How is intoxication determined?
If alcohol is detected in the body above 0.3 ppm, then this indicates that the person is intoxicated. 0.3 ppm is 50 g of vodka, 200 g of wine and 500 g of beer for an average man weighing 80 kg.
If, when tested with a breathalyzer, it was revealed that there is 0.35 ppm of alcohol in a person’s blood, then he is considered drunk. The air exhaled by the driver must contain at least 0.16% ethanol - in this situation the person is considered to be intoxicated.
The issue of the permissibility of drinking non-alcoholic beer while driving is still controversial. Some believe that this drink is harmless, others believe that you should not drink it before a trip. As for police officers and narcologists, the opinion of these specialists is clear: the consequences of excessive consumption of non-alcoholic beer can be catastrophic.
The harm of non-alcoholic beer: who should not drink it
Every person should understand that alcohol and driving are incompatible concepts. Therefore, you shouldn’t even think about whether to drink or not to drink. If you get into a car as a driver, then strictly establish a taboo on the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
We will support the recommendations with medical data. Drinking beer without alcohol has its disadvantages:
- The drink should not be consumed by people who have problems with the liver or pancreas.
- Despite the fact that “nulevka” is considered non-alcoholic, beer is contraindicated for pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding.
- Alcohol, even in small doses, is harmful for stomach ulcers, inflammatory processes or tumors in the intestines.
- The intoxicating drink should not be consumed if a diagnosis of kidney failure has been made.
- Non-alcoholic beer is contraindicated in coding and treatment for alcoholism.
Is it possible to drink non-alcoholic beer while driving?
To understand whether you can drive after drinking non-alcoholic beer, you need to study the composition of the drinks. Both standard and non-alcoholic beer are produced using the same algorithm. The same raw materials are used for production - it is thanks to this that the beer retains its specific taste. However, “non-alcoholic” beer still contains ethanol.
Don't trust labels. Even if the can has the word “non-alcoholic” on it, it’s just an advertisement . Non-alcoholic beer also contains ethanol, although in smaller quantities.
How non-alcoholic beer is made
In production it is much more complicated than usual. Since such a drink differs only in the amount of ethanol, the main production steps remain similar, but a few more are added to them. The goal of these additional steps is to reduce the alcohol content of the drink as much as possible.
There are several ways to do this:
- By lowering the temperature, the fermentation process is stopped, thereby reducing the amount of alcohol.
- Maintaining the boiling point, the alcohol is evaporated from the finished beer.
- Freeze alcohol - since alcohol freezes slower than water, using this method they can be separated from each other.
- Membrane filtration or dialysis - finished alcohol is passed through several membranes with cells of such a size that alcohol molecules cannot pass through them. This method allows you to preserve the taste of the original drink.
- Yeast is replaced with a special variety that does not produce alcohol, but when used, lactic acid is formed.
- Finally, during the cooking process, fermentation is excluded from the stages, that is, yeast is not added to the wort. The downside of this method is that the drink barely resembles regular beer. The advantage is the complete absence of alcohol in the drink.
Non-alcoholic beer: how soon can you start driving?
If a person drinks 0.5 liters of non-alcoholic beer, then the ethanol level in his body does not exceed the permissible values. The breathalyzer will most likely show zero results, and after 10-15 minutes the smell of alcohol usually disappears .
If the amount you drank was 2 liters, then it is recommended not to drive for at least 2 hours. Finally, if you drank 3 liters, you should not drive. This can lead to problems when meeting with traffic police officers, and to the risk of an emergency on the road.
At the same time, the driver will have a slight smell of fumes even if he drank very little non-alcoholic drink. As a result, this can lead to problems when meeting with traffic police officers.
What can a blood test show?
To carry out such an analysis, the amount of blood required for the study is taken from a person’s vein. Typically one of two methods is used:
- Gas chromatography, when 3-5 ml of blood is loaded into a special chamber called a chromatograph. Alcohol is evaporated from the blood plasma, and its content is determined by the amount of ethanol vapor, displayed on the monitor screen of the device. This method is quite accurate, and it is what is used in practice with drivers.
- Enzyme analysis involves the detection of alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme that is secreted by the liver after drinking alcohol. If a person drinks, the content of this enzyme increases sharply.
Both methods do not take much time, so a person’s condition can be determined fairly quickly. The results are determined by the following ppm indicators:
- sober state - 0–0.3;
- mild intoxication - 0.3–0.9;
- average intoxication - 0.9–1.9;
- severe intoxication - 2.0–3.3;
- state of torpor - 3.6–3.9;
- The lethal dose is 4.0–5.0.
