When an Arizona police officer conducts a breathalyzer or blood test, they’re attempting to determine your blood alcohol level. This is the percentage of alcohol in your blood stream.

In Arizona, your blood alcohol level cannot be over .08. If you are over that limit, you will be charged with a DUI, and the results of any tests administered will be used against you in court. That’s why you want to make sure you don’t go over that limit.

What is a standard drink? A standard drink is 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of most beers, or 1.25 ounces of  80 proof liquor.

To make sure your blood alcohol level isn’t over the legal limit, you need to calculate how much you can drink over a certain period of time. You can do this by using a blood alcohol chart. These charts use your weight to determine what your blood alcohol level will be if you have a certain amount of standard drinks. For example, according to these charts, a two hundred pound man would need to drink four drinks to reach a BAC, or blood alcohol level, of .08.

However, you need to take into consideration the time that elapses between those drinks. You can calculate this by subtracting .01 for every forty to sixty minutes of drinking. So if that two hundred pound man had four drinks over a four hour period, theoretically he’d be at .02, not .08.

These charts are to be used only as a guide. There are many factors that could skew the results like a person’s muscle composition and what they’ve had to eat. However, if you’re smart and drink responsibly, using the chart, you should be able to determine how much you can drink over time so that you don’t go over Arizona’s BAC limit and get stopped for drunk driving.