Alcohol behind the wheel
When a person has drunk a lot of alcohol, people are quick to talk generically about ‘being drunk’, although legally they may only be ‘intoxicated’.
A little clarification is in order, now that the difference between the two is quite significant after all: what is alcohol intoxication and what is drunkenness?
Alcohol intoxication
Alcohol intoxication has a rather objective character by merely indicating the presence of alcohol in the exhaled air or in the blood following a breath analysis or blood test.
From a certain limit of alcohol intoxication, driving a vehicle is prohibited. Legally, it is defined as criminal alcohol intoxication as soon as the driver has 0.22mg/l of alcohol in the exhaled air. This corresponds to 0.5 promille of alcohol in the blood. And for professional drivers, the law has become even stricter since 1 January 2015: a ratio of 0.09mg alcohol per litre of exhaled air, or 0.2 promille, is already punishable.
These percentages are partly determined by how your body absorbs alcohol in the blood and breaks it back down. Besides the number of glasses you drank, your gender, weight, whether or not you have eaten, time of alcohol intake relative to the measurement will also be important. A small indication: 2 glasses of white wine yield about 0.55 pro mils for a 65-kg woman one hour after ingestion, about 0.28 pro mils for an 80-kg man.
Dronkenschap
Drunkenness, on the other hand, has a subjective character and is much more personal: indeed, according to the settled case-law of the Court of Cassation, you are drunk only if you are under the influence of alcohol to such an extent that you have ‘lost the permanent control of your actions’, although it is not required that you are ‘unconscious’.
This is not immediately approached scientifically, but judged on the basis of the ‘outward signs of intoxication’ noted by the police in their report, whether or not in conjunction with the determinations of any doctor called in to take the blood test.
It is therefore about the actual state you are in when you are checked. This will mainly involve looking at your orientation in time and space (do you know where you are, what time it is, where you are coming from and where you are going, where you will drive past, etc.), general behaviour, motor skills (waddling walk, speaking with double tongue?), and general appearance (smell of alcohol, orderly clothes, bloodshot eyes?), as well as a possible writing and/or mathematical test.
Therefore, when you are subjected to some questions and tests by the police during an alcohol control, it is very important that you behave as calmly as possible, maintain your natural composure and friendliness, and try to perform everything properly, ... to the extent that this is still possible of course....
The importance of the distinction?
The importance of the distinction between intoxication and drunkenness is significant. After all, the fines for drunkenness are much heavier than for mere intoxication. Moreover, drunkenness always involves a mandatory driving ban (minimum one month) with a prior medical and psychological examination to get your driving licence back.
But perhaps you prefer neither, and we have already convinced you not to drive yourself the next time you have had one too many. By doing so, you not only avoid checks and penalties, but also, and above all, a greatly increased risk of accidents with often serious consequences.
If you still wish further general information, you can always find it at: www.trafficrules.be
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