Many people assume that it’s fine to have a drink and then drive. You see this all the time if you just watch what people order at a restaurant. A lot of people have a beer or a glass of wine and then go get in the car without thinking twice about it.
The reasoning for this is that they’re nowhere near the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit of 0.08%, and they know it. After one drink, they don’t feel like they’re so intoxicated that it’s unsafe to drive. But there is one key element that may make them appear more intoxicated than they are: How tired they are when they have that drink.
The relationship between alcohol and fatigue
The issue here is that alcohol is a sedative. This means that it makes your body slow down and eventually feel tired. If you’re already tired when you drink it, this can make you feel more intoxicated than you actually are. For instance, a BAC reading may indicate that you just have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04%, but you may act like someone who is much closer to the legal limit.
When this happens, you typically start feeling more sluggish and less alert, and you may start dealing with more brain fog than usual. This can reduce your reaction times and may increase the odds of getting into an accident, even if you feel like you haven’t had so much to drink that it’s dangerous.
If you take this to heart and never drive after even having a single drink, that can help you keep yourself a bit safer. But other drivers may make a mistake and drink too much, causing an accident that leads to serious injuries for you. That’s when you need to know how to seek financial compensation for your injuries and losses. You shouldn’t have to pay for another driver’s poor decisions.