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Permissible blood alcohol content. Permissible alcohol limit in ppm: current information

In Russia, administrative and even criminal liability is provided for driving a vehicle while drunk. Legislation in this area is constantly subject to change, as authorities strive to find the best option and protect road users as much as possible from the danger posed by the presence of a drunk driver on the road.

At the moment, administrative liability for persons driving a vehicle while intoxicated is provided only if alcohol is detected in the exhaled air using a special breathalyzer (when the driver needs to exhale air into a special tube). The permissible alcohol limit in 2017 is no higher than 0.16 mg/l of air (0.16 ppm), which approximately corresponds to 0.35 ppm of alcohol in the blood. Exceeding these indicators is classified as a state of intoxication. But at the same time, when this fact is established by determining the amount of ethyl alcohol in the blood, administrative liability does not arise.

For 2018, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared a bill to amend Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which it is proposed to apply administrative liability when confirming the fact of intoxication through a blood test. Wherein permissible norm Blood alcohol level for 2018 in Russia will be set at a level of up to 0.3 g/l of blood.

The new rule will apply when it is impossible to establish alcohol intoxication through the use of devices for analyzing exhaled air (for example, if the driver loses consciousness or is in a state of extreme intoxication and is unable to use a breathalyzer). If the analysis shows that this indicator is exceeded, the citizen will be considered drunk and bear the responsibility provided for by law. This provision will take effect on January 1, 2018.

Foods that increase alcohol levels

There are food products and other substances that are not related to alcoholic beverages, the consumption of which, when tested, will show the alcohol content in the body, which at first glance makes driving a car unacceptable. These include:

  • overripe bananas;
  • kefir, ayran, kumiss;
  • black bread;
  • kvass;
  • grape juice;
  • chocolate candies
  • breath fresheners;
  • individual medications (Aflubin, Pertussin, Bittner balm, Rhinital, Corvalol, etc.).

The main difference is that such alcohol “dissipates” from the body quite quickly. For example, a test immediately after consuming half a liter of kefir will show about 0.19 ppm, which exceeds the permissible values, but after 15-20 minutes nothing can be detected in the blood. These results will be individual for each person depending on age, gender, metabolic rate, so on the eve of the trip it is better not to consume such products so as not to add unnecessary problems to yourself.

Punishment for exceeding acceptable levels

The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for the following punishment options:

  • for driving while intoxicated, a driver's license will be deprived for 1.5-2 years and a fine of 30 thousand rubles;
  • if you try to drive a vehicle while drunk again, a fine of 50 thousand rubles will be imposed, and the period of deprivation of your driver’s license will be increased to three years;
  • if you refuse a medical examination, a punishment similar to the first paragraph is provided.

Important! If the owner of a vehicle has transferred the right to drive it to a person who is intoxicated, then the car owner is subject to a penalty of 30 thousand rubles. fine and deprivation of a driver's license for up to two years.

For December 2018, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also plans to increase the maximum fines and terms of imprisonment for drunk drivers, and bills on these issues have already been submitted for public discussion.

Video advice from a lawyer: what to do if you are stopped for smelling of alcohol

A person who dares to drive a few hours after drinking strong drink poses a danger to himself, other road users and pedestrians. It is for this reason that traffic police officers have the right to force any driver suspected of drinking alcohol while driving or immediately before driving a car to undergo a test for the content of ethyl alcohol in their exhaled air or blood. If it turns out that the permissible limit of alcohol while driving was exceeded, you can count on a fairly long-term deprivation of your driver's license.

Not just alcohol

Until September 1, 2013, according to the law (Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), drivers could be punished even for containing 0.01 ppm of alcohol in their exhaled air. Today, according to the new law (amendment to Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), this figure is 0.16 ppm, and this is already the optimal solution.

The fact is that a certain dose of alcohol in the blood and air accumulates in the human body during metabolic processes, as well as within several hours due to the use of certain products and means:

  • fermented milk products;
  • kvass;
  • carbonated drinks;
  • overripe citrus and other fruits;
  • jam or jam that has exceeded its expiration date;
  • alcoholic herbal tinctures;
  • some medications.


