Do you drink and drive?

[ringmastery]

If you are driving to a bar or club, how much do you drink before you've had enough?

[bif]

1. More than I should.

But only if I'm close to home. Like a few blocks away. And I drive real carefully. If I'm at a family function, we let our 15 year old drive.

[Bucky]

2. If you're drunk, any time on road is a hazard. So drunks must drive faster

It only stands to reason that the faster you drive, the less time you'll spend driving drunk. Right?

[commander bunnypants]

3. Makes sense to me

and if you dont put your lights on the cops cant see you!!

DDQM

[Bucky]

6. HA! Excellent point! Also, if you restrict your driving to sidewalks...

I wonder if this is how the president gave up drunk driving

[Padraig18]

4. I won't drive at all.

Tony would KILL me...

[Kellanved]

5. huh

I am a city dweller, as such I was never able to understand the logic of driving to a bar with a car. In fact I'm unable to understand why people are using their cars at all in this city :shrug: .

A somewhat limited and arrogant view, I agree.

[dolo amber]

7. Does DRIVING

people crazy when you DRINK count? :silly:

[Rainbowreflect]

8. NO!!!

My sister worked for MADD for 14 years. If I got a DUI, I would be out of the family and out of a job.

[Jack_Dawson]

10. MADD was a good idea that's gone overboard

Just my $.02

[gyopsy]

12. They do good things

I was disturbed to discover that our local MADD leader in Palm Beach, FL used to moleste children. They fired him but the damage that event had on MADD in my mind lingers.

It's a shame because I do think they do very good work for the community for the most part.

[prolesunited]

17. HUH?!?!?

On what basis do you say that? Do you realize how many lives their efforts have saved.

And, no, I don't drink and drive. I either just have one or two drinks when I arrive and stop or make other arrangements.

[Jack_Dawson]

19. MADD - A Good Idea Gone Bad

http://www.talkleft.com/archives/001908.html#001908

MADD’s activities were originally geared towards legitimate educational and victim support oriented functions. MADD’s political focus was geared towards removing chronic/alcoholic drunk drivers from the nation’s highways. Responsible social drinkers who drove home after a wedding or after good conversation with friends at the neighborhood pub were not targets of MADD’s efforts. To the extent that MADD has worked to support victims and to educate the public about legitimate chronic alcoholic/drunk driving issues it should be commended. Unfortunately, in recent years the national MADD organization and most of it’s local chapters have been taken over by ultra-conservative, anti-alcohol extremists who have adopted a political agenda that threatens the second coming of Prohibition.

Instead of focusing on ways to remove the chronic/alcoholic drunk driver from our highways, MADD’s primary focus is upon "drivers who have had something to drink.....

MADD’s modus operandi is to use generalizations, misstatements, scapegoating, distortions of the truth and victimization propaganda to force the federal and state governments to pass increasingly irrational and draconian DUI laws. MADD seeks to clone itself onto local governments (in much the same manner as did the National Socialist Party in Germany during the years following World War I ) by entering into government/private sector "partnerships"; by having it’s propaganda displayed in government buildings; by having it’s logo attached to government vehicles and police uniforms; by giving awards and political support to judges and other public officials who are either afraid of, or who support, their agenda; and by working to require citizens who have been criminalized for DUI to attend mandatory MADD propaganda seminars as a condition of probation.

If MADD’s political agenda is ever fulfilled, no person in the U.S. will be able to drive home after drinking a couple of beers at a ball game or after enjoying wine with a meal at a restaurant without violating the law, risking arrest and being subjected to unlimited civil liability. If MADD’s attempts to criminalize low BAC drivers really saved lives it would be one thing. However, all available valid government data indicates that it does not. Even the principal founder of MADD has left the organization, citing a lack of focus on the real public safety issue, that of getting high BAC chronic/alcoholic drunk drivers off the road.

[prolesunited]

24. Well, that certainly seemed fair and balance

"who have adopted a political agenda that threatens the second coming of Prohibition"

"MADD seeks to clone itself onto local governments (in much the same manner as did the National Socialist Party in Germany during the years following World War I"

citizens who have been criminalized for DUI to attend mandatory MADD propaganda seminars as a condition of probation

None of this rhetoric seems a bit over the top to you. Exactly what do you and this author think MADD's political agenda is?

Nobody is saying that you can't enjoy drinking as part of your social activities, just do it safely and within the law. Why, in YOUR own words, do you have a problem with this?

[Jack_Dawson]

29. What I'm saying is...

If MADD had their way, you'd be thrown in the clink for having a beer at a ballgame and driving home.

Have I been convicted of a DUI? No. Not yet. But if they keep lowering the rate ".05", ".02" our jails are going to be overflowing with people like you and me instead of habitual drunken drivers.

[gyopsy]

9. Never

That's just a crime. I wouldn't be so against it if it were just MY life I were putting in harm's way.

