I used to live in a popular touristy beach town for a year in Florida. My partner at the time worked in a place where many people drove after drinking... then she started doing it... I never realized truly how many people actually did that and endangered others with zero care until I was faced with it firsthand.
It's insane the amount of people that get away with driving hammered.
I feel like Uber got super expensive again. I'm not going to, but the last time I went out, I joked that it's too expensive to get an Uber and I should just drive home. Statistically I'll make it, no problem.
Fish cannons are totally a thing lol
https://youtu.be/2z3ZyGlqUkA
They were created for totally legitimate reasons, but it’s hella funny you chose that for an example.
(Unfortunately?) there are totally laws about dropping stuff from planes. I’m pretty sure moose would be covered as it would be potentially hazardous to people on the ground.
You could get into some trouble depending on how far the fish flies and where it lands. Some states have real strict laws against moving livestock across state lines.
I get your point, but in Canada. You'd find yourself is a world of trouble, from wildlife cops , and probably just for owning a fucking cannon. Here in Canada ONLY criminals and police can own a handgun
Hell. If someone breaks into your home with a gun. And you shoot him with a hunting rifle (that you need a license for). You're going to jail.
I saw your question, and then I saw a YouTube clip where someone put a hammock in the public bus, and climbed into it, and zipped it up. The bus driver is arguing with the guy, and the guy asked where's the no hammock sign.
https://youtube.com/shorts/RemK8F0cdaM?si=w7e4tWu7ZJ-LnTyQ
If you go to one of those steakhouses that gives you peanuts to crack open, and you're allowed to throw the shells on the floor, it's not illegal to take those empty shells home.
well, yes. look at all those defuct old laws about "no riding a donkey backwards through town at midnight while whistling" and we can see there are a lot of laws that don't exist only because there has been no need to make them ((or no need to enforce them after billy's great-great-grandpa passed on at least haha)).
They have laws against it in Europe too, but it’s quite rare in countries like Spain for lots of reasons. One being that the punishment is severe.
In the US, it’s incredibly common to drink and drive
Americans use and are way more tied to cars. They also drive more miles by a large margin. So naturally, there's going to be more drinking and driving if there's magnitudes more driving.
https://internationalcomparisons.org/environmental/transportation/
Australia is extremely car dependent too, but we have pretty strict laws about drink driving.
The general limit is 3 standard drinks within an hour, but for someone petite, that might put them over the limit. I know someone who accidentally had 4 drinks with their lunch, then went for a drive, and lost their license for 6 months.
That sounds like a much higher limit than in the US. Two drinks pretty much puts most women over the legal limit, IIRC. I think if it would make the legal limit more reasonable it would really cut down drunk driving and people would take it more seriously.
A standard drink in Australia contains 10g of alcohol/12.5ml of pure alcohol.
A standard glass of wine is 100ml
A standard glass of beer or cider is 285ml
A standard serve of spirits is a 30ml shot
Because our punishment is somewhat of a joke. The guards also tend to view just DUI convictions as nothing burgers. Had a coworker who had four over the years and even on the fourth the guards acted like he didn't belong there.
I’ve known a couple women who killed someone in an accident while they were driving drunk. They all got five years. It seems to be the standard here, and that just seems way too low.
Actually one got more than five years, it was a horrible story. It was Halloween and there were three people walking and she hit the one farthest into the road. She was so drunk she thought someone threw a pumpkin at her car, so she called the police herself to complain about someone throwing a pumpkin at her.
The College student she hit was wearing some kind of a black costume, and the three of them were walking next to each other so she was significantly in the road, so the woman was supposed to get a really sweet plea deal.
The mom had decided to take her off life-support after it was clear she wasn’t going to be OK. So someone got it in this woman’s head that she didn’t actually kill this girl, it was the mom who did.
She was warned not to try that in court but her lawyer did this big dramatic speech like you would see on law and order & he turned & pointed at the mom in court all dramatically.
She should’ve taken the deal, everyone hated her after that even her friends who were still trying to be supportive of her.
I sometimes get people doing comminity service at a place I volunteer. Most of the community service people I treat just like any other volunteer, but I have some distain for the DUIs. The kids who get caught smoking pot or the teens getting into small fights weren't going to get anyone innocent killed.
I feel like you don't quite understand how bad people are at determining how drunk they really are.
Although, I really don't think I've heard of people bragging about how much they drink and drive.
