You generally just drink at your house, so you never have to worry about driving. But then a friend invites you out for dinner, and you have a glass of wine while you eat. You find yourself wondering if it’s safe to drive or if you could get a DUI.
It is very common for people to drive after having one drink or even two. Exactly how often this happens is unclear, but all you have to do is consider the number of people buying drinks at any local restaurant, and you can see that it probably happens frequently. That said, there are some potential legal risks to consider.
Are you still impaired?
The first thing to remember is that you don’t have to break the legal limit to get a DUI. Just being impaired is enough. So, you may not have had enough alcohol to get up over 0.08%, but if you still feel that the alcohol may impair your ability to drive safely, then you may still be risking a DUI.
You also have to consider the type of drink you had and how much alcohol you actually consumed. There can be some very massive differences. If you just had one beer that was 5% alcohol and it took an hour, your body has probably metabolized it by the time you leave. But other types of alcohol, such as gin or whiskey, have much higher alcohol content. Even wine can be two or three times as high as beer. So you have to be very careful not to assume that one drink means one drink in all scenarios.
If you do find yourself facing drunk driving allegations, then you need to know what defense options you have.