If you have been drinking and you are deciding whether or not you should drive, you may be interested in ways to sober up quickly. Maybe you feel like you are slightly too impaired to get behind the wheel, but you do not want to wait for hours so that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) will go down.
What some people do is drink a cup of hot coffee. They believe that this will sober them up. Is that actually true, and would a cup of coffee prevent you from being arrested on DUI charges?
You’re just alert and impaired
The reality is that coffee does not sober you up. The caffeine can make you feel more alert. Coffee late at night can also wake you up. Some people mistake this for being sober.
While being more alert and awake can help you drive, it doesn’t actually lower your BAC at all. So if you took a breath test, your blood alcohol concentration would still be just as high as it was before. You may not feel as groggy or tired, but the officer can still arrest you when he or she sees the results of your breath test.
What can you do?
There aren’t any tricks that can lower your BAC. Coffee doesn’t work, and neither does eating a big meal, drinking a glass of water or taking a cold shower. The only thing that works is time, as your BAC should go down by about 0.015% per hour.
If you drive while you are still technically under the influence and find yourself facing criminal charges, be sure you know what legal options you have.