You don’t want to get pulled over and find yourself facing serious drunk driving charges. At the same time, you may be out at the bar with friends, and you know that you have consumed a substantial amount of alcohol. You suspect that your own blood alcohol concentration is over the legal limit, and you want to know how to sober up before you drive.
At times like this, people may give you advice, meaning to help you avoid an arrest or a car accident. They may tell you that all you need to do is go drink a cup of coffee. If you’re at home, they may suggest that you should take a cold shower. In some cases, people will say that you just need to drink more water or eat some food. But does this work?
There is no quick fix
Some of these things can be beneficial in certain ways. For instance, drinking water can make you feel more hydrated and alert, which is useful after drinking a lot of alcohol. Drinking a cup of black coffee can certainly wake you up so that you can better focus on the road. Eating a meal may help you avoid a hangover the next day, by diluting the contents of your stomach.
But none of these things are actually going to lower your blood alcohol concentration at the time. The only way that it goes down is by allowing your body to metabolize the alcohol at a rate of roughly 0.015% per hour. There are no other tricks you can use to speed this up and avoid drunk driving charges.
Unfortunately, you may already be facing these charges, even though you thought you did everything you could to avoid them. Make sure you know what criminal defense options you have as you focus on your future.