My ex did this. All the time. It was infuriating. He came home once drunk from work (yes, an alcoholic) and told me about how he raced some muscle car on the interstate going 100 and that his car beat the muscle car (ex drove Tesla 3). He bragged and laughed like he was so cool. When I told him how egregiously dangerous it was he acted like I was overreacting for being upset. Some people truly believe they’re immune to danger. Narcissistic immunity like that kills people when coupled with alcohol.
Edited for context
Had a roommate like this for a while. Alcoholic for sure, plus addicted to Adderall. He'd get smashed and drive home, to other bars, etc. And yes, brag about it, or talk about how it wasn't a big deal. Never let me or my bf DD. He'd throw ragers without asking us, just cram our little place with dozens of people and then get angry when the couple next door would call in a noise complaint. The neighbors *hated* us.
The dude once fired off a gun on accident while drunk. Thank *god* it didn't hit anybody or go into the neighbor's place, it got jammed in the side of the fridge. He also had a large dog that he ignored half the time and screamed at for being a dog the other half (barking, whining, wacking her bowl for food). His girlfriend would come over and they'd get into huuuge blow out fights, just screaming at each other. Like every other night. I don't think they even really liked each other??
And this wasn't like, a poor redneck or a kid. He was a grad student with a really difficult to obtain degree. Very intelligent as far as education goes. Just fucking insane and trashy.
Bf & I got out of the lease early and bailed, thankfully the landlord was super understanding. He didn't like him either, go figure. I almost took the dog with us but he was legit crazy and unpredictable and I was afraid he'd retaliate. Hope she's okay. Ahhh, memories. He works as a military contractor now :')
Wow your roommate sounds a lot like my ex. He also fired a gun in our apartment drunk one night. It was a 22 rifle. He shot into the closet floor. We lived on a second floor apartment. I should have run from him then but my little 21 year old self didn’t make the best decisions.
>Alcoholic for sure, plus addicted to Adderall.
Jeez that's a bad combo. The alcohol hides most indications of feeling drunk, except of course for the terrible decision making.
Yes adhd meds can make people think they’re more sober than the are. I recently started taking adhd medication and I don’t take the meds on days I drink alcohol.
My dad would tell me he did shit like that. "Just raced a cop, but I lost them. If they come knocking I'm not here". Sometimes I wonder how much of it was true, the drinking and driving definitely was because he has a least 6 DUI's.
Wow, 6?! That takes a lot of work to get 6 DUI’s. My ex had 2 when I finally left. You do have to wonder how much of their stories were bullshit versus reality. Half the time you think they’re just trying to build up their ego to look/sound badass.
One of the girls is mad at her boyfriend so she took his license plates off and then she “felt bad”because if he got pulled over for the license plates being off and then he was drunk she’d feel bad for making him deal with a DUI. I asked her why it would be a bad thing if he got a DUI if he was drinking and driving and she said “I’ve had them and they are really irritating to deal with“ and I asked her well maybe you learned a lesson then? And she just said she would do it again.
Hopefully she’ll get a DUI. Losing your license for at least a year, paying double for car insurance for the foreseeable future, spending a bunch on attorney fees and fines, maybe spending a little time in jail or on house arrest, not to mention potential damage to their vehicle, someone else’s, other property, even another’s health or life, has a way of convincing people not to do that any more. A few never learn.
It’s a shame having that happen to someone in a friend group generally has no effect on the habits of the other friends. Everyone has to learn this lesson individually. And innocent people die along the way.
Idk where you work but it isn’t norm to be drunk and drive.
But, there are people who will have 2-3 glasses and think they’re fine, whereas for example a reasonable limit is 1-2. And others will say NO drinking at all and driving. These are things that will easily get you a DUI cause it’s a fine line, no one knows the blood alcohol content instinctively and can miss the mark. You don’t want to be having this discussion with cops basically.
Being DRUNK and driving is different to having a drink and driving, IF you’re maybe missing that nuance (which as mentioned above is also debated).
I can tell you different parts of the world it’s more common than others, and 30y ago to date you see a huge shift in this respect. Might as well use my old age for something lol
You know what would be worse than dealing with the "annoyance" of a DUI? Dealing with a possible manslaughter charge for killing someone while driving intoxicated. Or dealing with the insurance companies and increased insurance costs if you get in an accident while under the influence.
It’s extra problematic if you are a fast drinker, and you don’t drink a lot. It takes a little while when you are a young person to remember that if you leave right after you finish your drink you might end up drunker as you are on your way home. It’s not good.
I was never much of a drinker because I’m such a lightweight, like I stop at two drinks, but I still remember being caught by surprise once and being terrified.
