once - had a 750 mL (~25 oz) beer that was 15% ABV, then drove a couple hours later. being used to drinking 4% alcohol piss beer, that was like the equivalent of 7 key lights in a short period of time, so it got me drunk quickly and i was still more than buzzed a couple hours later
have set a limit on myself now of two drinks
Mojo Jerkin wrote:
I am a late 40's guy, and when I was in hs the drinking age was 18. And, even at 16 everyone had a friend who looked 18 or an older brother that would buy beer for them. The result was that for most of my last two years in high school and first year in college, I either drove drunk or probably was in a car with someone who was on a weekly basis.
At the time I justified it because we never "joyrided" - we were always as attentive and careful as we could be when driving after drinking.
That was all before I lost a good friend to this stupidity. For a while, I just thought maybe I was unlucky. But, if you talk to someone my age or older, pretty much everyone can talk about a friend they have lost because of this.
There is no doubt that I consider my behavior in those years to be the most regretful thing I have done in my entire life. If you are younger, trust me, when you get older you will realize just how insane it is to drive drunk.
Exactly this. Only thing I can add is that I was arrested for DWI (that's what they call it in Texas "driving while intoxicated") on my 17th birthday. Blind drunk and ran the car off the road in the desert. Cops found me and my friends staggering around like a bunch of idiots. Thankfully no one was hurt. This was in '78 and I spent the night in jail and was put on probation for two years. Funny thing - I found myself in the jail cell with a joint still in my front shirt pocket - cops didn't search me well enough! It still took me a few more years to wise up and never repeat that stupidity again.
So what happened to the joint?
Yes, too, too many times (of course, once is too many ) but I was stupid too, too many times. Luckily, no one was hurt. Also, I was so stupid that I didn't see I had a real problem with alcohol until I was 52 and that was after decades of abuse. I don't know how I'm still here relatively healthy considering the amount of booze I've ingested over the years. Perhaps running helped in that regard.
Anyway, sober now for 19 months.
been there1 wrote:
What is the world's population? That's how many have driven drunk.
Nope, subtract at least one from that number. I've never gotten behind the wheel after drinking. Never.
In my experience, the kind of jocular/bogus "statistic" supplied by bt1 is generally trotted out by people who drive drunk and want to feel a little less like the assholes that they actually know they are.
if you can't have a few beers and drive home at the end of the night you can't call yourself a real man. . . flagpole - add it to the list. ya'll are a bunch of prudes
would like to add - black and white rules are over simplifications of an extremely complex society. morals resultant of laws are as useless as religion; they hinder progress!
:o) wrote:
blah blah blah
Great. More (attempted) self-justification from a drunk driver.
100% is a big number ... but silly thread and seriously are about the only posts on this thread that make much sense.Driving while so drunk you are physically impaired / passing out, is a very bad thing to do. Other than that, DWI is overly demonized to the point of absurdity. Make blowing a 0.08 equivalent to dialing a phone, texting, drinking coffee, eating a sandwich, driving in the rain, driving while sleepy, arguing with a passenger, driving an older car, driving without checking tire pressure, etc etc etc etc etc etc. Treat all these people as the same a-hole if you're going to be fair.
seriously.... wrote:
This guy is 100% right. If it wasn't for MADD drunk driving wouldn't be as a big of deal as it is now. Susan Komen for breast cancer isn't the worst form of cancer, it's just a very well marketed...just like MADD. There are a lot of sanctimonious aholes who text while driving, eat while driving, drive impaired due to medication or being tired that will persecute anyone who drinks and drives. I ride a motorcycle and it's scary how many people drive distracted which can be just as bad or worse than drunk driving but since there isn't a "driving while distracted" lobby it's not against the law.
almost everyone is wrong wrote:
Driving while so drunk you are physically impaired / passing out, is a very bad thing to do. Other than that, DWI is overly demonized to the point of absurdity. Make blowing a 0.08 equivalent to dialing a phone, texting, drinking coffee, eating a sandwich, driving in the rain, driving while sleepy, arguing with a passenger, driving an older car, driving without checking tire pressure, etc etc etc etc etc etc. Treat all these people as the same a-hole if you're going to be fair.
There's obviously a huge continuum of types of drinking and driving, with varying levels of risk. While there are some legitimate arguments for treating it all the same might under the law as a matter of public policy, it makes no sense to treat all drinking and driving as MORALLY equivalent.
Lets suppose that driving became 5x more dangerous, statistically, when one has a BAC of .1. Now let's suppose someone at that BAC level drives 2 miles home from the bar. Then we can say that he has unnecessarily exposed the general public to the same quantum of risk that I would expose them to when I go for a sober, 10 mile drive for fun the next day. Yet nobody thinks there's anything wrong with driving for fun. Heck, we might as well demonize people who use cars to commute, despite having accessible rail options.
To be clear, I'm not ADVOCATING drinking and driving in any form. I'm just saying that the reflexive demonization of anyone who gets behind the wheel after having a drink or two isn't based on a rational view of risk.
lsks;ldgjsldjgsldgjs;ldkj wrote:
go out once/twice a week. Dont get smashed but probably have 8-10 beers on a 130 pound frame over 4 hours.
Just buckle up, go slow, and follow all the rules. Im actually pay more attention when drunk.
