Alcohol effects decision making and reaction times. The sad fact is the more you drink, the more chance of an accident. At .05, the risk of you having an accident is about double of you in a sober state. At .08 the risk is over three times higher. At .1, it's seven times. At .15, it's 26 times.

How Does Alcohol Effect Your Driving?

You don't have to be drunk to be affected by alcohol. No one drives as well as usual after drinking alcohol, even though some people may look and act as though they are unaffected. Alcohol is a depressant drug that affects most areas of the brain. Alcohol impacts the human body in a number of ways...

• Slows brain functions so that you can't respond to situations, make decisions or react quickly.
• Reduces your ability to judge how fast you are moving or your distance from other cars, people or objects.
• Gives you false confidence - you may take greater risks because you think your driving is better than it really is.
• Makes it harder to do more than one thing at a time
• Makes you feel sleepy or fatigued.

You cannot compensate for the effects of alcohol on your brain.

Reversing The Effects Of Alcohol

Once alcohol has been consumed its effects on driving cannot be reversed. Getting your Blood Alcohol Content back to zero takes time and no amount of coffee, food, physical activity or sleep will speed up the process.

The only thing that will sober you up once you have stopped drinking alcohol is time.

Staying Under The Limit

Estimating your Blood Alcohol Content is often inaccurate because the alcohol concentration of drinks vary from 2.5 percent (eg light beer) to over 40 percent in some spirits. Beer may be served in pints, schooners or middies. Wine glasses may vary in size from 100 to 280mls and many other drinks come in non-standard sizes.

Factors such as your gender, size, weight fitness, health and liver function will all affect your Blood Alcohol Content. Also, the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from your system varies from person to person.

Remember: Your Blood Alcohol Content will rise for up to 2 hours after you stop drinking. If you go out drinking and have a big night you may still be over the limit the next day.

How many standard drinks to help stay under .05?

As a general rule, men can consume two standard drinks in the first hour and one every hour after that. Women can consume one standard drink in the first hour and one every hour after that.

Getting Home Safely

If you are planning to drink, then plan NOT to drive. Plan ahead and arrange overnight accommodation or alternative transport...

• Share a taxi with friends
• Catch public transport
• Ride with a driver who hasn't been drinking or taking drugs
• Arrange for a friend or relative to give you a lift