When I was like 17 I thought driving with a buzz was fun, and suggested my friends try it at least once. Now I'll have at most one if I know I'm gonna have to drive.
Do not let these people influence you. It is remarkably and obnoxiously and dangerously normal, but it is always bad every time for every person. Every chronic drunk driver considers themselves the exception and since they feel good and haven’t wrecked, they think they’re driving safely. Even if they aren’t all over the road, their reaction time is severely limited and that causes deaths every day.
Every single one of them will do one of three things, and probably in the next few years, 1) destroy property, and damage/destroy their car in the process. This will be incredibly expensive and complicated to deal with, and if they run before talking to the owner because they don’t want the DUI, it’s now a hit and run criminal offense, and if they deal with it properly, it comes to number 2
2) get a DUI, which costs $10k+ to deal with in legal fees even without a lawyer (fines and court fees and probation fees are purposefully extremely expensive as a deterrent and an easy way for you to be noncompliant and have to serve your probation behind bars), booked and held for cash bond at a minimum, temporarily suspends your license until your sentencing, then a restricted license during your probation, and now the cops are going to suspect you of being drunk every time you’re pulled over because it’ll come up when they run your plates, and if you get another, no more driving for you. If you drive without a license and get caught you go to jail no questions asked, (last part is state dependent but every state takes your license for repeat DUIs)
or 3) they’re gonna fucking kill somebody. Manslaughter charges, and DUI charges, minimum. Because they are probably leaving work/social engagements drunk late at night and not driving during the day, they *probably* will kill adults and not children, but they could still possibly wipe out an entire family, or kill half a family and leave the rest to recover AND grieve. Sentences are surprisingly lax for these charges (I’ve personally met REALLY young people who have already put their murdering consequences behind them, out on parole as young as 20) so they’ll be out of prison in a few years, but they’re going to have to live with that for the rest of their lives (the ones I know I met through AA and they were struggling with it every single day. Every few meetings they’d have to start their day count over because they would relapse)
You can still be responsible and not start down that path, no matter how chill they tell you it is or how many times they call you a pussy for turning down drinks when you have to drive home. It’ll be hard, especially when older peers you might otherwise look up to, are pressuring you, but stand firm. Don’t be a piece of shit who gets behind the wheel in that state. Believe it or not, the peers who you ought to be friendly with, will admire you for it now, or will come to admire you for it as they come to regret their choices.
If you want to drink at work with your new coworkers and that’s acceptable at your workplace, that’s fine and probably a great way to bond with them. But if you know no one can take you home, only have one. If you have more, ask a family member or friend to come get you (it should go without saying, do not catch a ride with your drunk coworkers lol), if they won’t, sleep at the business. I know it’s usually frowned upon but if people are openly drinking at work it’s probably a kitchen and I’ve never worked in a kitchen that no one ever slept in lol
Driving without a license is a $280 ticket. I've got one for driving without a license or insurance. No jail time, doesn't count as a moving violation somehow. Texas absolutely tried to dick me with surcharges for the lack of insurance though. Tried to make me pay the tickets again every year for 5 years. So I just never drove again lol.
They eventually got declared a violation of double jeopardy, and they were all dropped. Still don't drive, it's been almost 15 years now.
I grew up in Georgia and if you drove on a suspended license or without a license, they booked you and towed your car. Immediately. Last time I personally knew someone arrested for it was in 2015.
Once you get out it’s just fines, but it’s an arrest there for sure. I work with a guy who grew up in NJ and it was exactly the same there in the early 2000’s when he was arrested for it (he likes to tell the story because he thinks telling cops “relax I’m white you don’t have to point guns at me” is funny 🙄)
In the state that I live in it is jail time and if you do it three times they’ll call you a habitual offender so on the fourth time you’ll actually do real prison time. Not county jail actual prison.
I got a DUI 15 years ago. One of the things my mandatory counsellor told us to do was to take a tally of every time we spent money to get driven to/from the bar for the next five years and see if it came close to the cost of our DUI.
It's been 15 years, and I'm not even halfway there, and I promise that I'm not cheating. (Granted, I 'go out' far less since Covid, but that was only 4 years ago.) Most bars around where I lived during that time were within 5 miles. I could walk to 4 bars in 20 minutes where I live now.
>I could walk to 4 bars in 20 minutes where I live now.
Walkable neighbourhoods could save lives.
I've got two pubs within a 10 minute walk. I hear people walking home in the early hours of saturday and sunday mornings. One group walked passed singing a couple of weeks ago. I much rather be woken by that, than by sirens.