130 lbs,, 10 beers, and I can pretty much guarantee you are over the legal limit. God forbid you get pulled over for a tail light being out, registration being past due, etc. You will be really screwed, and it won't have anything to do with an actual moving violation.
In any case, my advice to everyone is to buy a personal breathalyzer. A decent one costs around $100, is easy to carry, and will help you decide whether or not you are able to drive by the numbers. I've had one for years now, and was amazed at the number of times I felt fine, but blew .08 on the breathalyzer after a few IPAs. You may very well be driving over the legal limit, and have no clue that you are doing so.
If you're going to have a couple before heading home, be smart. Have a backup transportation plan and bring along a breathalyzer to be your impartial judge.
RRRR wrote:
In any case, my advice to everyone is to buy a personal breathalyzer. A decent one costs around $100, is easy to carry, and will help you decide whether or not you are able to drive by the numbers. I've had one for years now, and was amazed at the number of times I felt fine, but blew .08 on the breathalyzer after a few IPAs.
I did not realize that such things are available. Thanks for the tip.
sjjrt wrote:
RRRR wrote:In any case, my advice to everyone is to buy a personal breathalyzer. A decent one costs around $100, is easy to carry, and will help you decide whether or not you are able to drive by the numbers. I've had one for years now, and was amazed at the number of times I felt fine, but blew .08 on the breathalyzer after a few IPAs.
I did not realize that such things are available. Thanks for the tip.
If you are young and have friends and you and your friends are competitive, just defer to a DD. A personal breathalyzer will lead to over imbibing for the sake of competing to see who will have the highest BAC.
No, never. Though honestly the fear of having a DUI on my permanent record is even bigger than the fear of actually crashing.
I hate it when people act like everyone does it. No, they don't, that's just what you're telling yourself to feel better.
I dont drink enough to get drunk anymore but when I was a teenager and first got my license I did it alot. Sometimes didn't remember driving home. That's how it was. Most people I knew and worked with all drank. My first job was for a vending company and we delivered vending machines to all kinds of locations, bars, stripclubs, etc. I was very young and worked with alot of older guys who always drank. If we drove to a location to deliver a pool table, jukebox, etc the first stop these guys made was to the package store and get some beers for the ride. I was underage and drinking. Then I got my own license and followed in their footsteps. I know it was dangerous now but back then it seemed all too normal. That's what we did, drank hard, worked hard and partied hard. I have to admit it was some of the best times I had back then.
+1 ... your post made we wish I was better at writing. You, sir, are not wrong.Really good point that just because the law tends to lump very different offenders together (just like they do with burglary, drug possession, etc) doesn't mean we need to do any such thing when moralizing. And people who choose to commute instead of light rail, car pool, etc almost certainly do vastly more damage than DWI.Here's another unpopular point: not all accidents in which a driver had an illegal BAC, were caused by the illegal BAC. Any more than they were (or weren't) caused by the driver's speed, time of day, type of vehicle, etc etc. So when someone (eg) MADD cites "x,xxx deaths were caused by drunk driving", they are not speaking accurately. In other words, when a 16 year old new to driving (and drinking) has 6 beers in 3 hours, and gets behind the wheel of their family's crappy 2000 Sentra (the extra car), at 3am to go get Jack in the Box, in a car with 6 people in it, all laughing and having a blast, playing music, etc etc ... when that person gets in an accident and blows a 0.04, how is the cause "Drunk Driving?" Legally, that might be the only feasible way to treat it. But morally we're allowed to be a little more nuanced. And, morally, we should.
800 dude wrote:
There's obviously a huge continuum of types of drinking and driving, with varying levels of risk. While there are some legitimate arguments for treating it all the same might under the law as a matter of public policy, it makes no sense to treat all drinking and driving as MORALLY equivalent.
Lets suppose that driving became 5x more dangerous, statistically, when one has a BAC of .1. Now let's suppose someone at that BAC level drives 2 miles home from the bar. Then we can say that he has unnecessarily exposed the general public to the same quantum of risk that I would expose them to when I go for a sober, 10 mile drive for fun the next day. Yet nobody thinks there's anything wrong with driving for fun. Heck, we might as well demonize people who use cars to commute, despite having accessible rail options.
To be clear, I'm not ADVOCATING drinking and driving in any form. I'm just saying that the reflexive demonization of anyone who gets behind the wheel after having a drink or two isn't based on a rational view of risk.
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I used to drink and drive a lot but never wasted and most likely very close to the legal limit. Always felt like an arse but also knew I wasn’t really putting anyone in danger because I always drove safe and motor function was perfectly fine. I’ve been caught before but the cop let me call someone else because I was honest and as I mentioned I was never ever wasted or beyond buzzed. Lots of people do it and I’m saying it’s not right but there’s not enough cops to catch everyone
I never drove drunk. I don't drink anything if I am driving because I don't want to be vulnerable to an error in toxicology. I don't get drunk at all. Maybe slightly buzzed every now and then at home. If you have kids you can't get drunk if you are the responsible adult in case they need something that involves driving.
I drove way too high on marijuana and was tired. I quit marijuana the next day. That was back when you could get in a lot of trouble for 1/4 ounce in possession and I was in the military too, so it was easier to just quit. I'm not against marijuana, alcohol is more problematic, but I wouldn't smoke and drive.
So many times and so very intoxicated that I couldn't possibly count. I've crashed cars, forgotten where I parked and driven in a blackout state. Never had a DUI. I don't drink anymore.