The legal limit for alcohol when driving

Not feeling drunk doesn’t actually mean you aren’t. If you decide to drink, take a breathalyser test, which will let you know whether or not you should be driving.

A variety of breathalysers are available to buy at www.breathalysers.co.za or tel. 011 023 8955

Otherwise, follow these rough guidelines to make sure your alcohol consumption is safely within the legal limits. However, it’s important to remember that different people react to alcohol in different ways, so it’s always best not to drink at all if you’re planning to drive.

One unit of alcohol =

  • 2/3 of a cooler
  • 2/3 of a beer
  • ½ of a cider
  • 75ml red wine; 90ml white, depending on the alcohol content of the wine.
  • 1 tot (25ml) of spirits
  • ¼ to ½ of a cocktail, depending on what’s in it

1 unit = 0.02g blood/ 0.10mg breath
Legal limit = <0.05g blood/0.24mg breath