Blood Alcohol Level Estimates

The Drink Wheel
On-Line BAC Calculator

I have had over a period of hour(s)2.

I am Male Female (Explanation of gender differences in Blood Alcohol Concentration)

and I weigh Pounds Kilograms

and I live in (so that the result is displayed in the appropriate units).



About the Drink Wheel

The Intoximeters Inc. "Drink Wheel" is a form that you can fill out. Upon completion we will instantly compute your estimated blood/breath alcohol concentration ("BAC") based on the information that you have provided and return that estimate to you. It is presented as a public service to Intoximeters web site visitors. Its primary purpose is to provide useful information about the responsible use of alcohol.

Why is it called a "Drink Wheel"?

We call it the "Drink Wheel" because it is based on various paper and cardboard BAC calculators that are given out in alcohol awareness programs, some of which are in the form of a wheel that you can spin around to calculate your estimated BAC based on what and how much you have had to drink.

It would be extremely foolish for us to pretend that our "Drink Wheel" can tell you what your BAC actually is, first because it would open us up to an incredible amount of potential liability and second if it really did work accurately there would be no need for anyone to buy the instruments that we make and sell.

A person's actual BAC is dependent on many complex factors, including their physical condition (body composition, health etc...) and what they have recently ingested (including food, water, medications and other drugs). This site includes a more detailed discussion of the Pharmacology and Disposition of alcohol in humans.

The results that are generated are rough estimates of an average healthy person's BAC assuming typical beverage sizes, recipes and alcohol content. The BAC estimates generated by the Drink Wheel should not be used to infer anyone's fitness to work, drive or perform any other task or duty.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Heather Locklear drunk driving arrest

DUI stories seems to be a favorite topic amongst those who love to gossip about the glamorous life of celebrities. Associated Press reported last week of another DUI incident this time involving Heather Locklear. The actress was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Santa Barbara, an affluent urban S.CA town. As she was leaving a parking lot she was driving odd, erratically stepping on the gas pedal. At the time the arresting police officer noted her car, it was parked on a side of the freeway blocking the road, which triggered the suspicion of the police officer. The actress got out of her car and Heather Locklear drunk driving arreststumbled into traffic in the middle of the freeway.

The police officer did not recognize the celebrity. He suspected that the female driver was under the influence and took her to the police station where she underwent alcohol and drug test. She was suspected to be under the influence of prescription medications and was booked accordingly.

Luckily there was no accidents and no property damage or injuries have been sustained as a result of the famous actress’ reckless behavior.

According to an unnamed resource Heather Locklear was treated earlier this year in a clinic providing medical services to patients suffering from anxiety and depression.

The photo provided by the arresting authority suggests that the actress must have had one too many drinks even before she got in the driver seat of her car. Smeared mascara and messy heir, as well as a strange stare in her eyes is the evidence of severe intoxication.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

How To Stop Your Driver’s License Suspension Due To DUI

Driver’s License suspension is revocation of driving privileges for a specific period of time. Driver’s License suspension is decided at the administrative hearing before the DMV hearing officer. Driver’s License suspension is a separate procedure from the criminal court hearing and is not related to what happens in the criminal department of the court.

If you have been caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you are facing potential Driver License suspension for at least thirty days in CA. After thirty days you can apply for reinstatement of your driver’s license and get a restricted driver’s license that will allow you to drive to and from work, or in the course and scope of employment, and to and from a treatment program, which includes drunk driver school program and AA meetings if you are required to attend them. You can remove the restriction on your drivers license once you have successfully completed the DUI program, or have graduated from the DUI program as they say, and have fully paid for the cost of the DUI school.

Now, is there a away to stop your driver’s license suspension? Yes, there is. It is best to go to an administrative DMV hearing with a lawyer specializing in DUI defense. Usually the DUI lawyer knows the hearing officer and knows how he or she hears cases and decides on driver’s license suspension. Your DUI lawyer will know how to present your case to ensure the highest chance of you keeping your license. When you hire a DUI lawyer, your DUI attorney will usually charge you a flat fee, which could differ depending on the area of your residence. In my area in N.CA it is somewhere around $2,500. The money is payable upfront and includes defense in front of the judge in criminal court, whereas the judge will decide on your criminal sentence, the fine and or community service, the mandatory DUI school attendance and the duration of the DUI class, which will usually depend on whether it is a first or second offence, possible treatment programs, interlock device installation, sheriff’s alternative program (picking up garbage on the freeway), and any other penalties; as well as the appearing with the DUI offender at the administrative DMV hearing in front of the hearing officer.

A smart and experienced DUI attorney will try to postpone your hearing (request a continuance) so that you can have an administrative hearing before you are convicted for the criminal DUI offence. That way the hearing officer does not have substantial evidence of your DUI and may have doubts whether you really were under the influence when you got in your car and started driving. There is a slight chance that you may keep your driving privileges even if you are later convicted for DUI in court.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Drunk Driver Finally Gets Caught and Prosecuted for DUI Offence

DUI story sent by my reader and published in Second Time DUI Offender reminded me of another DUI story that happened to my roommate a few years back and prompted me to rehash it here.

