Inspired by being behind a guy last night doing 4 miles an hour or so, on a two lane road creating a real hazard because everyone was having to pass him in the other lane a accident waiting to happen. I assume the guy was stoned on marijuana because if you have someone driving absurdly safely it usually is.
I know plenty of people in real life who have received DUIs, have totaled one or even two of their cars thankfully hitting stuff like light poles instead of another car or human. Been behind cars on freeways weaving in and out of lanes, every other car trying to get away from their vehicle and calling 911 to report it.
I just don’t get it, I’ve consumed my fair share of booze and drugs but I’ve never jumped in a car and tried to drive while intoxicated. I know THC stays in your system far past the actual intoxication so there is a potential for people to get popped as DUI when they aren’t, but I mean actual intoxication that effects your ability to drive.
I asked someone who totaled two cars driving drunk why they do it and they said “heh I guess I just wanted to get somewhere and couldn’t wait” basically a non answer.
Too many people thinking they can handle it. “Instead of blaring the radio, going 10mph over the speed limit, takling on my cell phone, and driving with one hand I’lll really concentrate on driving at the speed limit with both hands on the wheel and no distractions. That should make up for my impaired reactions, right?”
They have been doing it for years and have never been caught. They think they are okay to drive drunk because they have been doing it for so long without any problems. Other people shouldn’t drink and drive but it’s okay for them. Most of the people I know who are like this are alcoholics who are never sober long enough to drive anywhere.
Some of them don’t set out to do it. They go out to have a drink or two. They are feeling good and the drink or two turns into seven or eight, or more. They want to go home and so they get in the car and go. People who have been drinking aren’t very good at making rational decisions. They may truly believe they are okay to drive, or they may be so drunk they don’t care. These are the social drinking type of people, they don’t intend to get drunk, they only wanted to have a few drinks and relax with friends. Some of them have a drinking problem as well, I know quite a few people who are fine if they stop after two drinks but once they take the third one they won’t stop until they pass out or the bar closes, whichever comes first.
A good friend will take their keys, offer them a ride or to call a cab. However, quite often the good friend isn’t in any better condition to determine who is capable of driving either.
Some people like to thumb their nose at the law.
Some people are assholes who don’t care.
Some people think the law doesn’t apply to them.
Some people are just flat out stupid.
I’ve known two people to have their licenses revoked. After a period of time they could ask to get their licenses back.
Both of them followed the rules to the letter until they were within a few weeks of being able to get their license back. Then they started breaking every rule, like they wanted to get caught.
I never understood that behavior.
Yeah, this question seems nonsensical, and the answer is self-evident. People drive drunk to get home. If someone stops at a bar or a friend’s house, they absolutely need to leave in the first instance, and usually in the second, as well. If one lives in a rural or suburban area, distances are typically too far to walk, mass transit is unlikely to be available, and even taxis are largely non-existent. Not making excuses, but the answer is obvious.
When you’re out drinking, there’s (at least with me) a rather large span of intoxication between stone-sober and clearly, knowingly drunk.
The problem is, for a lot of people, 0.08% BAC falls somewhere in the midst of that rather large span, and there’s no good way to know which side of it you’re on.
Also, many places have poor or non-existent public transit, and taxis are expensive. People really balk at spending $30-50 to be driven home if they don’t feel like they’re drunk.
So you get someone with impaired judgment trying to make a decision without all the information (what their BAC is), and too often, they make the wrong one and drive legally drunk. Nobody I know would intentionally drive if they knew they were legally drunk, but there’s no way of knowing your BAC without a breathalyzer or blood test, and in many parts of the country, saying not to drive if you’ve had any alcohol at all isn’t even close to reasonable.
Interestingly, law enforcement and the legal system seem entirely focused on the punitive aspects of the issue. I haven’t ever heard of any sort of active prevention like free breathalyzers with sober-up areas or anything like that; just ridiculously draconian punishments for offenders.
Then I suppose, there are the serious hardcore alcoholics who just don’t give a shit; they knowingly drive drunk and ought to get the book thrown at them.
I’m going with this. Now why someone who knows they are driving would get drunk in the first place is a related question I don’t understand. Don’t get me wrong - I’ve been hammered a few times to almost historic levels. But only when I had a non-drinker along or was already at my destination. To seriously overindulge when you know that car is there and “needs you” is where IMHO the stupid begins.
Part of the problem is accurately described above. There is a pretty large continuum between stone sober and hammered, and a large segment of that spread is around .06 to .12 for most people, on both sides of the magical .08 figure. To use your phrasing, “hammered” and “seriously overindulge” and “drunk” occur above .08 BAC for many people who regularly drink. So, they don’t feel particularly drunk based on historical experience, yet they very well might be over the legal limit.
Now, back to the OP where someone is driving 4MPH or swerving all over the place, that is clearly a different story from a practical standpoint, if not a legal one. They just don’t give a shit, I’d say.
This is also why I hate seeing questions on driver’s tests such as “What’s the legal limit for blood alcohol?” I have no way of measuring, so I don’t really care. This is also why I don’t drink and drive. Now, if they asked, “How many drinks can an adult male, approximately 175 pounds, drink in a two-hour period before he’s unlikely to be able to drive safely?”, that’d be a more reasonable question, but it’s also not without its faults.
No, the first question is better. Knowing the BAC limit means that anybody regardless of gender or size can reference a gender/weight chart and know what they’re looking at. Knowing what an adult, 175 lb male can drink is completely meaningless for a 90 lb woman.
Perhaps the best way would be on a computerized test that asks you to enter your gender and weight, then has you reference a BAC chart and answer questions based on that input.
I did a lot of dating I the past year, nearly every meet was at a bar. That’s just the way people socialize. That being said, I dumped three women over alcohol use. Well not really alcohol use, but the DUIs I could clearly see coming in their futures.
I think it is pretty obvious if you’re swerving all over a freeway and unable to stay in a lane and have other cars giving you space, you haven’t had one or two beers!
And I’m not even talking about alcohol alone, if you’re so stoned you are driving 3mph you don’t need to be on the road.
I’m talking about actual I can’t control the vehicle intoxication, not I had wine with dinner. Where even if you’re a stone cold sociopath who doesn’t care if you hurt or kill innocent people, you should still care that you could kill yourself or have to pay $ to repair or get a new car.
I mean hell if you are that drunk wait an hour or two to sober up, go to a fast food place and have some coffee. You might still be technically intoxicated under legal definitions and BAC but at least you’ll be able to stay in a lane.
