drinking while driving
 

I know it's against the law in Italy to drink while driving but is there a drink limit. I.E 2 glasses of wine"" ??.

I think you will find most of us Italians find about 2 bottle of wine is about the maximum society will find acceptable. You'll be in trouble if you get caught though - 1 glass an hour is enough.

sergio <BR> 2 bottles!!!! I should think that you WOULD be in trouble!! <BR> <BR> <BR>

watching the Italians driving I think there is a must to be drunk when driving. Looks like You are not allowed to drive without 5 glases of vino rosso. <BR>Cheers

Ron - If you need to ask, then why not just plan on a taxi or other public transportation?

The limit in all European countries I know of is measured as blood alcohol content (BAC) in terms of grams percent. In many Eur countries it is about .05g% (which the EU has called for), whereas in some others, including Italy, Germany, Ireland and Greece, it is 0.08g%. It's very low, 0.02% in Sweden. In the US, it's often around 0.10, it seems to me (I live in Maryland and they recently lowered it to 0.08 here from 0.10, although DWI offense is lower, .07-0.09). A BAC of 0.08 is about 1.5-2 oz. alcohol per hour (probably 3-4 drinks), depending on person's size and weight; BAC of 0.05 is plenty IMO which is about 2-3 drinks per hour if a drink has about 1/2 oz alcohol. Those limits seem liberal to me as 3 drinks an hour is a lot IMO, but those are stats on MADD re BAC definitions (I have Eur alcohol policies from health data).

I would drink whatever you want so long as you feel fit to drive. A bottle or two with food doesn't have a great effect. Rmember. Italian wines are lower in alcohol than most.

Please, Ron, drinking before driving is bad enough. But I sincerely hope you don't intend to "drink while driving" as your post suggests!

Ron, why dont you just carry on as you do at home normally.I'm sure that anyone could have 2 glasses of wine with Dinner and be o.k.

If the "drinking while driving" law in Italy is the same than in Spain (I almost sure it is 0.05g%), your test will be positive even if you've only drunk 2 glasses of wine.

ron <BR> <BR>you can drink easy a glass or two of wine for dinner and drive. since i drive in italy, and i drive long distances and real a lot, i never ever got into a controll where i had to blow into the machine. i allways say, that i'm quite sure that neather police nor carabinieri know even how this machine works. they controll other things. so i wouldn't be worried about drinking wine and driving around. it's just that in case you get into an accident and even if it's not your faught and they find out that you have some alcohol in your blood you will be the one on the wrong side. <BR> <BR>tanti saluti <BR> <BR>christina