[Supormom]

11. NEVER!

My younger cousin was almost killed by a drunk driver in the middle of the afternoon while riding her bike. She was seven at the time. She spent every winter and summer vacation from school right up to her senior year in high school in rehabilitation.
I was in high school when the accident occurred, and, needless to say, it had a profound affect on me.

[Blueshift]

13. I walk, so I (and you) don't have to worry.

[IronLionZion]

14. no I can usually find a designated driver

take a taxi, walk, or just crash (no pun intended) at the party house.

[GumboYaYa]

15. My youngest sister was killed by a drunk driver.

I don't drink and drive.

[Jack_Dawson]

16. Sorry to hear that RM

[catzies]

18. No.

I wouldn't want to hit a bump or a pothole and spill my beer.

So I just stay home and drink.

[Jack_Dawson]

21. LOL Catzies

Were we separated at birth? What's the dilly-yo?

[catzies]

27. Hey! Maybe we were!

Wassup? :9

[Jack_Dawson]

30. My Kings got LIT UP by the damn NETS of all teams

last night. Yuck. Hope that's the ONE EGG they lay on this roadie. Good Lord.

Catzie are you in your 20s? 30s? 40s? Whattup?

JD

[catzies]

34. My Jazz lost a squeaker in Toronto but Portland lost too

so there was no change at the bottom of the West.

Speaking of brackets IT'S MARCH MADNESS BABY YEAH.

I'm watching Gonzaga/Valpo and praying for a John Stockton sighting.

Indy beat your Kings to the 50-game mark but Sacto oughta do it -- last night was Wizards, not Kings silly. :P

And look who the Kings are playing next...preview of the Finals maybe?


(PS I'm 41)

[Jack_Dawson]

35. Your Jazz losing clinched us a playoff berth

But the Kings are going to be the #8 spot unless they start remembering how to win games.

[catzies]

36. That is SO not going to happen! Fuggedabout it!

Remember, though if the #1 seed is Minny they'd still be out in the first round! :silly:

[supernova]

20. No, I never drink and drive

it's incredibly stupid. Anybody who thinks it's ok needs to be hog-tied where they are until they sober up.

If I drink to much in a bar or restaurant, I'm not the one doing the driving.

[MadHound]

22. Drink and drive? Never!

Stoned, trippin' my ass off, chasing the dragon, tweakin' hell yes! But never, ever will I drink and drive. That shit will kill you:crazy:

[geniph]

23. One glass of wine

or two, if I'm having dinner and dinner takes a couple hours. Never will have more than that if I'm driving, never.

[arcane1]

25. I have it down to a science

If I wish to drink, I do it ALL in the first hour (which is seldom more then 3 drinks, usually 2, when I drive) and spend the rest of the time sobering up from it. After 3-4 hours I'm ready to go :)

[Westegg]

26. Used to, all the time...

I used to motor 15 miles or more, home from the bar or the party, after hours of drinking. Many times, I should not have done so. I lived in L.A. then, a city that's all about driving. Now I live in NYC, and I don't have a car. Nor do I drink.

Fact is, there are many people who, after two glasses of wine, will be so compromised that they should not drive. On the other hand, I, being an "experienced drinker" (you can call me an alcoholic; I won't mind), could consume an entire bottle of wine and, due to my tolerance level, was perfectly fine behind the wheel. Tolerance levels do matter---it's a very individual thing.

I regret those times when I drove home on the freeway with one hand covering an eye so I wouldn't see double. I suppose it's amazing I never caused a wreck. In general, I guess I feel that the average, responsible drinker needs to be aware of his/her own tolerance level when it comes to driving. I think the .1 blood-alcohol level standard was a pretty good one. The .08 that seems to be the norm now is verging on the draconian, in my opinion. Again, it's a very individual thing. But I understand that the laws are designed to be comprehensive and universal.

[tnlefty]

28. No and because of some relatives had to start telling my kids at the age

of 3-4 that they are to ride with NO ONE who has been drinking. This discussion now includes when they are older and out with friends.

[Donkeyboy75]

31. Nope.

It's just not worth the risk. But I don't always define drunk by a BAC. There are other factors involved.

[MrSlayer]

32. Drunk driving is one my huge pet peeves.

The punishment should be the same as for attempted murder in my opinion. There is no excuse for it. Call a cab, rent a limo, ride the bus, have a designated driver or just stay where you are.

[Missy Vixen]

33. I don't drive

if I have had even one alcoholic drink, and DH has the same policy.

When DH was a child, one of his siblings died as a result of the family vehicle being hit by a drunk driver. My youngest sister was born with birth defects we believe were caused by our family's car being hit by a drunk driver shortly before my mother gave birth.

We've had some interesting encounters with friends who think they're getting behind the wheel after multiple drinks while visiting our house. They're still friends, but we make it clear that we don't want intoxicated people leaving our home and hurting themselves or others on the roads.

Sorry to be such a killjoy, but if one can afford to drink, one can either take a cab, ask someone else to drive, or make other arrangements for getting home.

Julie