Impairment and self-assessment · Florida
Can you feel fine and still be too impaired to drive?
With Sabrina Jadunandan, Orlando DUI defense attorneyDuration 0:23Reviewed 2026-09-15
English captions are available in the player.
If I feel fine after drinking, am I okay to drive?
No — feeling fine is not the same as being fine to drive. Alcohol affects your reaction time, coordination, and judgment — exactly the abilities safe driving depends on — and impairment does not wait until you feel drunk. As Sabrina puts it, if you've been drinking, leave the car where it is and find another way home. Your car will still be there tomorrow; a DUI — or a crash — isn't worth it.
What this video covers
- How alcohol affects reaction time, coordination, and judgment
- Why feeling fine is not a safe measure
- Finding another way home
Attorney commentary
Feeling fine after drinking is not a legal standard in Florida. Section 316.193, Florida Statutes, addresses driving under the influence by impairment or by unlawful breath or blood alcohol level. A person can be charged based on impairment of normal faculties or based on an unlawful alcohol level, and neither test asks how the driver felt. Reaction time, coordination, divided attention, and judgment are the same abilities a later DUI investigation tries to measure. Those abilities can be affected before a person feels drunk. NHTSA's drunk-driving materials make the same practical point: impairment is not limited to the moment someone feels obviously intoxicated. "I drive better after a couple of drinks" is a myth because alcohol does not improve the skills field sobriety exercises and chemical tests later record. If someone has been drinking, leaving the car and finding another way home avoids both a crash and a DUI investigation. The car will still be there. This clip is education, not a prediction about any charge. Actual Physical Control is a related Florida issue covered in a separate video: a person can face a DUI even when the vehicle is not moving. None of that is a guaranteed outcome. It is why self-assessment at the bar is a poor substitute for not driving after drinking.
Full transcript
Alcohol affects your reaction time, coordination, and judgment — everything you rely on to drive safely. You may feel completely fine, but that doesn't mean you're okay to get behind the wheel. So if you've been drinking, do yourself a favor: leave the car where it is and find another way home. Your car will still be there tomorrow. A DUI — or an accident — isn't worth it.
Florida law and sources
- Drunk driving — NHTSANHTSA
- Florida Statute §316.193 — Driving under the influenceFlorida Legislature
Related videos
Can you face a DUI in Florida if the car isn't moving?
Sabrina explains actual physical control in Florida and how to separate yourself from the vehicle if you're staying put to sober up.
Should you take a breath test after a Florida DUI arrest?
Sabrina separates the administrative licence consequences of a breath test from the criminal DUI case itself.
Keep reading
Alcohol absorption and breath testing
How alcohol absorption timing affects what a breath test actually shows.
Orlando DUI defense
How Sabrina builds a DUI defense around the stop, the testing, and the evidence.
The information on this website is for general information only and is not legal advice.