The Breathalyzer Challenge - Is 0.08 the right limit?

[Idratherbsidewayz]

Awesome write-up! I've always wanted to do this.

The only thing close that I've ever done is to see how booze and weed affect my driving at an indoor go-kart place in Hamilton.

I drank 4-5 pints of beer in an hour and quickly went to the karting place with the SAE team. I felt giddy and cocky, not too hand-eye deficient.

After the first few laps I had the fastest lap-time by a relatively large amount. This was mostly due to inflated confidence. I was going into corners much faster/closer to the limits of the kart and no-lifting at the sketchy chicane, occasionally bouncing off the walls a little. As everybody learned the track it got a little closer. At around the 80 lap mark, I was getting sober and slower. At this point I thought it would be interesting to see the effects of marijuana on a fairly sober subject. After smoking a decent joint to myself, I strapped myself back into the go-kart for 80 more laps (crazy blisters on my hands at the end of the night)

I was FLYING!! Ripping around the track definitely setting lap records that would never be beat by any human being. At least thats what I thought until I looked at the timesheet. 3-4 seconds slower on a ~'50 second track.

Conclusion: While both evidently affect how you drive, booze will give you confidence and get you into waaay more trouble than weed. I find after a couple beers I am overconfident in my car. I drive much harder than if I've had more and am super paranoid and cautious. I agree that the limits should definitely be decreased with increased problems for having lower amounts of alcohol in the system.

[Cos]

Originally posted by Idratherbsidewayz
.......... stoners drive slow......

Yeah stoners drive slow. That is why I always laugh at the guys who go down crowchild on a saturday night going 60k an hour with his signal on and take 20 seconds to change lanes.

I know for me doing 100 feels like I am FLYING. I keep having to check my speedo to make sure I am not doing 150.

[rage2]

Originally posted by msommers
Now here's an experiment I wouldn't mind being a subject in! How much was that breathalyzer?

About 200 bucks.

Originally posted by spike98
I have to question the accuracy of the machine. Those numbers seem way out to lunch.

Again, it's DOT approved, I have no doubts that it's relatively accurate. My assistant was the only one that was truly drunk that night (walking into walls) and blew a 0.16. I asked her this morning, she doesn't remember 1/2 the night, which is in line with the symptoms of a person with 0.16 BAC level.

The reason why I blew so low is because I have a good tolerance. I can easily polish off a 750ml bottle of Vodka in a night without being "hammered".

[sputnik]

Originally posted by rage2
The unit I purchased is DOT approved for law enforcement use. I couldn't figure out what CPS actually uses.

When I blew my 0.00 on the flyover it was into one of these.

http://www.breathalyzercanada.com/ba...athalyzer.html

However that was about 4 years ago. So who knows if they have switched since then.

You definitely have a higher end and more modern model.

[sputnik]

Also to get an accurate reading you have to REALLY blow.

The CPS will make you take the biggest breath you can and blow fully until you almost black out due to lack of oxygen.

So depending on how well you blow for your test, you may get varying or inconsistent results.

[rage2]

Originally posted by sputnik
Also to get an accurate reading you have to REALLY blow.

The CPS will make you take the biggest breath you can and blow fully until you almost black out due to lack of oxygen.

So depending on how well you blow for your test, you may get varying or inconsistent results.

It registers an error if you don't blow hard enough. And ya, by the end of the night (we logged about 90 tests) it was getting pretty tough to blow hard enough.

[JfuckinC]

Originally posted by rage2

About 200 bucks.


Again, it's DOT approved, I have no doubts that it's relatively accurate. My assistant was the only one that was truly drunk that night (walking into walls) and blew a 0.16. I asked her this morning, she doesn't remember 1/2 the night, which is in line with the symptoms of a person with 0.16 BAC level.

The reason why I blew so low is because I have a good tolerance. I can easily polish off a 750ml bottle of Vodka in a night without being "hammered".

Seriously, only 2.25 smirnoff ices and she was wasted? I'd be scared to let her go out if she was my gf fuck

[gretz]

Originally posted by rage2

About 200 bucks.


Again, it's DOT approved, I have no doubts that it's relatively accurate. My assistant was the only one that was truly drunk that night (walking into walls) and blew a 0.16. I asked her this morning, she doesn't remember 1/2 the night, which is in line with the symptoms of a person with 0.16 BAC level.

The reason why I blew so low is because I have a good tolerance. I can easily polish off a 750ml bottle of Vodka in a night without being "hammered".

Intersting... I was always under the assumption that tolerance and BAC level weren't related... I drank a 26 and a half of spiced rum on halloween and was in better "functioning" order than my buddy, who weighs the same and only had 1/2 of the one bottle... Now, regardless of tolerance, shouldn't I blow higher even though I was in better shape at the end of the night?

