Q: If arrested for DUI but no preliminary hearing yet, is he still allowed to drink? How about after the hearing? How long after drinking can he drive? Like eight hours? (Pittsburgh, PA)

A: Sometimes a condition of bond if posted through Allegheny County is to refrain from the use of drugs and alcoholic beverages. If so, the answer is that if the person is caught, they may have their bond revoked. If no such condition was placed on the bond, they can drink until sentenced is imposed, if sentence has such as condition. It is said, that on average, the liver takes one hour to metabolize one ounce of alcohol. For most people, one ounce of alcohol will produce a .015 blood-alcohol concentration. This means someone with a .015 blood-alcohol level will have little to no alcohol in their bloodstream after 10 hours have passed. Now obviously, if someone gets hammered, a trace of alcohol can be in their system for much longer, perhaps 24 to 48 hours, but blood- alcohol content depends on other variables such as absorption and food consumption. If the person has a problem with alcohol to the extent they have been arrested for DUI and will likely pay thousands of dollars in costs and fines, and possibly have a criminal record, you would think they wouldn’t want to invite more mayhem in to their life.