Diet drinks as mixers result in higher breathalyzer readings

Research has revealed that mixing artificially sweetened beverages with alcohol results in higher breathalyzer readings.

An Australian research teams studying the metabolism of soft drinks found that artificially sweetened drinks provide an average breath alcohol concentration of 0.065 per cent compared to 0.045 per cent for conventionally sugary carbohydrate-laden drinks, just below the legal driving limit of 0.05 per cent, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Chris Irwin, PhD candidate at Griffith University said that choosing drinks that have diet mixers might put people over the permissible limit, but having a carbohydrate based drink with alcohol could keep them under the limit.

The study also found that dehydration has a minimal effect on driver behaviour.