4 ms·

I think this has a lot to do with a lot of things. If I'm working in the city, it's easy for me to say "Well, I plan to drink tonight, so I'll cab to the place

I think this has a lot to do with a lot of things. If I'm working in the city, it's easy for me to say "Well, I plan to drink tonight, so I'll cab to the place where I'm drinking so that I'll have to cab from the place after I'm drinking." When that place is more than a $50 Uber/Lyft/Cab ride away from the suburbs I'm coming from, the options are limited, leaving me to the effort of having to curtail the amount that I drink such that it's safe to drive home. The science I've heard mention is that you can metabolize something like 2 drinks per hour, which is a handy guideline, but lacks so much. 2 drinks of what? 3% Miller Lite isn't the same as 10% microbrews, which isn't the same as 40+% scotch or bourbon. Does that 2 drink guideline cover hard spirits in assuming the worst, or is it assuming the most common scenario of beer? I have no idea. For me, I tend to prefer drinking at home, or at Uber/Lyftable distances from my home, so that I can be safe, but yeah, everyone's guidance differs slightly, and as someone downthread mentions, relying on choice of drinking safely as judgement is impaired by the alcohol they're drinking is fraught with peril.

sithadmin 9y ago
It's definitely a multifacted issue. I suspect that income distribution between urban centers and other areas definitely plays a major role, as does a person's risk calculus associated with performing the act itself. As far as 'drinks per hour' guidelines go, that's usually standardized as a single unit of alcohol (e.g. 1 1.5 oz shot of 80 proof liqour OR 12 oz of a macrobrew lager OR 6 oz of a typical wine).
- brewdad 9y ago
  Yes. I've started using a "rule of 60" for estimating an alcohol drink's impact. Alcohol % by volume x drink size in oz. A 5% beer in a 12oz bottle is equal to a 1.5 oz pour of 80 proof liquor. That 8oz snifter of 10% beer is worth 80 points. Same if you order a pint of the 5% beer instead of a bottle.
  - runamok 9y ago
    Might want to remind people that 80 proof = 40%. Thus by your examples: 5% * 12oz = 60, 40% * 1.5oz = 60, 10% * 8oz = 80,
- erik_seaberg 9y ago
  It's genuinely more dangerous in an urban area. I grew up on a road where you might go hours without seeing a single car. At night there would be nothing to hit but utility poles and deer, and even sober drivers might hit deer.
RealGeek 9y ago
Useful chart for drinking limits: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/publications/brochures/BACCharts.pdf http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/publications/brochures/BACCharts...
harimau777 9y ago
My understanding was that a (very approximate) rule of thumb was that alcohol tends to be served in portions that are appropriate for the 2 drinks an hour rule. That is a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, a shot of vodka, a mixed drink, etc. This seems like it would work as long as you treat all of them as trending towards the middle of the alcohol content scale (i.e. treat Miller Lite and a highly alcoholic cocktail as approximately equivalent to a shot ). On the other hand I don't think it would work if you treated the ends of the scale as the same (i.e. treating Miller Lite and a highly alcoholic cocktail as equivalent).

sithadmin 9y ago

It's definitely a multifacted issue. I suspect that income distribution between urban centers and other areas definitely plays a major role, as does a person's risk calculus associated with performing the act itself. As far as 'drinks per hour' guidelines go, that's usually standardized as a single unit of alcohol (e.g. 1 1.5 oz shot of 80 proof liqour OR 12 oz of a macrobrew lager OR 6 oz of a typical wine).

brewdad 9y ago
Yes. I've started using a "rule of 60" for estimating an alcohol drink's impact. Alcohol % by volume x drink size in oz. A 5% beer in a 12oz bottle is equal to a 1.5 oz pour of 80 proof liquor. That 8oz snifter of 10% beer is worth 80 points. Same if you order a pint of the 5% beer instead of a bottle.
- runamok 9y ago
  Might want to remind people that 80 proof = 40%. Thus by your examples: 5% * 12oz = 60, 40% * 1.5oz = 60, 10% * 8oz = 80,
erik_seaberg 9y ago
It's genuinely more dangerous in an urban area. I grew up on a road where you might go hours without seeing a single car. At night there would be nothing to hit but utility poles and deer, and even sober drivers might hit deer.

RealGeek 9y ago

Useful chart for drinking limits: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/publications/brochures/BACCharts.pdf http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/publications/brochures/BACCharts...

harimau777 9y ago

My understanding was that a (very approximate) rule of thumb was that alcohol tends to be served in portions that are appropriate for the 2 drinks an hour rule. That is a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, a shot of vodka, a mixed drink, etc. This seems like it would work as long as you treat all of them as trending towards the middle of the alcohol content scale (i.e. treat Miller Lite and a highly alcoholic cocktail as approximately equivalent to a shot ). On the other hand I don't think it would work if you treated the ends of the scale as the same (i.e. treating Miller Lite and a highly alcoholic cocktail as equivalent).