One of the most important things to know if you’re planning on getting drinks with friends is that you may be misinformed about drinking and driving.
It seems like there’s more and more misinformation spreading around than ever and you don’t want it to cause you to get a criminal charge. Here’s what you should know:
Myth #1: Drink coffee to avoid a DUI charge
Truth: It’s typically believed that drinking coffee can help people sober up quickly. In essence, this allows people who’ve been drinking to drive without worrying about a DUI charge.
However, there is no evidence that coffee helps because alcohol can still be found in the body. The only thing coffee may do is increase a person’s level of alertness.
Myth #2: Perfume and mouthwash can hide the alcohol smell
Truth: Some people are worried that police will smell alcohol on them during a traffic stop. As a result, to avoid a DUI charge, they may try to use perfume, cologne or mouthwash to hide the smell.
However, any of these products won’t hide the amount of alcohol in a person’s body if they take a breath test. A driver may even increase their chances of getting a DUI if a breath test reads a higher alcohol content from the perfume, cologne or mouthwash, since many of these products contain alcohol.
Myth #3: You’ll be sober in the morning
Truth: One of the best ways to reduce alcohol in the body is to sleep it off. Essentially, by sleeping, the body has to remove alcohol from its system, however, this does take some time.
A quick nap won’t make someone sober and even sleeping may still leave someone with enough trace amounts of alcohol in their body to warrant a DUI charge. That being said, it can take up to an entire day before alcohol leaves the system, which often depends on the amount of alcohol consumed and body weight. If you’re facing a DUI charge, then you should understand your legal rights.