What you must know about driving the morning after drinking at your Christmas party

Christmas party time is well and truly upon us in Sheffield, presenting workers with the perfect opportunity to let their hair down.Â
When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?
When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?

Many Christmas parties are synonymous with embarrassing moments and, sometimes, one too many glasses of Prosecco. 

But, regardless of the night before, Christmas is a particularly busy time of year and most of us can#t afford to sacrifice a whole day to a hangover. 

When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?
When can people drive in the morning after drinking alcohol the night before?
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Whether it's visiting family and friends or doing our last bits of Christmas shopping, it's not hard to notice there's a lot more traffic on the roads. 

So, if you didn't quite know when to say when at your Christmas party, when can you legally get behind the wheel again? 

Research by road safety charity Brake has found that one in five drivers admit to driving the morning after they've had a lot to dink the night before. 

Drink Aware said the research suggests people are failing to understand that they're still affected by alcohol, despite going to asleep. 

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The legal alcohol limit for drivers in England and Wales is 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood or 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. 

So, when you drive the next morning all depends on how much you've drunk and how quickly your body can get rid of it. 

Alcohol is removed from the blood at the rate of about one unit an hour but Drink Aware warns that this varies from person to person. 

Dr Paul Wallace, Drink Aware's chief medical adviser, said: 'It can depend on your size and gender, as men tend to process alcohol quicker than women; how much food you've eaten; the state of your liver, and your metabolism (how quickly or slowly your body turns food into energy).

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'The best advice, if you don't want to put yourself and others in danger, and break the law, is to avoid alcohol altogether the night before you have to drive.

'If you're thinking about driving the morning after you've been drinking, it's best to consider how much you had, and how late into the night it was before you finished your last drink.

'There's no fail-safe way to guarantee all the alcohol you've drunk has left your system, so it's important not to take risks.'

Dr Wallace also warned motorists to consider the strength of the alcohol they've consumed. 

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For anyone wanting to drive the next day, he advised them to alternate the alcoholic drinks with water and stop drinking well before the end of the night. 

'Having a cup of coffee or a cold shower won't do anything at all to get rid of the alcohol,' says Dr Wallace.

'They may make you feel slightly different, but they haven't eliminated the alcohol in any way.'