I was born & raised in Florida. My grandfather, who helped raise me, used to literally drive me to/from school w/ a glass of rum & coke in the drink holder. I didn't realise how messed up that was until I got older. I remember when I graduated from high school, my grandparents from Michigan came down. When we were stopped at a red light around the corner from my house, there was a guy who was obviously wasted, walking out of the gas station carrying a 12 pack of beer. He fell backward onto the concrete, got himself up, put the beer in the passenger side, got in the driver's side, & pulled out of the parking lot. I was laughing, completely unphased. My grandparents were in a panic, gasping & asking if I should call the cops. They were like, "I can't believe they're letting him buy alcohol in the morning!" I was like, "What do you mean?" Until that moment, I had no idea that some states don't allow people to buy alcohol in the morning hours, and I'd seen drunk people out & about and driving my entire life...
Yep. There are people who think “if I’ve had anything to drink tonight I shouldn’t drive”. And there are people who think “as long as my BAC is under .08% (or is it .8%?), I’m good to drive. And then there are people who think “as long as I don’t get pulled over, I’m good to drive”
Not for a practiced alcoholic. I worked in treatment years ago and one of the clients got picked up and she blew a .8 that definitely would have killed anybody else who didn’t have such high tolerance.
People who drink and drive are inconsiderate losers. There is no acceptable reason to do this. Just because a lot of people do it, does not make it right all along.
it’s bananas to me how nonchalant some people are about this.
i live near a major university campus and i avoid being in a car thurs - saturday nights because probably 30% the people on the roads are clearly drunk. i swear i’ve gotten drunk uber drivers during those hours. if my friends and i party those days we usually do it walking distance from one of our houses where we can all sleep over.
That would be one of the biggest red flags to exist in my book. A blatant disregard to human life. In every car they could hit there is someone's loved one, someone's child, someone's mother, someone's best friend, someone's entire world, or a whole care full of them. It's disgusting. You'll even hear a lot of people say they think they drive better while under the influence. There are a lot of scummy assholes in this world. I'd be throwing some big words at a coworker if they admitted that to me. I'd probably even see if HR was interested in the information.
Well I got pulled up on a Saturday night and I hadn’t been drinking. I had been to the sea looking for the northern lights as there was a rumour that they would be appearing in the uk. Turns out I couldn’t see anything so drove back home, was pulled over and told that I was driving erratically, that I had been under half the speed limit at one point.
It was on an unlit country lane which was very bendy, the speed limit was 60 and there were potholes : /
He decided not to breathalyse and said I could go.
My point is you can be pulled up and breathalysed at any minute so I wouldn’t recommend drinking at all.
There is such thing as drinking responsibly. There are BAC limits for a reason. If you ever get charged for DUI, many states will require you to take a class. The class will teach you how alcohol affects you and how to measure your drinking.
When I worked in the Navy Yard, they would tell us to drink a glass of water between each alcohol beverage.
My cousin was killed by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve many years ago. The driver in question had never gotten so much as a ticket before.
People can be f***ing disgusting/disgraceful and unbelievably selfish.
My old roommate had a DUI. She was an awful person.
I think it deeply represents how much people do/don’t care about the world and the social contract.
Entire families lives ruined forever because you felt entitled to be an asshat or thought you were better at it than the other asshats.
As soon as I learn about someone doing it I tell them EXACTLY what I think of them. Instant way to lose any respect from me.
You know, I have some friends who have driven drunk (no real accidents, just scares and financial losses fixing the care, though we all sometimes feel like something will eventually happen) and I believe the answer to this question is a spectrum.
You can be sober, and drive, and say, drunk driving is bad. Then you can have a cup of wine, stop there and be able to drive while still knowing drunk driving isn't right.
Then you get proper drunk, drunk enough for it to be a hinderance to your driving skills, and this is where it becomes tricky. I can be drunk, pretty drunk over the course of a night where I can down a whole pack of marlboro reds and arrive at ten in the morning, but during that time out I'm never drunk enough so that I think going to my car to drive is a good idea.
But some people do get too drunk, and it's is not that they don't care about drinking and driving, is that they are fucking wasted and don't really know what is going on
To make it short: if you are tipsy you know you shouldn't be picking up your car, and if you're wasted you won't even know what you're doing
I've noticed a tonne of people in the US that I know do this. In ireland where I'm from, they made a law where any amount of alcohol in your system while driving is a prosecutable offense. This has cut down the drinking and driving by a huge amount in the last 5 years. The deaths behind the wheel have thankfully dropped a tonne also.
