The evaluation from the Summer Drink Drive campaign showed that people were not aware that alcohol stays in their system for a significant length of time.

This year’s Christmas Drink Drive campaign is focussing on the morning after. A driver may still be over the legal limit many hours after their last drink. The only way for alcohol to get out of your system is time – sleep, coffee and cold showers don’t help!

According to the NHS, World Health Organisation and British Medical Journal it takes: “On average, it takes about one hour for your body to break down one unit of alcohol. However, this can vary, depending on: weight, whether you’re male or female, your age, how quickly or slowly your body turns food into energy (your metabolism), how much food you have eaten, the type and strength of the alcohol, whether you’re taking medication and, if so, what type. It can also take longer if your liver isn’t working normally.”

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/853.aspx?CategoryID=87&SubCategoryID=871

However, an additional hour is needed for the first unit to allow the alcohol into the system. To work out units there is an easy sum:

ABV (%) X ML	EG.1 pint of Premier lager:	5 x 568	= 2.84 so 3 Units
1000		1000

Although you may feel fit to drive, it is highly likely that the morning after you won’t be fit to drive. The drink drive limit is 35 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath or 80 milligrammes in 100milliliters of blood.

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