If the driver has any of the above in his stomach, after some period the permissible level of alcohol in the blood will be exceeded - slightly, but the breathalyzer will show this. It was precisely in order to reduce the number of unfair decisions of the traffic police leading to unjustified punishments that an amendment was adopted abolishing the so-called “zero ppm”. And that is why today it is possible to enjoy kvass or kefir without fear of exceeding the ethanol content in the blood.

Acceptable quantity

The unit of ppm is a human-identifying value that is an indicator of how much alcohol is contained in a driver's blood sample. You can drive, as stated above, with a volume of no more than 0.16 ppm in the exhaled air and no more than 0.35 ppm in the blood. This indicator means: the maximum permitted dose has been drunk, after which it is assumed that the breathalyzer will correctly record a violation. Knowing the specific permitted amount of ppm, each person can approximately calculate how much alcohol he can drink in order to get behind the wheel without the danger of getting fined and deprived of his license, as well as how long it will take for the intoxicating drink to disappear from the body.

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When calculating, many things must be taken into account:

  • dose taken;
  • regularity of alcohol intake;
  • age, weight and gender of the driver;
  • presence or absence of concomitant diseases;
  • normal metabolism.

For example, from the body of a middle-aged man weighing no more than 75 kg, a bottle of beer of a standard volume will be eliminated to 0.21 ppm in 1 hour, and completely within 3 hours. If a man weighing at least 100 kg can recover after 100 grams of vodka within 3 hours, his “drinking buddy” weighing 60 kg will only be able to drive a vehicle after 5-6 hours, otherwise he risks getting into trouble after a pleasant pastime. to a fine and even deprivation of rights. In general, if you need to drive in the morning, in the evening (no later than 21:00) you can allow yourself no more than a mug of beer, a glass of wine or a shot of vodka. After such volumes, the next day the breathalyzer will not record that the permitted dose has been exceeded.

In order to get behind the wheel in the morning without the danger of getting caught by the traffic police and “earning” the deprivation of your license, in the evening men can drink no more than 25 ml of vodka, 240 ml of wine, and 50 ml of red dessert wine. For women, the allowed limit is vodka - 20-21 ml, beer - 200 ml, wine - 40 ml. Only after such doses the breathalyzer will not be a threat. In this case, it is important not only how much a person drank a few hours before driving, but also how he rested during the night (approximately from 21:00 to 07:00). Symptoms such as headache, attention disorder, dizziness, nausea and weakness serve as a warning, and in the event that a person who has been drinking is “caught” by traffic police officers, they serve as proof of one simple fact: alcohol and driving inevitably lead to problems.

Penalties

For being behind the wheel of a car after abusing alcohol, the driver is prosecuted under Art. 12.8 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. If a breathalyzer detects more than 0.37 ppm in the blood and more than 0.16 ppm in the exhaled air, the violator may receive a fine of up to 30,000 rubles and deprivation of a driver’s license for up to 2 years - provided that the incident occurred for the first time.

A “repeat offender” who decides to drive while drunk again can safely count on a fine of up to 50,000 rubles and deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle for 3 years. Additionally, a driver who is “caught” by a breathalyzer at the crime scene with a large dose (from 0.16 to 0.21 ppm) of ethanol in the blood has every chance of receiving a prison term of 15 days.

A driver caught with alcohol while driving and refusing to determine by medical examination how much ethyl alcohol is in his body faces a fine (30,000 rubles) and deprivation of his license (for 2 years).

Data on some standards

The legal limit of alcohol while driving is 0.37 ppm in the blood or 0.16 in the breath. How many and what drinks will be drunk to achieve maximum results, individually in each case. For example, so-called non-alcoholic beer raises the alcohol level to 0.21 ppm, and you don’t have to wait several hours to reduce the level - a breathalyzer will demonstrate the normal level of ethanol in the blood and air in just 15-21 minutes.

