drinking and driving

Bandalero · Post by **Bandalero** » 1/27/2003, 11:26 pm

oh man, you would not belive how anal me and my friends are when we have a party. we get everyone's keys and hide them. anyone who is not drinking is free to leave, but if your drunk and you demand your keys, you will get your ass kicked.

another thing that pisses me off about drinking and driving is the liability of a bartender. like if sone guy were to walk into a bar, drink till he's not able to drive, bull shit his way out of the bar (making it look like he's not drunk) and then smash his car into another one, the bartender can be sued. i think that is total bullshit. that's the problem with america, people cannot be liable for their own actions.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » 1/27/2003, 11:39 pm

To a certain extent though bartenders need to know when to cut a person off .. even waitresses are trained to know the signs etc. of a person who shouldn't drink anymore. I was trained in it too actually. If a bartender keeps feeding you drink after drink and then doesn't at least offer to call a cab then I think they should be held partly responsible. According to the training I took, that's part of a bartender's job.

In London some of the bartenders were awesome .. calling cabs for people who shouldn't drive, carrying many a passed out girl to safer areas etc. Being a bartender is a lot more than just serving drinks .. you basically become a baby-sitter

starvingeyes · Post by **starvingeyes** » 1/28/2003, 11:34 am

i. it is not the responsibility of a bartender, waitress, your mother or me to ensure that you do not drink and drive. that in america, individuals on this list can be found legally culpable for the stupidity of somebody else is preposterous.

ii. MADD is an organization which has spun completely out of control. as with virtually all activist groups, after they had made an impact on the problem they were formed to fight [ drunk driving ], their revenues started to decrease. in order to main profitability, despite the fact that they are supposedly a "non-profit" organization, they began to seek out other targets, first drinking [ at all ] and then driving, and now, it seems, drinking itself.

their founder has quit the group and slags them in the press.

iii. a blood alcohol level of 0.8 as the legal standard for impaired driving is completely asinine. there is not one human on the face of this planet who would even experience the slightest buzz after one beer, but yet after drinking one beer, you are not legal to drive.

iv. people drink because it's fun. some people enjoy the taste of alcohol. i, for example, love beer. furthermore, going out and getting plastered everyone once in a while is a great way to let lose and blow off steam.

v. personally, i feel society needs to back off on the whole 'drinking and driving' thing. the 0.8 limit and the proposed lowering of it to 0.6 is not useful for preventing drunk driving at all, just targeting social and light drinkers.

drunk drivers are a problem. however, a person who had 1 highball 3 hours ago is not a risk to anyone. these people do not deserve the stigma and hassle of an impaired driving charge.

i work in the insurance industry and i have seen the damage an impaired can do to a person's life. i have also talked to a number of people who attempted to fight their charges based on the fact tha they were not impaired when they were charged. i like drinking, and i'd like to keep doing it. i don't want to get charged with impaired driving and lose my licence for a year because i used mouthwash that morning.

the blood alcohol standard needs to be raised back to a reasonable level.

mosaik · Post by **mosaik** » 1/28/2003, 4:05 pm

I've been out lots of times with people who've had too much to drink, and they know not to drive home.

It comes down to personal responsibility. but instead of blaming alcohol and punishing everyone, lets just blame those responsibile and punish them.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » 1/28/2003, 7:59 pm

It sucks that bartenders/restaurants can be held responsible but I do understand that and agree with it to a certain extent. Not to the point where the person can take them to court and sue them .. but bartenders/waitresses do go through training to know how to handle people who have been drinking, to know the warning signs of someone who's had too much to drink and to know how to handle a person who is drunk and attempting to drive ... they go through that training for a reason .. being a bartender is more than just serving drinks .. to a certain extent you have to keep an eye on the people around you .. comes with the job. I know here in Canada (at least around where I am anyway) most restaurants require you to have a certificate proving you've taken the course before they'll allow you to work there.