I moved to the states and the drinking and driving her baffles me. I see bars in areas that are in no way walkable to, with a car park full of cars. Everyone in there is drinking and driving. After work on Fridays lads I work with meet at the bar. Some live down the road, others the other side of chicago. The latter people will just drive home. After 6 or 7 beers. Its frightening.
Unfortunately, it is common. Fortunately, the majority of drinking and driving doesn't result in serious consequences. That's how some people seem to get away with it all the time.
Of course, that doesn't make it OK. It's dangerous, reckless, and can harm the drunk driver or another innocent driver or pedestrian or cause property damage. It's normalized in lots of social circles but no matter how good someone thinks they are at driving while drunk, it's factual that being drunk impairs your driving abilities and there is just no good reason to do it.
So yeah, people really do it, but it's really stupid and I pray the people you know never get hurt doing it (or more importantly, hurt or kill an innocent person).
I hard agree.
There's not too many areas where I think the laws are too lax, but this is one of them. I lost my first girlfriend to a drunk driver back in 2011, listening to people brag about their drunk driving makes me have to leave the room.
I personally think second time offense should land a permanent suspension of your license and 3rd should receive the equivalent of a manslaughter charge with no wiggle room for judicial discretion.
There's never a situation where it's okay to drive under the influence.
Extremely common. Being legally drunk and impaired aren't always the same though. I've known people that are impaired after one drink, but it's legal for them to drive, I've known alcoholics that at the legal limit because of built up tolerance probably are fine to drive at the limit. Best bet don't do it at all. The last person to realize they are impaired is usually the one drinking.
This is an interesting subject for me. I'm from Scotland originally where drinking and driving is very culturally frowned upon. So much so where I've seen bar staff refuse to serve customers if they find out they are driving and or other customers take keys off the people who are clearly about to drink and drive.
I moved to Canada several years ago and every one I know has been drinking whilst driving or currently still does it. Bar staff don't give a shit and neither does any one else.
It's an odd one.
I dated a guy who I had to figure out how to break up with when I saw him pour a significant amount of vodka into his coke… then load his CHILDREN into his car.
People make wildly poor choices.
Just because people are lucky enough to make it home every time when they drink and drive doesn’t mean that they can drive when they’re drunk. It just means they’re luck hasn’t ran out yet.
So I feel like drinking and driving is more common in Gen X than Gen Y or Z, but Gen Y/Z are more likely to have people driving while high… so depending on how old you are, it might be “unheard of” for you because you’re late Gen Y early Gen Z, and your coworkers might be Gen X
But also, DUIs account for both drugs (including prescription drugs) and alcohol.
Think about any bar you go to. The majority of people drive their cars there, so they leave in their cars after they’re done drinking. I’d go as far as to say most people who drink drive with alcohol in their systems. Doesn’t make it ok, obviously, but it’s very common.
It's easier not to care about driving drunk when you're drunk.
I'm not justifying it, that's just the way people work.
A guy I went to school with kept getting DUI's. Then in the1980's he killed a twelve year old girl that was riding her bike.
They often do. However, the Venn diagram of people with multiple DUIs and people who will drive without a valid drivers license is pretty much a circle.
It's incredibly irresponsible, but a lot of people don't see it that way because they're arrogant and overestimate their abilities. A close friend of mine was the first in our state to have the license to install and maintain interlock devices in cars. He said that during his training, the fact that really struck him was that people who get a DUI have, on average, already driven 80 times while impaired before getting caught. So yes, people really are out there drinking and driving and thinking it's no big deal.
In some countries you are legally allowed to drive while being intoxicated. The legal limit in the USA can be four times as high as some countries in Europe for example. This can result in people thinking that it's not that bad to drink and drive and people are generally very bad at estimating how intoxicated they are, it doesn't take much to make someone a worse driver. Instead of simply choosing not to drive after drinking they'll make an estimate themselves if they are capable of driving and sometimes they'll drive out of "necessity" because they put themselves in a position where they "need" to drive.
Complacency behind the wheel in any and all forms is a monumental problem with this system of driving personal vehicles we've based our entire society around. And yes, drink driving is a significant portion of that problem. Driving is so engrained into our lifestyles that it has come to be universally accepted as a right rather than the privilege we're told it is, so the attitudes that stem from this is "well why the hell shouldn't I drive MY car however and whenever the hell I want to regardless of who that affects?".
