You spent the previous evening celebrating with friends and consumed several alcoholic drinks until late at night. You wake up early the next morning feeling refreshed and alert. Why might it still be unsafe and illegal for you to drive to work?
- AResidual alcohol in your bloodstream directly increases your vehicle's mechanical braking distance
- Alcohol is eliminated from your body slowly, so your blood alcohol level may still be over the legal limitAnswer
- CDriving the morning after drinking automatically invalidates your minimum third-party motor insurance
- DResidual alcohol forces your vision to fixate exclusively on the vehicle immediately ahead
Answer
Alcohol is eliminated from your body slowly, so your blood alcohol level may still be over the legal limit.
Alcohol is processed and removed from the body by the liver at a steady rate of approximately one unit per hour, and nothing can speed up this natural process. Following heavy drinking late into the night, high concentrations of alcohol often remain in the bloodstream well into the next morning or afternoon, leaving the driver legally impaired and over the statutory limit despite feeling awake.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Residual alcohol and metabolic clearance time
Estimated Time:1m 0s