I once had a roommate who drove drunk all the time. When she came home late into the night I was asleep. Some days she asked me to come out and check out her car. She’d say, “Can you please look at my car? I am scared to look at it.” Sure enough, there were some dents but nothing major. I was always worried that she’d get drunk and kill someone. Deep down I was hoping that she’d get busted and could not drive any more. Drivers like her are a big danger of the road, especially at night, when there aren’t many cars on the road and the driver is not restricted by the speed of traffic and can drive as fast as she wants to.

One night she went out drinking again, just like she always did. She came home late and crawled into her bedroom. The following morning I didn’t see her car in the driveway when I went to work. When I came back she told me the car was impounded. The story was that she went to a bar in Walnut Creek and on the way home was speeding trying to get home as fast as she could. Just about a mile away from the apartment building we were living in she ran a red light and crushed into a car that was crossing the intersection. It was a pick up truck that she crushed into and her car was a sedan. The truck wasn’t severely damaged, but her car was smashed. She hit the steering wheel and her rib cage was injured. Not enough to warrant hospitalization though. The front of the car was totaled and she couldn’t drive. Otherwise, she said, she’d drive away scared of the consequences.

The pick up truck stopped at the time of the crash and the driver and his passenger helped my roommate out. They called 911. The police arrived shortly, impounded my roommate’s smashed vehicle and performed field sobriety test on my roommate which she naturally failed.

When she returned home she had no car, and no ability to drive to work. On top of that she was in pain from the sustained injury. Luckily she was the only one who sustained any sort of personal injury. Otherwise she would have been guilty and sustained criminal charges as well as civil penalties for personal injury.

Second Time DUI Offender Loses Driver’s License In Two States

This True DUI Story is my DUI Blog’s reader’s contribution.

Although it’s all long out of my system, when I was young I was what people called WILD! I was never malicious, but always pushed the envelope. I was hooked on adrenalin and loved the rush it gave. I was also a bit of a rebel. I did a lot of wild and crazy things and got away with most all of them. There were however a few I didn’t get away with and was penalized harshly to make up for all the things I did get away with.

As you read the saga please know that I take full responsibility and know full well all of this is my own fault. I take ownership of the situations and the consequences. I do not mean to minimize my blame in any of this. But here is the story. Real and true.


At 18 my license was revoked for DUI. I didn’t get pulled over for poor driving but had the smell on my breath and when I took the breathalyzer I failed. I also had a host of other charges against me for speeding, fleeing and eluding, etc. from other infractions. I made a deal and plead guilty and was supposed to join the Navy. My Drivers license was revoked as part of the deal.


Well I never joined the Navy and years later when I attempted to get my Drivers License back they gave me a hard time because of it. They only granted restricted privileges to allow me to drive to and from work and said If I did ok for that 1st year they would re-instate full privileges.

Well a year later I went back for my new re-instatement hearing and again was only offered a restricted permit. I appealed the hearing officer’s decision and again was denied. I appealed to the State Capitol and was again denied. What’s a guy to do? Remember the rebel thing??? (lol) Who said you can’t sue city hall! Well I did and I won. I sued the Secretary of State of Illinois in a Civil Court and beat him badly. It set a president in the state and they had no sense of humor about it what so ever.

Well they say some people never learn. A few years later I was the driver and a fight broke out leaving a nightclub we were at. My passenger/Boarder beat this guy up in the parking lot and we left. I guess you can guess the rest. When I got home the police were waiting across the street from my house. They pulled in the driveway behind me and wanted to know what happened at the nightclub. I refused to say a word and when they would not let me go inside I said unless I am under arrest I ask you to leave my property. They had no warrant to be there so I was arrested and again was charged with DUI. They were very nice and apologized to me as they were only there to arrest my roommate but as they had no warrant, they needed a reason to be there if I wouldn’t grant permission. I said OK you can be here! (lol) It was too late. I again cut a deal and took a 2 year supervision with no loss of privileges and would have been removed from my record as long as I stayed out of trouble. Easier for some people than others. (lol) Well being a slow learner only when it came to that, a year and a half later I was pulled over for my tires chirping as I pulled away from a traffic light. I was just about to drive away after being let go by the officer who pulled me over when his watch commander pulled up. Wasn’t it my luck I had had a run in with him before. I was asked to wait a moment. The 2 police officers had a discussion and back out of the car I was summoned. This time for a sobriety test. I took it and passed. The officer again told me to have a nice evening. This time the watch commander himself came up to me and Literally pulled me out handcuffed me and told me I was being arrested for suspicion of DUI and taken to the Police Station for a breathalyzer. I called my attorney was instructed not to take the test as I had had a few beers after work and was on my way home.