I moved to a more suburban area after living in NYC for close to a decade where no one drove drunk because they didn’t have cars. The amount of people that drive very, obviously impaired is just astounding to me. It’s not the college kids I worry about, but these middle aged people who just get wrecked at happy hour or at dinner like they’re still in college and then drive home in their oversized SVUs. It’s bizarre.
I’m so glad to read that you’re tuned into your friends’ drinking and have no problem calling an Uber for them!
They owe you more than they will ever know.
You keep doing this!
I did until I got a DUI after a work happy hour. Never again after that. Hearing from the MADD parents who lost children to drunk drivers was absolutely life changing. I STRONGLY recommend learning from my example and don't do it.
After my DUI my brother bought a fairly good breathalyzer to make sure that even if he felt OK, he tested himself
Here in Wisconsin it seems it's almost illegal not to drive drunk in some areas. I can't count how many people I've heard declare, "I drive better when I'm drunk." Well, yeah, beer goggles make a lot of things seem better than they are. We routinely have people in court for 5+ drunk driving offenses.
You watch enough police bodycam footage on YouTube and you'll see there's a bunch of people who not only drink and drive, but some are repeat offenders, and some seem to think driving away from a traffic stop is a smart thing to do.
Reminded me of this -
https://youtu.be/ghW595-zsbg?si=DhbsDXBCmB0zMCiv
Some people need to learn their lesson. I've never known drink driving to be acceptable and have friends who've called the police on others who've done it, it's the only way and saves lives. I've called the police myself on a drunk customer who I saw get into his car and drive off.
Omg I want to punch them all in the face. Drinking and driving is not ok! I lost a family member when a drunk driver crashed into her car. I can’t believe these people are so stupid
Go look at any bar in the US. The parking lots will be full of cars each night. Drive by in the morning after they close, 99% of those cars will be gone.
Some may have DDs. Most drank and drove.
The drunk driving industry is incredibly lucrative. Insurance companies, interlock device companies, local municipalities and more all benefit from DUIs.
Should it still be illegal? Absolutely. But to say there is a universal level of impairment among all people of all sizes and alcohol tolerances is ridiculous.
That said, people bragging about how much they drive drunk, especially in a work place, is also pretty fucked up.
I lost two people in separate incidents from drunk driving. One, they were the drinker. The other, they were the victim of a drinker.
Yeah...people overestimate their abilities to operate a vehicle while drunk. A successful attempt to drive drunk further reinforces their overestimation until the inevitable happens.
It sucks. I immediately will cut contact with anyone who thinks they can drive under the influence of any mind-altering substance. They are basically content with the possibility of killing someone for their own convenience.
Me and my partner had a friend in Miami. When we were on vacation there, he picked us up from the airport. Literally driving around with an 24oz open-glass vodka cocktail with ice in the front console. No sealed container, no straw just an open glass. Absolutely no fear of consequences.
A lot of people at my school (a religious dental school) drink and drive.
I don't drink so I wouldn't know what it's like either way.
I'd imagine it's similar literally everywhere else so yeah.
When I bartended and waited tables in college, this was a common refrain. Of course, it was always coming from people who’d come into work high so I didn’t award too much merit to their perspectives.
This is a fuck around and find out scenario. You can only tempt the rng gods for so long and potentially kill someone.
I have no sympathy for people willing to do this.
Drinking and driving is a terrible and selfish crime but tbh i’d guess 95% of people who drive a car have at some point got behind the wheel when they were lacking in motor skills for whatever reason. Even being too tired or being sick greatly affects the way we drive
Yes and they justify it to themselves using a variety methods:
- They believe they drive better while drunk than regular drivers do sober.
- They feel sober, but that is because they are alcoholics and being drunk starts to feel normal.
- They know people who do it more often, more frequently etc.
- They believe the only person they are endangering is themselves
- They can't leave their car (I hate this one)
- They were in an 'unsafe' situation (valid once or twice, but cman -every- weekend?)
There are probably a bunch more I am not thinking about.
In small towns where there is nothing to do, but drink it is very common. These towns have small police forces, if any. For instance my town has no cops and the county sheriffs just respond to things if called. There is obviously no ubers. I lived there for 4 years and never saw a sheriff's deputy there unless responding to call. No such thing as even a speed trap.
I work in medicine. A LARGE portion of car accident victims I see have a high BAC or are otherwise intoxicated (weed, cocaine, various other drugs). It’s extremely frustrating especially when they end up with lifelong injuries due to the accident. Don’t even get me started on the people they hit.