More on the topic: What driver documents do you need to change when changing your last name?
Blood test readings are considered the most accurate, and positive results of such an analysis can become the basis for the application of liability measures to the driver, including deprivation of rights.
ATTENTION! In order for the devices to determine the state of the minimum stage of intoxication in a person after drinking non-alcoholic beer, he needs to drink at least 3 liters of the drink within about an hour.
Experiments by narcologists
One large drug treatment institution conducted an experiment, studying the effects on the body of non-alcoholic beer Clausthaler and Baltika, kvass, kumiss, and natural apple juice. It turned out that even products that are safe and harmless at first glance can cause more problems than non-alcoholic beer, which is still controversial.
The following conditions were met during the study:
- the subjects did not eat anything during the experiment;
- men who differed in weight, physical parameters and immunity were selected as subjects;
- the study was official, the findings were examined by medical specialists.
Before the test, each man was tested for the presence of alcohol in his blood. None of the people tested positive for ethanol . After the test, the specialists used the same breathalyzer. The results were as follows.
| What did you drink? | What quantity | What the breathalyzer showed (in ppm) | |
| Immediately after taking | After 10-15 minutes | ||
| Apple juice | 500 ml | 0,0 | negative indicators indicating the sobriety of the subjects |
| Kumis | 1,04 | ||
| Kvass | 700 ml | 0,0 | |
| "Baltika" | 1 l | 0,09 | |
| Clausthaler | 0,1 | ||
After 15 minutes, specialists interviewed the men, checking their reaction speed and well-being. It was found that the subjects were sober, there was no alcohol in their body, which was determined earlier.
However, immediately after consuming certain drinks, a breathalyzer detected traces of alcohol. The highest levels of alcohol were found in kumys, but the degree of intoxication was mild .
Experts detected a smell of fumes, a rapid pulse, and slightly noticeable disturbances in speech. The subjects' gait became slightly unsteady.
Thus, even if you drank non-alcoholic beer, it is recommended to wait 10-15 minutes rather than get behind the wheel right away. If you are stopped by traffic police representatives a couple of minutes after the start of your trip, this risks leading to problems.
What happens if the traffic police stops you?
The following points must be taken into account.
Breathalyzers function in different ways. The following situation is quite : a person drank a little non-alcoholic beer, waited about an hour, went on the road, and when meeting with representatives of the traffic police, the breathalyzer revealed the presence of alcohol to a somewhat inflated degree.
A lot depends on the driver’s body. Some people do not feel the least bit intoxicated, but for others the consequences are more serious. It is not recommended to take risks: even the slightest decrease in concentration can lead to an accident.
If a traffic police representative smells even a faint odor of alcohol, he will conduct a breathalyzer test. But if the device shows a zero result, then the traffic police representative can still refer the driver for a medical examination, which will demonstrate traces of alcohol in the blood. As a result, the driver will lose time, receive a fine, and be faced with the need to pick up his own car from the impound lot.
In addition, a person runs the risk of losing his driver's license. So, drinking non-alcoholic beer while driving is not recommended - the consequences may be too negative.
Non-alcoholic beer - what is it?
Whatever one may say, in Russia, as well as in many other countries of the world, people strongly associate fun with alcohol. It’s hard to imagine a noisy group of people happily sipping carrot juice. There are also such, you can’t argue: carrot juice is the official drink of the community of computer game players who call themselves “Ducklings”.
But still, in the vast majority of cases, the celebration involves drinking alcohol. And in this case, the person behind the wheel usually feels uncomfortable. If everyone around you drinks strong drinks, and you choke down one cup of coffee after another, willy-nilly, you feel like a black sheep. In this case, it is much more pleasant to drink at least non-alcoholic beer, thereby not standing out and not causing ridicule from your comrades.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, then you can easily afford a bottle of such a drink, but it’s better to be careful about drinking two or three servings of such a drink.
Beer Features
There is an opinion that non-alcoholic beer is a “carbonated drink”, which, thanks to flavoring additives, acquires a resemblance to real beer. It turns out that there is no alcohol in such a drink and therefore it can be safely consumed by every beer-loving driver.
In reality, this position is the result of some ignorance, since most non-alcoholic beers are initially produced using traditional technology and the only difference is that at the final stage of the process the alcohol is removed from it in one way or another. However, no modern technologies make it possible to completely get rid of the alcoholic component from ordinary beer, so even in non-alcoholic beer alcohol is present to some extent. This circumstance must be taken into account when understanding the question of whether it is possible to drink non-alcoholic beer while driving.