Well I was on supervision for a DUI but was sure to beat this one in a jury trial. The Judge who handled my violation of supervision decided I should finally pay a penalty and learn my lesson. She wanted me to do jail time for violation of court supervision and would not allow a continuance until I could resolve the new charges. I would have walked away Scott free of all charges and she knew it. I was able to get one continuance but was told when I returned to court to have my affairs in order and bring my tooth brush with me. That I would be sentenced to the maximum penalty for violation of supervision which was 6 months. My Attorney said I would be out in 30 days. Well besides not wanting to sit in a cell for 30 days I owned a home. Had a mortgage. Ran a business, etc. I could not do 30 days. We cut a deal with the States Attorney and the Judge for the new DUI charges. I pled guilty, Paid a $500.00 fine had to do 80 hours community service, attend an out-patient drug and alcohol rehab program (always required by the State of Illinois) and my license was again revoked and also put on a 1 year conditional discharge. Meaning as long as I did everything they asked within the year, no jail. (the treatment is a requirement. Everyone has to go thru it, not that it was assigned just in my case) I did my community service, paid the fines, went thru all their hoops including the program that was assigned etc. A Year later I went back to court and all was over except my license was still revoked. Years later I moved to Florida and was told that Florida would be happy to re-instate my driving privileges. However IL had a hold on my License. All I had to do is call them and have the hold lifted. I called and was told that the laws had once more changed and now I had to go thru a re-instatement hearing back in IL for them to release the hold. Basically I had to convince IL to give me my full driver’s privileges back. The very same thing I had to sue them in a civil court for years ago. Pre requisites for the hearing even being granted are proof and documentation showing abstinence from all alcohol and or drugs for a period of at least 1 year preferably 2, be involved in a program like AA for at least 1 year and working a 12 step program with documented results, and a bunch of other hoops too I wont even mention.

Then when the hearing is granted, fly back up to Chicago, hire an Attorney and have a hearing which I have no remote hope of a favorable outcome except again to be granted restricted privileges to go to and from work. I don’t need a license to get to and from work. It’s not worth the $10k or so it would all cost only to obtain something I really don’t need and I would also have to lie and present false documents as I am not abstinent from alcohol or in AA or working a 10 step program. I hate to lie and will not let them make me for such a trivial gain.

How To Reinstate Driver License After DUI Conviction And Suspension

When a driver charged and convicted with DUI, a driver’s license can be reinstated according to the specific timelines specified in your DMV paperwork. Keep in mind that a criminal DUI conviction, a felony or a misdemeanor is a separate conviction that is not related to the suspension of your driver’s license. The entity issuing suspension on your driving privileges is the Department of Motor Vehicles, while the entity penalizing you for the criminal DUI offence is the criminal division of the court. With that said, some drivers get to keep their driver’s license and avoid the suspension completely while still being charged with the criminal DUI offence.

The DMV administrative hearing is the one where a DUI offender appears in front of a hearing officer for the DMV, who will decide on the license suspension, in other words, the suspension of the driving privileges. If the hearing officer for the DMV (not the judge in the criminal division of the county court) decides that the offense warrants a suspension, a Driver’s License suspension will be placed for a specific amount of time.

In California first time DUI offenders usually get at least thirty day driver license suspension. Upon the expiration of the suspension, a driver charged with a DUI can apply for reinstatement of the driver license contingent upon enrolment in a drunk driver program (DUI school), and obtaining an SR-22 form from the insurance carrier. SR-22 is a form that your car insurance carrier will file (by fax or online) and that the DMV has access to. In many cases, your insurance premium will go up considerably once you inform your insurance carrier about your DUI offence. It is advisable to seek quotes from different insurance companies, because the one you currently have may require you to pay outrageous increase in your insurance rates.

The savings from switching to a different insurance carrier can be substantial. For instance, I was paying around $160 for my monthly insurance premium with Nationwide Insurance before my DUI. I went to Farmer’s to get a quote and they quoted me over $400/mo. The Farmer’s agent recommended that I seek insurance quotes some place else.

In my DUI class, there were some people who gave me referrals to local insurance brokerages, which reportedly specialized in high risk cases such as drunk drivers and insurance for DUI offenders. But after looking into Geico’s insurance rates I was able to find a plan for around $70-80/mo which was substantial savings compare to what I paid before my DUI for my Nationwide insurance premiums. I have to say, however, that in order to get that insurance rate I had to pay off my car loan all at once. So, if your car loan balance is low, pay it off. That way you will be able to save substantial amounts of money on your increasing insurance premiums.

New DUI Law In California

The new DUI law in California is that a DUI offender get a mandatory three-year probation. What that means to a DUI offender is that he or she cannot drive with any blood alcohol level. Even if you have one drink, you still cannot drive. In the event you are found driving with BAC of 0.01, you will be arrested and thrown to jail. That’s what they now call zero tolerance. No drinking and driving for three years.

So, what does it mean for those who have been caught with 0.08 BAC and charged with a DUI? In addition to DUI school of at least four months (they say it’s three, but it really is four months because of how the DUI school program is set up), fine or community service, and no drinking and driving at all for three years. How can you go out with your co-workers or have a date when you can’t have any alcohol? For many it’s going to be a challenge, but there are also ways to work around it, such as taking public transportation if you live in an area where you can easily get around by using public transit, or taking a cab is another option for convicted DUI offenders.