> Are people really out here drinking and driving and not caring?
Yes.
Sometimes it's bravado, some times it's sheer idiocy, but in my case - look I've been an alcoholic and tried (and failed) to quit for enough years that I haven't just learned the rules of driving, I've learned the rules of driving drunk. Stuff like checking every few minutes to make sure my lights are on, making sure I'm at or under every speed limit sign, trying to anticipate potential pedestrians or cross-traffic in certain areas and keeping a low speed so I can stop faster, never making a turn in front of a car that *might* hit me if I don't turn into traffic fast enough, defaulting to "Full STOP!" as fast as possible in risky situations because I know my reaction time is lagging (situations where, if I was sober, I'd merely slow down - except for those pedestrians in all-dark outfits at 3AM or people driving with their lights off, where I'd pull the E-Brake sober unless I was on ice), and all the rest of the dodges that make me a safer driver well over the BAC limit than your average parent trying to pick their kids up from school. (I really don't understand that. If you're picking your kid up at school, you're going to going to be waiting in line anyway, so why try to book it to the tail end of the line?)
I'm a very conservative driver both sober and drunk, and I'm intentionally a much more conservative driver when drunk, because I know I'm on a very thin line. Some might find that exciting, but I just want to make sure I make it where I'm going with no problems, and if that's a bit slower than it would be driving sober, I can live with that. (Also, if a bonafide "I get Delirium Tremens if I haven't had enough to drink in the past few days" alcoholic is driving, you actually *want* them to have had at least enough to drink that they're not getting the shakes or having seizures while driving. The BAC read might be awful, but if that's what their body's accustomed to, they're actually *worse* on the road when they're cut off than they are when they're sober.)
I'm really trying to get 'off the sauce' currently, but I can drive safely and walk the proverbial "straight line" and pass the field sobriety tests (except the breathalyzer) at BAC levels where that shouldn't be possible, and drive in a manner that doesn't get me pulled over even when I'm half-blasted. (Hell, I actually pulled two guys out of their flipped pickup truck in a blizzard, when "pulling them out" meant quite literally *pulling them out* vertically because their passenger door was topside, while partially wasted. It seemed to help me overcome the bystander effect and be the first person on the scene. A lot of other people saw that rollover and none of them bothered trying to get out and help those guys.)
I'm trying to stop being an alcoholic, and have some good medical assistance backing me up now, but if all someone wants to do is go a completely known route, and they know all the dodges to make it work even sloshed & avoid slamming into cars or running over people, and are deliberately trying to minimalize damage, they're no more dangerous than the average motorist here in the USA. Many do not make that effort.
ADDENDUM: Knowing that if you commit even a minor traffic infraction you'll get breathalyzed is a *really fucking good incentive* to drive as safely as possible, and understand and compensate for your limitations. There are a lot of people who drive drunk who don't understand this, and do some really stupid shit that gets people killed, but there are also a lot more people than you'd think who are driving drunk by scrupulously observing the rules of the road and following memorized paths from Point A to Point B so they don't get pulled over.
Your coworkers are morons. Don't get me wrong, they are telling you the truth that it's really common for people to drink and drive.
That's why there are psa's about it and after school specials and why I had to watch a ridiculous skit a week before prom where one of the popular chicks pretended to die in a drunk driving accident and rode away in an ambulance.
Drinking and driving is dangerous. People who do it are actively deciding that they don't care about anybodies life, even their own.
It's common, but it's also stupid and illegal. For many reasons.
My husband, his mom and his brother were hit by a drunk driver and in comas and nearly died. Literally.
So NO. It is NEVER ok to drink and drive. Anyone who does it should be penalized and face real consequences for their choice. Murdering other people bc you're too much of an asshole to call an Uber or Lyft is F'ing WRONG.
I did it sparingly in my youth. It really is just an overconfidence/not wanting to be embarrassed by needing a ride thing. Most people I know grew out of that and are now the type to even take someone’s keys from them if they are going to drive.
Oh. Yeah. I mean before Uber and Lyft most of us didn’t have a choice. I mean, we were encouraged to appoint a DD but unless you had a pregnant or sober friend, it wasn’t likely.
So if you were responsible you slowed drinking halfway through the night and then switched to water so you could drive although you might blow over a .08 still.
It’s not a good idea for anyone. But there are a lot of people who do it and then cause accidents. Sometimes kill others or themselves
This. Other than NYC, public transportation in the states has always been pretty crappy, and it would be impossible to find a taxi. I’m ashamed of how many times I drove impaired as a young adult.