It is important to remember that modern instruments for measuring how much alcohol a person has drunk before driving are very accurate. It is almost impossible to deceive them; they detect serious alcohol that has not had time to dissipate several hours before the test, and low-alcohol drinks that have just been taken. A modern breathalyzer is accurate and unforgiving; its “authoritative opinion” is the basis for the fine and deprivation of rights of unreasonable drivers caught with a hangover or drinking alcohol while driving.

The amendment repealing the “zero ppm” law was great news for people who do not disdain drinking, but are forced to limit themselves due to the need to drive a car. The new law does not prohibit driving for a person who has drunk kvass or non-alcoholic beer, as well as more serious alcohol, provided that a certain period has passed since its adoption. And what the law does not prohibit, it allows - driving with an ethyl alcohol content in the body of up to 0.16 ppm (0.21 if not caught by the traffic police).

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Drunk driving is unacceptable. It is unlikely that anyone would think of proving the opposite. After all, most accidents with human casualties occur due to the fault of insane drivers who are deeply intoxicated. But life is life. It also happens that people are subject to fines for driving while intoxicated, who did not even suspect at the time of the check that there was a dose of alcohol in their body that was incompatible with the process of driving. Is there even a legal limit for alcohol while driving?

What is ppm and what is this term used for?

If we take the newest period of the history of our country, then permission to drive a car with a certain minimum content of ethyl alcohol in the blood existed from 07/01/2008 to 08/10/2010. And it began to operate again from 09/01/2013. So, it is not possible to talk about any serious experience of safe travel with a background amount of alcohol in the body, given the negligible duration of liberal legislation. Many drivers still don’t know that there is a legal level of alcohol while driving, and they don’t even know the meaning of the word “ppm.” We will try to fill this gap in their driving education.

To understand this issue, it is necessary to first understand what we will be talking about. The fact is that the very concept of “per mille” (Latin per mille - per thousand) - one thousandth of a whole or 1⁄10 percent (denoted - ‰) entered the life of domestic drivers relatively recently. It is often used when talking about blood alcohol content.

If a person's blood contains ethyl alcohol, then ppm may indicate its exact amount. And it can be used to determine the stage of intoxication in which the tested driver arrives at the time of the test. In other words, ppm demonstrates how many mg of alcohol 0.1 liter of blood contains. The breathalyzer, which determines how much alcohol is allowed while driving, is made in increments of 0.1 ppm. This means that each division indicates 0.045 mg of alcohol in one liter of blood.

But in Law No. 62-FZ of April 3, 2018, which amended Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and established the permissible level of alcohol in the driver’s blood, this term itself (ppm) is not used. It only talks about the permissible content in mg/l (16) in exhaled air and in g/l in the blood (0.3).

Products that may contain alcohol

The period when in Russian legislation there was only a “zero option”, that is, there could be no talk of any permissible level of alcohol, revealed the existence of certain problems. They were connected with the fact that people who did not drink alcohol at all were subject to punishment for drunk driving. You may ask, how can this even be? Very simple. It turns out that a person’s diet contains enough food products that can bring him under administrative charges.

If he prefers:

  • non-alcoholic beer;
  • warm juices;
  • overripe fruits;
  • chocolates;
  • oranges;
  • kvass;
  • fermented milk products,

then ethyl alcohol is present in his body for a short time in insignificant quantities

And since the task of educating drivers was not put at the proper level and tables of this kind were not brought to the attention of motorists, they often found themselves in unpleasant situations. It was enough to drink a glass of kvass, get behind the wheel and be stopped by a traffic police inspector, and an alcohol test could give a positive result.

Apparently, the number of such cases has grown into quality, and deputies decided to soften the legislation. This means that the permitted dose of alcohol while driving in 2019 will be valid, as confirmed by the aforementioned law No. 62-FZ, which came into force on July 3 last year.

Acceptable standards

So, we already know that several years have passed since drivers were allowed to have a small amount of alcohol in their body while driving a vehicle. After many years of administrative terror, they are gradually coming to their senses. And a glass of kefir or fermented baked milk drunk while driving no longer causes them to panic if the car is stopped by a traffic police inspector.

