After having a few cocktails, how many hours must elapse to get a clear reading of a DOT test?

Answer 1

It depends on a huge number of factors.

Alcohol in your system is broken down by your liver (alcohol is technically a toxin - i.e. a poison that the body treats as something that must be got rid of). The rate that alcohol is absorbed into your body in the first place (which dictates how quickly you become intoxicated) and the rate that your liver destroys the alcohol in your body (which determines how quickly you sober up afterwards) is dependant on a whole range of factors, such as:-

* when you last ate (and what you ate) - this can affect the rate of absorbtion of alcohol into your bloodstream
* your general health, in particular the health of your liver - if your liver is in poor condition it will take longer to break down the alcohol. Even something like a common cold may affect the rate your body deals with alcohol.
* your body weight - if you are a small person then a given amount of alcohol will, in effect, be more concentrated inside you
* whether you are male or female - in general men are able to break down alcohol more rapidly
* your ethnic background - caucasian (white) people started drinking alcohol a very long time ago - basically making "beer" and "wine" (must weaker than modern drinks) was a way of purifying water. Asian peoples purified water by boiling and added flavourings (i.e. tea). Thus caucasians have gradually developed more resistance and a greater ability to deal with alcohol in their bodies.
* whether you are a regular drinker - if you drink regularly then your liver becomes adapted to dealing with the alcohol. As an extreme example, alcoholics frequently drink amounts that would literally kill a non-drinker

The added problem with cocktails is that their alcohol content may be difficult to determine because they are mixed and slight differences in the measurement of the ingredients may alter the amount of alcohol you are drinking.

The situation gets even worse with alcoholic "punches" at parties where they may start off mainly as a slightly alcoholic fruit punch and then people tend to add more alcoholic ingredients during the evening until you end up with something closer to pure vodka. These drinks are best avoided if you plan to drive anytime in the next 24 hours.

What all this means is that you have no sure-fire way of saying that on any given day after drinking any given amount of alcohol you have a particular number of hours to go before your blood alcohol is below any particular level. Many people make the mistake of drinking heavily and getting up the next day thinking that they are sober enough to drive only to find they are over the limit.

The best solution is to be very cautious about when you are actually within the limits - or get one of the breath test kits that you can now buy to check that you (and everyone else) is safe.

Answer 2

A healthy liver needs up to one and a half hours ( I think you should take a minimum of one hour, I was an alcoholic working with heavy machinery for years, I needed to know stuff like this) to digest one consumption of alcohol. If you are bigger, your body will digest it completely much sooner (your liver is bigger and you burn more calories and you have more bodymass/ fluid to divide the alcohol). So if the cocktail contains the amount of two glasses of rum or something else, you need up to 3 hours for one cocktail, that is if you have a healthy liver, which also includes your liver does not have any other tough job to do, like digesting medication at the same time.
Also, it is genetically proven that some people (Asians all do, and you need to look at your parents and family, how well they ca take theirs, it helps estimating your own capacity) cannot ingest and digest alcohol as well as others (different enzyme-levels, some bird species have some enzymes up to seven times the amount we do to keep from getting drunk eating berries, it would kill them dropping out of the sky or becoming easy prey if they'd get drunk), so someone else may have to take longer to digest any amount of alcohol, solely because of his genetic make-up.
Some hangover cures speed up the proces of taking alcohol out of your system, here (Holland) you can buy these at smart-shops, all herbal-based. But some pretend to do that, but they just help your liver in the long run (good for you, but won't help immediately), and offer no short-term effect, so look out what you buy. Vitamins, minerals and water help your system break it down, but just so far. Or you can burn it off faster, alcohol is still a high-caloric stuff, your body will use it's energy when highly needed. Sleeping it off will take longer than walking it off. If you eat, I find that alcohol-effects pass much faster, it is as if you substitute the alcohol and thereby drive it out. And your body needs the energy and other nutrients to overcome the (that's what it is) poisoning.

Answer 3

24

Answer 4

Your liver will process 1 drink per hour.

1 drink equals 1-1/2 ozs of 80 proof liquor, a 5 oz glass of wine, or a 12 oz beer.

Answer 5

It usually takes about 2 hours per drink to end up clean.

Answer 6

need to know what it takes to beat a Breathalyzer, maybe you should drink at home, There is no specific guideline nor is there any amount of scruples that can help someone recover from losing a loved one from someone who need to drink and drive.

Answer 7

don't drink and drive then it won't be a problem...my guess would be 8hrs.

Answer 8

1 drink 2 hours, 2drinks,4hours and so on...............