# Strange Relationships of Local Gov/Police Dept, Local Watering Holes and Drunk Drivers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738 "2011-09-27T03:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/21 "2011-09-29T02:58:08Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > How? He didn’t do a thing that is illegal. The cops can infer all they want. Didn’t he admit being a “designated distraction” by acting like he was drunk? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/22 "2011-09-29T04:54:38Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Didn’t he admit being a “designated distraction” by acting like he was drunk? Did you miss the part where he said it was a joke and it didn’t actually happen? ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/23 "2011-09-29T05:34:33Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Did you miss the part where he said it was a joke and it didn’t actually happen? No I did not. We are arguing hypothetically I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/24 "2011-09-29T07:36:51Z")
No, you’re arguing about the punchline of a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/25 "2011-09-29T07:48:18Z")
How can a genie be apparently all powerful, presumably automatically know the language of anyone that rubs his lamp, and yet not be able to hear the difference between the words pianist and penis. It doesn’t make any sense! The whole story seems like bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/26 "2011-09-29T08:25:17Z")
I think what this means is that drunk driving isn’t all that dangerous after all, given that it’s so widespread in reality (please refrain from anecdotes). ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/27 "2011-09-29T12:34:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > No, you’re arguing about the punchline of a joke. Ah details, details… Okay, we are hypothetically arguing about the punchline of a joke as in what if one to pull that on a LEO for real… it’s not a real argument… it’s more of an exercise, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/28 "2011-09-29T12:41:35Z")
No, you are not hypothetically arguing. You are arguing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/29 "2011-09-29T12:45:45Z")
Probable cause: in Ontario police can and do nab people who have emerged from bars and are obviously intoxicated when they start to drive or who are weaving about while driving. No probable cause: they also set up RIDE stops (sort of like roadblocks in which people passing through are checked out to see if they are driving drunk), however, since the RIDE stops are supposed to be random (due to there not being probable cause), they do not set up immediately outside of bars. That being said, they still set up in the general vicinity if they chose. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/30 "2011-09-29T13:01:26Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > No, you are not hypothetically arguing. You are arguing. Okay… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/31 "2011-09-29T13:32:19Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > There are some stretches where I am curious just what you’d have to do to get pulled over. Like in Detroit, On 75 south to down town there is a piece after 94 exists where the road opens up and the speed limit drops to 50(or maybe 55 I really don’t pay much attention). Average traffic is 70. One time I passed a truck going 85, and didn’t notice the highway cop in front of him going probably 65. He never even looked. Then some guy blew by me at 95-100 probably. Nothing. > > A Detroit city cop, will never give a shit, but for a highway cop to not care, there must be some directive I figure. In Detroit? Have a Illinois license plate. 🙂 And vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/32 "2011-09-29T13:48:30Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I don’t get it. It was a _Kids In The Hall_ skit. Upon passing the field sobriety tests, Dave Foley tells the cop he’s the Designated Decoy. The DD allows the actual drinkers to drive off without being pulled over. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/33 "2011-09-29T15:03:50Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > I think what this means is that drunk driving isn’t all that dangerous after all, given that it’s so widespread in reality (please refrain from anecdotes). [http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired\_driving/impaired-drv\_factsheet.html](http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html) I > [@](#): > > n 2009, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. This is actually a considerable decrease. [http://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=24](http://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=24) > [@](#): > > In the mid 1970s, alcohol was a factor in over 60% of traffic fatalities. Traffic crashes were the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths and two-thirds of traffic deaths among persons aged 16 to 20 involved alcohol. When you factor in the overall drop in fatalities, then drunk driving fatalities may have dropped by a factor of three. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/34 "2011-09-29T15:10:26Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > I’ve heard this story before so I kinda think it’s an urban legend. however fwiw it’s certainly a widely held belief in the UK that freemasonery facilitates certain kinds of corruption in local government, the legal proffession and the police in particular – since freemasonery is common in those circles and freemasons look out for each other. Some people see a massive conspiracy at work, it’s more likely to be what happens in all kinds of networks and social groups to some extent. In other words the story would still work if the Chief of Police was a regular in the pub, went to the same school as the landlord or was his brother in law. This perception is also found over here in the US. I haven’t seen any evidence that there is actually any favoritism, but plenty of people have the Masonic compass and square on their car and, at least historically, large percentages of US politicians were freemasons, including George Washington himself. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/35 "2011-09-29T15:12:45Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The bust might not hold up unless the cop sees the “allegded” drunk weaving and driving like a drunk. > > That being said, the fuzz can _absolutly_ drive a small, rural bar right out of business if they, for whatever reason, choose to. Seen it. I think so. It’s possible to go to a bar and either not drink at all, or drink so little that you are still legally OK to drive. I would think that just being seen leaving the bar isn’t enough to constitute “probable cause” unless there are specific signs of intoxication coming from the suspect or if they admit to having drunk a large quantity. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/36 "2011-09-29T15:22:24Z")
With regard to cops not staking out and stopping bar patrons leaving the establishment, I’d think there’d be enormous potential for corruption in this scenario. “Hey, would you like advance notice of when we’re going to stake out your bar? All we need is a donaton to the police retirement fund.” ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738/37 "2011-09-29T15:25:36Z")
In locales I have lived in it wasn’t uncommon for the police to park near a popular bar’ parking lot, esp on a Saturday night, watch who comes out of the bar and how they’re behaving. They’d pull people over all the time who were leaving the bar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-relationships-of-local-gov-police-dept-local-watering-holes-and-drunk-drivers/597738.md?page=1)