At the same time, there are a number of specific types of non-alcoholic beer, which are produced in accordance with a special recipe that excludes the presence of ethyl alcohol in principle. Drinking any volumes of such beer completely eliminates any possible concentration of alcohol in the body associated with them.
Placebo effect
But everything is not so simple; there are other factors that need to be taken into account. Both types of beer have the same taste, and the drinking process itself is no different from drinking any alcoholic drink. All this creates a characteristic atmosphere that influences people who drink alcohol. Many people, after drinking such a drink, which does not contain alcohol, note a state of mild excitement.
Therefore, it is not difficult to drink non-alcoholic beer and get drunk. In addition to the psychological effect of self-hypnosis, a person often exhibits physiological signs of intoxication. The following symptoms appear: impaired clarity of consciousness, confusion of speech, increased heart rate, dilated pupils, loss of control over the situation, redness of the skin.
It is not difficult for a motorist who gets behind the wheel in such a state to get into an unpleasant situation when external symptoms of intoxication, including a characteristic odor and the presence of alcohol in the blood, are evident. Therefore, it will be quite difficult to provide evidence of your sobriety, which means the answer to the question of whether you can get drunk from non-alcoholic beer is positive. In addition, a driver who has consumed the drink may experience a slowdown in reaction and loss of attentiveness, which could result in an accident.
Established standards
It will not be difficult for patrol officers to smell the alcoholic aroma. If suspicions arise, a special device, the Breathalyzer, may be used.
The portable device is equipped with sensitive indicators that work flawlessly and can show with high accuracy exactly how many ppm ethanol is in the driver’s blood.
By law, ethanol levels in 2021 are:
- in blood – 0.35‰;
- in exhaled air – 0.16‰.
If, after the test, the actual indicator exceeds the permissible limit, the driver faces not only a hefty fine for drunk driving, but also deprivation of his driver’s license.
Ways to protect yourself
If you have consumed a soft drink, then the following methods will help you hide the “traces of crimes.” First of all, brush your teeth well for at least 5 minutes, use a mouth rinse, a special irrigator for fresh breath.
There are also other means to eliminate the slight smell of alcohol. They act for 15-60 minutes, but in the case of non-alcoholic beer this may be quite enough .
- Take half a lemon, squeeze the juice out of it and add 2-3 drops of vinegar. The resulting solution is used to rinse the mouth.
- Chew nutmeg or roasted coffee beans for a couple of minutes.
- Chew tea leaves, hold them under your tongue or behind your cheek.
- Nibble on the roasted seeds - they also do a good job of eliminating the slight smell of alcohol.
There are special anti-police lollipops. According to manufacturers, they are able to muffle the smell of alcohol, but their duration of action is short. But the affordable cost of lollipops leads to the fact that many drivers use this product when consuming small amounts of alcohol.
Mint chewing gum should not be used - this may enhance the smell of alcohol and arouse suspicion among traffic police officials.
Interesting Facts
Not only non-alcoholic beer can make a person a little “intoxicated”. Other seemingly harmless products also have this ability - for example, fermented milk drinks, sweets with the addition of rum or cognac, kvass. Even bananas can begin the fermentation process - especially those that are overripe and have small black spots on the peel.
Ethanol is also found in cigarettes, especially if they are flavored. Toothpastes, mouth rinses and a number of medications also contain ethanol .
A survey of drivers was conducted: people were asked whether they had to drive after drinking alcohol. Almost half of them answered negatively, because, in their opinion, it is deadly. 2.7% of respondents occasionally drive while slightly drunk. 14.8% of respondents drove a car while heavily intoxicated.
And one day a lover of non-alcoholic beer decided to prove to the public that this drink does not cause the slightest harm to the condition, so it is allowed to be safely consumed by those who drive. The man bought 10 liters of beer and drank it. An hour later, his health sharply worsened from such a volume that suddenly entered the body. However, ethanol had no effect on his condition. After this, the man tested with a breathalyzer, which showed a result of 0.02 ppm. These are insignificant indicators, indicating that the subject is almost completely sober. Despite this, such research was not taken seriously.
According to manufacturers, non-alcoholic beer, if you don’t get drunk with it, is even good for human health. it is highly not recommended for pregnant women to consume it - even such a drink can harm the condition of the child and mother. By the way, you should not drink non-alcoholic beer if you want to get rid of alcohol addiction: even the smell is enough for a former alcoholic to break down and go on a binge again.
Drinking non-alcoholic beer while driving can lead to different consequences, since there are many manufacturers of this drink, and they all have their own beer production technologies.