Gimme_Shelter · Post by **Gimme_Shelter** » 1/28/2003, 8:34 pm

Axtech wrote:The problem is, drinking isn't okay either. You could go to a party and tell yourself that if you get too drunk, you won't drive. But that won't work, because once you're drunk, you won't know enough to not drive.

thats not true at all

the android · Post by **the android** » 1/28/2003, 9:55 pm

True story: Two best friends (both 16) go to a party and get trashed. They get SO trashed that one of them asks the other out.

If you're drunk enough to ask your same-sex friend out when you're not gay, you're drunk enough to not know that you shouldn't be driving.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » 1/28/2003, 10:00 pm

Nah .. drinking just makes you much more open and you're not as afraid to say things .. a girl I knew in highschool did the same thing. You just lose your inhibitions and are more open and honest .. turns out the girl was into other girls. There's a big difference between speaking your true feelings and getting behind the wheel of a car ... I used to go out drinking a lot when I had my own place and it was just common sense not to get behind the wheel or to have a DD if you are drinking ..

Bandalero · Post by **Bandalero** » 1/28/2003, 10:59 pm

it's really easy to fake like your not drunk either. a person can easily put on a great poker face and drink till he's a walking coma. there was an incident where some dude drank himself to death, and no one around him noticed. he had a blood alcohol level no less then 5.0. they realized that he was dead in the morning when they found him not breathing. when witnesses were interviewed they all said he was acting normal and did not look drunk. now if some ass hole walks out of a bar because he's got his poker-face on and then wraps his car around a telephone poll, his family can sue the bar-keep? that's fucked up. the bartender didn't force alcohol down his throat, didn't tell him to keep drinking and yet he's liable.

emily · Post by **emily** » 1/29/2003, 7:13 am

Andrea never said the girls had homosexual feelings in the first place. If they didn't, that's just stupid.

Axtech · Post by **Axtech** » 1/29/2003, 8:04 am

One of my friends got trashed at a party and jumped from the top of the stairs and nearly broke her neck.

Just makes you more open and honest, indeed...

potato_girl · Post by **potato_girl** » 1/29/2003, 8:55 am

I know drinking and driving is bad....i'll admit i drink ( but i don't drive when i do drink....

Have any of you seen the new car breathalizer? If you get caught drinking and driving the police and insurance companies install a breathalizer into your car for a year...it's beneficail because your car will not start unless your not intoxicated!

So i guess my main point is drinking is alright if you don't drive and if you do i suggest you get a breathalizer installed in your car :nod:

Axtech · Post by **Axtech** » 1/29/2003, 8:59 am

I think those should be standard in all cars.

the android · Post by **the android** » 1/29/2003, 10:05 am

Emily wrote:Andrea never said the girls had homosexual feelings in the first place. If they didn't, that's just stupid.

Only they weren't girls.

They were guys. We question the sexuality of one of them, but only as a joke because he looks a little fem. I don't really think he's gay, just a little fruity.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » 1/29/2003, 11:43 am

Drinking and driving is wrong .. social drinking is not. There is nothing wrong with social drinking at all. Not everyone who drinks is gonna blurt out homosexual feelings to another, or stage drive off a staircase, or get behind the wheel and kill 3 people .. I'm the first to admit that when you drink too much you may do stupid things but you can still control yourself .. and if you can't .. you're probably passed out and sleeping it off anyway.

Bandalero · Post by **Bandalero** » 1/29/2003, 11:59 am

"beer is a great servant but a horrible master."

drinking is great, i love it. :drool:

the android · Post by **the android** » 1/29/2003, 12:14 pm

People love smoking too, until they say "HOLY SHET! I've only got half a lung!"

ArlieKoz13 · Post by **ArlieKoz13** » 1/29/2003, 12:16 pm

I can understand how people can enjoy drinking, I drink every once in a while, nothing too extreme. Smoking is just beyond my comprehension. I just do not and probably never will understand how people can choose to put smoke in their lungs voluntarily.

the android · Post by **the android** » 1/29/2003, 12:18 pm

Me neither, but that's a different topic.

ArlieKoz13 · Post by **ArlieKoz13** » 1/29/2003, 12:20 pm

True, I just felt the need to contribute somehow.