NHS Alcohol Units - Dangerous Advice

Next time you ask for a large glass of wine in a restaurant or pub, ask to see the bottle and find out what size measure you are drinking - you will get a shock.

The abv divided by (1000ml divided by the glass or measure size) = Units of alcohol

e.g. Wine abv 13 divided by (1000ml divided by 250ml large glass or measure = 4) = 3.25 Units

or Wine abv 13 divided by (1000ml divided by 175ml medium glass or measure = 5.714) = 2.275 Units

or Wine abv 13 divided by (1000ml divided by 125ml very small glass or measure = 8) = 1.62 Units

Not one of these typical glasses is anywhere near ONE unit!

Is it safe to drive one hour after consuming one glass of wine or a pint of beer? The simple answer is a resounding NO. There are too many variables to come up with an accurate assessment of when you will reach the drink drive limit. Although most people tend to decrease their alcohol level by one unit per hour, heavy drinkers who consume more than 40 units per week (that is just 4 bottles of wine or 8 pints of beer per week) could easily only decrease by half a unit per hour. And no amount of coffee or a cold shower is going to speed up the process!