Overview
- After drinking two pints of 4.6% Stella Artois and waiting about 20–30 minutes, TikTok creator James Palmer-Rimmer recorded a personal breathalyser reading of 0.014 and said he would be over the limit to drive.
- Specialists quoted in coverage say the belief that two pints is safe is a myth because blood alcohol concentration varies with factors such as body weight, sex, metabolism and recent food intake.
- UK limits are 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath or 80 mg per 100 ml of blood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with stricter thresholds in Scotland of 22 micrograms per 100 ml of breath or 50 mg per 100 ml of blood.
- The video and reports stress that personal breathalysers can be unreliable and should not be used to decide fitness to drive, with the safest advice being not to drink and drive.
- RAC figures cited in the articles report 4,620 alcohol-related crashes last year causing about 6,800 injuries and an estimated 290–320 deaths, and penalties for drink-driving include fines, bans and possible imprisonment.