It would be a kick in the nuts if you checked you BAC before leaving, went through a check stop, and them get a different reading / give you a DUI... Is there a guarentee on this breathalizer lol?

[kaput]

.

[Pinner]

Originally posted by rage2
The reason why I blew so low is because I have a good tolerance.

No, something ain't quite right here.

Your blood alcohol level is a measured amount of alcohol in a measured amount of blood.

Your tolerance has nothing to do with it, a non drinker will feel waay more buzzed with exactly the same level.

Alcoholics routinely blow big,huge #s and where driving perfectly.

No way you're legal to have over 20 drinks and drive.

[syeve]

A lot of law students are taken to the bar with a prof and a police issue breathalizer. My friend was one of them. He is what I would describe as a pretty good drinker, he was a doorman for years so he is no stranger to danger. Anyways, he could barely MAKE it to the 0.08 level, he was loser pissed and blowing 0.07 until he just gave up, doesn't remember the rest of the night.

I believe they do this with lawyers thinking about going into criminal defence so the lawyer knows how hammered his idiot client was when he gets into the car and decides to drive home. Pretty good knowlege if you ask me.

[texasnick]

This is very interesting. I was always under the assumption that an average (200ish lb) male blows ~0.05 at 2 pints of beer. The most I will drink and still drive is 2 beers. Anything over that and I "feel it", so to speak.

I might have to try this out sometime.

[Pinner]

I believe there are a lot of people that can function with very high BAC levels, trust me I know.

I've always thought it was wrong that a non drinker can get pretty wasted and drive home legally and I need to find a ride when I am basically sober.

[Pinner]

I hope this thread is not misleading anyone into believing they can get pretty buzzed and drive home.

[hampstor]

There appears to be an error... there's no way kenny's 180lbs

Subject #2 was Mibz, 180lbs.

Subject #3 was kenny, 180lbs.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Pinner


No, something ain't quite right here.

Your blood alcohol level is a measured amount of alcohol in a measured amount of blood.

Your tolerance has nothing to do with it, a non drinker will feel waay more buzzed with exactly the same level.

Alcoholics routinely blow big,huge #s and where driving perfectly.

No way you're legal to have over 20 drinks and drive.

Agreed, but everybody processes alcohol differently, that was pretty much the point of this experiment. The comparison between my drinking vs my assistant's was staggering. I had 10x more alcohol than she did, and consistently blew less than 1/3 of her numbers.

We all had similar assessments of our "drunk" level before we tested our BAC levels by asking how we felt before we blew every test. Since none of us are alcoholics (ok, I'm questionable lol) our drunk level was pretty in line with our BAC level. So maybe tolerance isn't the proper word... I guess my body just processes alcohol differently than others. I don't get hangovers either (I'm good to go at 8am for a morning jog after a night of 30+ drinks), so that might be another sign that my body processes alcohol differently.

As for the legality of having over 20 drinks and drive, I know of 1 person that had that amount (maybe even more), drove through a checkstop and blew a warn. He was pretty drunk and shouldn't have driven home that evening. So yes, it IS possible to have 20 drinks and still fall within legal limits. Do I agree with that? After this test, absolutely not.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Pinner


No, something ain't quite right here.

Your blood alcohol level is a measured amount of alcohol in a measured amount of blood.

Your tolerance has nothing to do with it, a non drinker will feel waay more buzzed with exactly the same level.

I could be mistaken here, I'm not familiar with biology, but isn't "tolerance" more of a function of your liver? So if your liver is used to screening out the alcohol from your blood, then it's better at doing it, so your BAC levels would be the same after several drinks, compared to a liver not used to screening alcohol and only has one drink.

[theken]

Can I join in your tests? I am a heavy drinker. Would be interested to see.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
I could be mistaken here, I'm not familiar with biology, but isn't "tolerance" more of a function of your liver? So if your liver is used to screening out the alcohol from your blood, then it's better at doing it, so your BAC levels would be the same after several drinks, compared to a liver not used to screening alcohol and only has one drink.

I'm not an expert either, but from what I've read, it's both a liver thing and a brain thing. Your liver can adapt and process it better thus lower BAC, and your brain can learn to function at a higher BAC level.

A damaged liver from overdrinking will have the reverse effect, where you can have 2 drinks and your BAC will shoot way up. In an alcoholic's case, they would be able to function (brain adapts), and blow a ridiculously high number.

[R-Audi]

I participated in an alcohol/judgement experiment in University and saw similar results. They got us drunk according to our weight and asked us questions. Plus paid us $5.00. Sadly it was only enough to cover our sandwiches after...

At the point where I was starting to stumble I was at something like 0.05... and there is not a chance I would have even considered driving at that point. They were using the same breathalyzer as the Police at the time..