Let’s face it, most of us have done it. After a big night of drinking we’ve had to front up for work the next morning or needed to drive the car to get to work or take the kids to school. But there’s that fleeting thought – would I be over the limit? Which may be followed by another thought – if I am over the limit is there any way to beat an alcohol test?
There are many reputed ways to beat an alcohol test, so let’s take a look at some of the common ones and whether they have merit.
5 ways to beat an alcohol test
- If you’re gullible enough to want to purchase a mouthwash, gum, mint or spray to help you beat an alcohol test, you’ll find plenty of people on the Internet who are willing to sell them to you. Save your money – these products may mask your breath but they won’t change the amount of alcohol in your system or the amount of alcohol that’s detectable during a breath test. In fact, some products, such as mouthwashes that contain alcohol, may actually increase the amount of alcohol that’s detectable.
- Take a cold shower and drink plenty of coffee to beat an alcohol test. While there is possibly some merit in using these two methods to wake yourself up, they won’t help you pass an alcohol test.
- Put a coin under your tongue. This myth is actually more widespread than you may think but if you believe this myth… Then we’ve got some great snake oil to sell you that will do a better job!
- If you’re pretty sure you are over the limit, simply decline to take the alcohol test. After all, if the police or your employer can’t prove you’re over the limit how can they take action? Our advice – try the mouthwash or cold shower before trying this approach! All Police forces have severe penalties for people who refuse an alcohol test. For example, in Victoria the penalty for refusing a preliminary breath test is at least two years licence cancellation. Your employer is also highly likely to have a policy for an alcohol test refusal. At the end of the day, you’re better off taking the alcohol test and suffering the consequences if you are over the limit.
- Purchase a breathalyser so you can check your alcohol level before hopping in the car or going to work. While this method does have some merit, it’s important to remember that the accuracy of breathalysers, particularly units available to the public, can vary significantly. Use these breathalysers only as a rough guide. Would we risk driving or going to work if one of these breathalysers came back with a 0.04% breath alcohol content reading? No way!
Of course, there is one method that will categorically ensure that you are okay to drive or go to work after a big night out… And that’s simply time. Given enough time between your last drink of alcohol and when you hop in the car or arrive at work, you’ll be under the limit and will beat an alcohol test.
How long? It does depend on a range of factors, including some that are individual, but in general it takes one hour to process one standard drink. You can find out more about the time required in our post on ‘Would you pass an alcohol test?’.
Note: Last year we wrote a post about ‘Can you beat saliva drug testing?’ and it proved to be our most popular post ever. To take a look at the post, and to see if there’s a way of beating saliva drug testing, click on the above link.
