How much alcohol can you drink in Spain if driving?
Blood alcohol level depends on a number of factors like weight and gender
With the summer season kicking into high gear, traffic officers across Spain are ramping up their road surveillance and will be keeping a close look out in particular for people driving over the established alcohol limit. While it’s advisable to completely abstain if you plan to get behind the wheel, the DGT has this week clarified just how much you’re actually allowed to drink and drive.
The basic limits applied during a road-side breathalyser test are 0.5gr/l or just 0.3 gr/l in the case of novice drivers, but the level of alcohol in the bloodstream depends on a whole host of factors, such as the amount of pure alcohol ingested, the volume of alcohol drunk and even the weight and sex of the driver.
How is the degree of alcohol calculated?
This comes down to basic maths, but it’s quite a process to work out. Essentially, blood alcohol level is calculated by dividing the grams of pure alcohol ingested by the weight (in kilograms) of the drinker. Then, it is multiplied by 0.7 in the case of men or by 0.6 in the case of women, whose tolerance for alcohol is lower.
Before this step, however, you need to know how to accurately calculate the amount of alcohol that has been ingested. To do this, simply multiply the alcoholic strength of the beverage in question, which is always displayed on the bottle, by the amount you have drank, which must be expressed in cubic centimetres of millimetres.
Finally, multiply this figure by 0.8 (density of alcohol) and divide by 100.
Even if the figure turns out to be lower than the legal limit, the DGT still warns that “the effects [of alcohol] appear from the first moment, even with rates lower than those allowed for driving,” and the best practice is to avoid drinking completely if you need to drive.
According to the authorities, reaction time, coordination problems and under-estimation of speed can all occur after just two glasses of beer or a wine.
¿Cómo podemos calcular cuánto alcohol hemos ingerido? ¿Y el grado de alcoholemia? ¿Cómo nos afecta?
— Dir. Gral. Tráfico (@DGTes) June 10, 2022
Para conducir, mejor ir a #cero. Pero, recuerda que el límite legal de #alcohol en sangre es 0,5 gr/l (0,3 para noveles).
Más información en 👉https://t.co/XKx1UYIwSQ pic.twitter.com/hWMWYsmGSU
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Image 1: Pixaby
Image 2: DGT
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