to drive safely are affected when we drink alcohol: the brain takes longer to receive messages from the eye processing information becomes more difficult instructions to the body's muscles are delayed resulting in slower reaction times.

You can also experience blurred and double vision, which affects your ability to see things clearly while you are driving. And you’re more likely to take potentially dangerous risks because you can act on urges you normally repress .

How to ensure you don't drink and drive

Arrange within your group of friends who's going to be the designated driver. A designated driver is the person who abstains from alcohol on a night out so they can drive the rest of their group of friends home safely.

If you live somewhere with good public transport links – take advantage of them. If you’re planning on staying out beyond the last train, tube or bus, make sure you’ve got a couple of taxi numbers.

If you have no option but to drive, stick to zero alcohol beers, mocktails or standard soft drinks.

Not every night out has to involve a bar or pub - book a table at a restaurant or other venue and avoid drink altogether.