Those who take tincture of valerian or motherwort for medicinal purposes and doses also need not worry: the permitted amount of ppm is quite enough to prevent heart patients from having an attack while taking a sobriety test.

Let's clarify what the minimum permissible level of alcohol content in a driver's blood in 2019 will allow him to get behind the wheel. As we already know, the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Traffic Rules currently allow the presence of alcohol in the driver’s blood in microdoses.

Currently in Russia the permissible level of ethyl alcohol in the blood is 0.3 g/l. And in the air that the driver exhales, the concentration of pure alcohol cannot be higher than 0.16 mg/l.

But you need to understand that a person’s weight greatly influences the results of tests taken to determine the degree of intoxication. Therefore, it will take different amounts of time for everyone to reach the 2019 standard legal blood alcohol level.

As we can see, in people of different size and weight, after drinking the same amount of alcohol and after the same amount of time, the concentration of alcohol in the blood will be completely different.

This once again confirms the rule that states that drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel, and even more so while driving, is unacceptable in principle. Moreover, it does not matter how much is drunk - 10 or 100 g. Any amount of alcohol drunk can lead to an increased level of alcohol in the driver’s blood.

Measure of responsibility

Despite the relaxation of legislation regarding the amount of alcohol in the body of drivers, the punishment for violating established standards remains as severe.

Those drivers whose exhalation during testing is found to exceed the permissible level of 0.16 mg/l are guaranteed to be fined 30 thousand rubles and their driver’s license will be confiscated for a period of 18–24 months. Recurrence of the same violation entails a fine of 50 thousand rubles and deprivation of permission to drive vehicles for 3 years.

In addition, anyone who was fined for drunk driving and deprived of his license, but decided that even without documents he could drive out on the road while drunk, will be subject to arrest for up to 15 days and will pay a fine of 30,000 rubles: in the cell he will have time in peace situation to think about whether it is really important how much ppm of alcohol is allowed while driving for drivers in 2019.

How to drink wisely

After you have taken into account the information on penalties for exceeding the permissible dose of alcohol in the body of a person driving a car, you need to think about how not to become their target yourself. The most effective way to avoid trouble may be to completely and completely stop drinking alcohol.

But, taking into account the traditions of the people and the genes we inherited from our ancestors, who formed these traditions in an unfavorable climate, we understand that not everyone will be lucky enough to quit drinking.

Therefore, we present to your attention a summary table with the help of which everyone can determine for themselves what to drink and how much, as well as whether to drink or not to drink if they soon get behind the wheel.

How to independently calculate how much you can drink

For those who do not feel strong enough to give up alcohol on the day before driving, we suggest learning how to independently calculate the amount of alcohol that may not provoke a critical reading on the breathalyzer.

So, as an example, we take a man whose weight is 75 kg. He drank 200 ml of vodka. Vodka strength is 40%.

  • A man's body contains 70 percent water. This means that 75 * 0.7 = 52.5 kg.
  • Pure alcohol in 200 ml of vodka 200 * 0.4 = 80 ml.
  • We multiply the resulting 80 ml by the alcohol density of 0.79 and get 63.2 grams of ethanol, which the man introduced into his body after drinking 200 ml of vodka.
  • We make an allowance for the fact that alcohol for calculation must be 100 percent. Therefore, we subtract 10% from the resulting 63.2 g. 56.88 g left.
  • As a result of calculations, we obtain a concentration of alcohol in the body of 56.88/52.5 = 1.08 ppm.

We hope that the calculation methodology is clear to you. And now you have the opportunity to independently select the names and doses of alcohol-containing drinks in anticipation of driving trips. Or you can use where all these formulas are already included.

Although we still remain unconvinced and strongly recommend using the desire and opportunity to drive a car as a powerful argument for switching to a sober lifestyle.

Permissible alcohol limit while driving: Video

A car enthusiast with over 20 years of driving experience. Higher technical education. Experienced copywriter, specializing in banking and technical topics.