Myth 2: Beer and wine are less intoxicating than hard liquor. Fact: A 12-ounce can or bottle of beer, a 5-ounce serv- ing of wine, and a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor all have about the same amount of alcohol. A six-pack
Some prescription
and illicit drugs can
cause driving impairment.
of beer has about the same alcohol content as six average mixed drinks. However, you can’t tell how much alcohol someone has had by just counting their “drinks,” or number of glasses, they consumed. Some mixed drinks contain more than one shot of alcohol. Some people believe that one kind of alcohol affects them more or less than another; but a standard serving of alcohol has the same power to af- fect the drinker regardless of the type. Myth 3: Coffee, cold showers, exercise, or other home remedies can make someone sober. Fact: Nothing can speed up the body’s rate of processing alcohol or drugs except time. While a number of factors affect how quickly someone becomes impaired (how much they weigh, how much food is in their stomach, their gender, etc.), the body needs about one hour to process each serving of liquor. A person who has had five drinks in two hours has burned off only about two of the drinks and will need at least three more hours of non-drinking time to become completely sober. In addition, some drugs leave the system very quickly, while oth- ers will last for hours. If someone isn’t familiar with how a drug works, they may not know how long the effects will last.
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