[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:7, topic:585680”]
… In Montana, for example, you can lose your license and still be required to get daily Breathalyzer tests, even if you don’t have a car or license…
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How can you lose something that you don’t have?
"
If you have some ice cream, I will give it to you.
If you have no ice cream, I will take it away from you.
It is an ice cream koan.
"
To address the OP, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of public intoxication or drunk and disorderly statutes actually assigning a BAC limit. It’s more about your conduct. If you can behave yourself, and comply with the open-container and OWI laws, you can get as drunk as you like without running afoul of these laws. (Although in some circumstances merely being visibly drunk may be considered disorderly, but in these cases you might be risking a disorderly conduct ticket even in states without public intoxication laws.)
Also, as a side note, Utah doesn’t have a public intoxication law. They just have an “intoxication” law. You can get a ticket for being drunk in your own house!
I’m not sure why you’d be astonished that people leaving a place whose chief selling product is alcohol would be drunk. Even if they weren’t, the question completely missed the point, which was people who are out socializing over drinks who reach a BAC that qualifies as legally intoxicated do not simply click their heels and get home. They have to venture into public and, if they’re anything like me, they home most often on foot or by rail. Like Jack says, being intoxicated won’t be an issue unless your conduct is disorderly. There aren’t sidewalk sobriety check points. No one will say anything to you if you just walk home like a normal person and don’t cause any fuss.
I suppose I didn’t think that “having consumed alcohol” is exactly equivalent to “being drunk.” There have been public intoxication laws for a long time. It seems to me entirely possible – or even likely – for people to get home without necessarily violating such laws.
And all the anti-drunken driving PSAs I’ve seen encourage people who are intoxicated to call a taxi cab or other similar service. I’ve never seen it suggested as a general rule that people who are too drunk to drive should necessarily be walking to their next destination.
Okay - how about I rephrase my question for you since you want to go on about how people who have been drinking aren’t necessarily drunk. “How do you think drunk people get home?” Nobody takes a cab home from their neighborhood bar or whatever place they went to happy hour at after work. They hop on the train and go home like everyone else. For what it’s worth, being too drunk to drive doesn’t mean a whole lot in our parts; it means a BAC of .08+, and .08 isn’t even half way close enough to being too drunk to walk or take public transit without causing a disturbance. Seriously, you get drunker than that having tea time with grandma.
I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Let me explain scenario again:
You are convicted of driving under the influence.
They take away your license and require you to stop in for breathalyzer tests every day.
You no longer have a driver’s license, and you can’t (legally) drive, yet they require tests to make sure you aren’t driving under the influence.
If they have evidence that you’re driving without a license, this makes no sense, because they should just be locking you up at that point.
If they do not have evidence that you’re driving without a license, this makes no sense for obvious reasons.
Yet somehow, there were enough idiots in the state legislature to pass this law.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:26, topic:585680”]
You no longer have a driver’s license, and you can’t (legally) drive, yet they require tests to make sure you aren’t driving under the influence.
[/QUOTE]
The regular breathalyzer tests aren’t to make sure you’re not driving under the influence-- they’re to make sure you’re not drinking at all, which is very often a condition of suspended sentence deals for DUI’s.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:17, topic:585680”]
In the ads, the drunk is going home from the bar on horseback instead of driving. The horse is the “designated driver.” They’ve actually gotten a lot of grief for those ads, as climbing on back of a half-ton animal and riding down the street when you’re staggering drunk is pretty darned stupid.
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I definitely wouldn’t support riding while drunk. But on the other hand it’s probably safer than driving if you’re too drunk to even stand straight. If you’re the type of person to regularly take your horse out when you go drinking, the horse is probably smart enough to take you back to your house on its own.
I’m glad someone else brought up this point; I was tired of people framing me as an irresponsible enemy of the state for being concerned about my BAC level when leaving a bar at night
I agree completely. It’s safer, but not safe. Even sober, i’ve been thrown when a horse got spooked.
Nearly every nation or community have a statue against public intoxication. At the least, it’s annoying. At the worst, people are dead. The reality is, it’s anywhere in that spectrum and damages the community at large.
Or at least dump you off in the barn. Depends on the horse thoough, and how it was trained. My Grandmother had a horse that rode her to school every morning (She was a teacher) and trotted home on his own fro the day. around 3:00 if he hadn’t headed out the housekeeper woudl give him a slap on the haunch and he’d go back to pick her up.
Their neighbor though had horses without a lick of sense. She always said the way he’d trained them, they didn’t even know they had feet.
Back to the OP - walking yes, riding a bike, no. The bottom line for the cops is generally “Is he a danger to himself or others?” On a bike you are far more liekly to cause an accident, even just by swerving and requiring those around you to swerve. If you can walk without reeling or swaying you are probably fine to walk. If you are reeling or swaying you’d best get a cab or a designated . . . er . . . guide.
If you are only a danger to yourself, and are not known as a local nuisance, then they’re likely just to insist that you find a safe way home. If you are a danger to others, or it happens often, then they’re going to nail you.
Unless it’s a slow night, or you look like that kid who used to beat them up in kindergarten.
:: D&R::
Was the horse drunk?
Going home drunk is about the only time it would be convenient to have a barn sour horse. Just have someone strap you in the saddle, give him his head, and hope you wake up when he reaches the gate at home. 