MIchael1981
New Member
A few months ago I was breathalysed after having 5 pints of Guinness and having analysed every thread on this site and similar others I thought I would share my experience. I had finished a 14 hour shift at work where all I had eaten was a bacon sandwich early in the morning. I had my first pint around 9.15pm and proceeded to have five in total by approximately 11pm (I know, complete idiot). On the way home I stopped for a takeaway (which I was bringing home and did not eat) for approximately 10 minutes and was pulled over at approximately 11.30pm. I was amazed that I only blew 49 in the police car knowing how much I had to drink. On route to the police station I was sure that the alcohol levels in my system were rising and tried to rush the process in fear that the situation was getting worse as the time passed. I now know that an hour after your final drink your body has absorbed all of the alcohol and the levels are then continually decreasing from that point onward!
I refused a solicitor and every delaying tactic available based on the incorrect assumption that the 5 pints of Guinness would eventually show up in my system and produce a reading 3 to 4 times over the limit. At 12.12am I blew 48 on the machine in the station and was subsequently offered a blood test as the reading was below 50. I turned this down as per the reasoning previously mentioned and was willing to accept a ban based on a reading I thought was significantly lower than it should have been. It was at this point I noticed the custody officers look at each other strangely and also the officers who arrested me. I got the feeling that they were genuinely shocked by my refusal. At this point I must also stress how fair all officers I had come into contact with were throughout.
Based on their reactions I then changed my mind and requested a blood test. While waiting in the cell for the nurse I exercised as hard as possible thinking that this may increase my metabolism and excrete some of the alcohol. I have since learnt that studies show it has almost zero impact on reducing levels, although I personally am not convinced. I had a blood test timed at 1.23am (in a shirt soaked with sweat!) and was provided with a vile to take home to get tested independently, which I did.
The independent lab I used told me that the result they would provide would be the exact amount of alcohol in my blood at that given time, but the police result would have 6mg taken off the top to provide a fair test. This is not information that seems to be readily available for some reason. It was at this point I worked myself into a frenzy checking this site and others similar to see if I may have passed. I used online calculators where you input the amount you have drunk and the time periods involved only for them to contradict each other. If you are reading this then I'm sure you know the feeling.
Prior to revealing the result I must state that I am a male, 33 years old and about 12.5 stone. I only drink one day per week if I'm lucky and never during Monday to Thursday. I have extremely long working hours and often I am only able to drink 2 Saturdays per month, although during these times I would accept to excess. I hope this information may help for people who are in a similar situation to my own.
The result from my privately tested blood sample returned with a blood alcohol level of 79mg per 100millilitres of blood. The lab assistant told me the police test should therefore return at 73mg; which it did some weeks later. The sense of relief and thankfulness for my answered prayers is hard to put into words. I have documented my experience on this forum not as some form of 'cheat sheet' for idiots who want to drink drive, but for people like myself who made an isolated and uncharacteristic error of judgement that regardless of the outcome will not be repeated. I felt that a lot of the forum and blog articles I had read seemed to not 'add up', with perhaps a drink drive campaign propaganda undertone (although I accept I have absolutely no evidence to back that up) and wanted to provide a 100% genuine account for 100% genuine people.
I refused a solicitor and every delaying tactic available based on the incorrect assumption that the 5 pints of Guinness would eventually show up in my system and produce a reading 3 to 4 times over the limit. At 12.12am I blew 48 on the machine in the station and was subsequently offered a blood test as the reading was below 50. I turned this down as per the reasoning previously mentioned and was willing to accept a ban based on a reading I thought was significantly lower than it should have been. It was at this point I noticed the custody officers look at each other strangely and also the officers who arrested me. I got the feeling that they were genuinely shocked by my refusal. At this point I must also stress how fair all officers I had come into contact with were throughout.
Based on their reactions I then changed my mind and requested a blood test. While waiting in the cell for the nurse I exercised as hard as possible thinking that this may increase my metabolism and excrete some of the alcohol. I have since learnt that studies show it has almost zero impact on reducing levels, although I personally am not convinced. I had a blood test timed at 1.23am (in a shirt soaked with sweat!) and was provided with a vile to take home to get tested independently, which I did.
The independent lab I used told me that the result they would provide would be the exact amount of alcohol in my blood at that given time, but the police result would have 6mg taken off the top to provide a fair test. This is not information that seems to be readily available for some reason. It was at this point I worked myself into a frenzy checking this site and others similar to see if I may have passed. I used online calculators where you input the amount you have drunk and the time periods involved only for them to contradict each other. If you are reading this then I'm sure you know the feeling.
Prior to revealing the result I must state that I am a male, 33 years old and about 12.5 stone. I only drink one day per week if I'm lucky and never during Monday to Thursday. I have extremely long working hours and often I am only able to drink 2 Saturdays per month, although during these times I would accept to excess. I hope this information may help for people who are in a similar situation to my own.
The result from my privately tested blood sample returned with a blood alcohol level of 79mg per 100millilitres of blood. The lab assistant told me the police test should therefore return at 73mg; which it did some weeks later. The sense of relief and thankfulness for my answered prayers is hard to put into words. I have documented my experience on this forum not as some form of 'cheat sheet' for idiots who want to drink drive, but for people like myself who made an isolated and uncharacteristic error of judgement that regardless of the outcome will not be repeated. I felt that a lot of the forum and blog articles I had read seemed to not 'add up', with perhaps a drink drive campaign propaganda undertone (although I accept I have absolutely no evidence to back that up) and wanted to provide a 100% genuine account for 100% genuine people.
