How Many Drinks Does It Take To Get Legally Drunk?

Anyone can spot a drunk, but police say it takes some real training to recognize legal impairment. So Tuesday they held a training class to help new recruits recognize impaired drivers. About a dozen volunteers were allowed to drink for three hours. Each volunteer`s height, weight and gender were taken into consideration. "We don`t want everybody to be impaired when they walk in the door. we don`t want anybody to be drunk. We just want them to be right around the legal limit. Because that`s what we`re trying to do, teach them how to determine which ones are above the legal limit and which ones are below," said Caddo Parish Sheriff`s Deputy Richard Porter. The recruits were asked to conduct sobriety tests on the volunteers, without knowing how many drinks they had already consumed. It`s real-life experience that every recruit needs to have. "It takes years to develop the proficiencies to make the DWI arrests. Just about by the time you get good at what you`re doing, you`re not working the road anymore," said Porter. The recruits weren`t the only ones who learned something from the experiment. Many of the volunteers were surprised to find out their limitations. It`s important to note that the volunteers had to sign a waiver to participate in the study. They also had to have a designated driver and their health was never put in danger.