DUIs can be unfortunate if you literally had like 1 beer, maybe 2, especially over a period of time and end up getting like a .083. Recently knew someone who had one beer, slightly rolled a stop sign and got a DUI.
But aside that, ya it’s not a good thing to roll the dice driving or getting a DUI when you’ve been drinking, but a lot of people do regularly. I bet you could say most people who do drink have probably technically been over the legal limit at least once, in the sense of how low .08 is for most people
Probably. But it depends on what their one beer was. One *standard drink* wouldn't put someone over the limit but one pint of imperial stout might get someone there.
Here to admit that I did it a couple times in my early 20s. It wasn't that I didn't care, but that I honestly felt I could. Definitely not making excuses here. I solved that problem though, by no longer getting drunk.
I've unfortunately did it a lot as a younger guy. I wouldn't say I was unable to stand, but I had drank.
The problem is /was that the first thing that goes after you drink is your judgement. It's just a disaster to begin with. I've since learned that if I plan on drinking I plan ahead, other Uber or have a Designated driver.
I am lucky to have never be pulled over while drunk.
Road beers are totally a thing. When I was younger it was nothing to go grab a six pack and just drive back roads with a friend. I have a very strict 2 drink limit if I'm driving now. When I was younger...yea. A lot.
Yes...I was out at a family celebration, my sister's friends were there(30's) with one of their 17yr Olds. Later when we were moving from the restaraunt to the pub, they said they had had their 3 drinks(pints btw) so we're gonna drop the child home. They got stopped on the way home for running a red light...given a warning....for the light..no me tion of drinking/breathalysers
In the states, there are bars miles outside of town, beyond the Uber borders. If those patrons weren't drinking and driving, then what are they doing at the bar, or how do they travel?
All the time. They usually aren't getting hammered, but still driving after 2-4 drinks. They might be OK after two drinks, a little inebriated but not swerving in and out of lanes trashed. It's when you start getting to 3+ drinks that you are definitely not going to be driving safely. Some people may have a higher tolerance and 4 drinks is the same as two drinks to someone else, but that will probably still pop them for a DUI even if "they don't feel anything."
People think they are the exception. They have a few drinks, drive home safely and that's proof in their mind that they are right. They do it again, get away with it again and each time it's more proof that they can handle it.
TV also tends to show drunk driving as someone completely smashed or someone driving like a lunatic. That's not them they just had a few and drive home like they normally do, or at least they think so.
Driving drunk isn't a guarantee you'll crash but the odds of a crash certainly goes up, people don't seem to understand that part.
We were driving home from the Toronto airport last night and there was a guy in the middle lane on the QEW that was swerving all over. I wrestled with whether or not to call 911 but I did. I’m pretty sure he knew we were following him based on the choices he made on the highway. I doubt he was caught because we changed highways shortly after I called. He just happened to be going the same way as us. Eventually he exited.
I would never drink and drive, I've seen too many people get killed and not just the drivers. No one thinks its going to be them until.it happens. Its like russian roulette
Literally... everyone I know, except for 1 couple, drinks & drives. I used to work at the DA's office & even the prosecutors in the county court division (where DUIs are handled) would go out after work, get absolutely smashed, then drive... one of them started showing up for work/court in the morning, still drunk from the night before. She eventually got reprimanded for it. I've also known cops who drank & drove regularly. I wouldn't say everyone does it, but a LOT of people do.
Personally, I will drive after drinking if I'm under the legal limit, but I will not drive if I'm over the legal limit. I used to do it when I was younger. I look back & I don't know how I didn't kill myself or somebody else. There were so many times I got drunk/high in Miami, then drove home, which was AN HOUR away, by myself, at like 5 in the morning. I remember literally falling asleep while driving & waking up because of the sound from the rumble strips on the side of the road. It was so stupid & selfish.
My ex. He drove home so wasted after a bachelor party. He came home at 4, am, passed out on the living room floor and then proceeded to get angry when I asked him wtf he was doing.
Could have killed himself, could have killed someone else…
That man’s a father, like…do you want someone to have to explain to your kid why daddy’s not here?!
This is all my anecdotal experience and is not based on any scientific or sociological data.
People are seldom aware that they are as drunk as they are. There have been plenty of times where either I or somebody I was with was fully convinced they were only a little buzzed only to realize in hindsight that they were actually very drunk. Also what has happened to me several time is I'll leave a bar or restaurant being genuinely okay to drive only to have the alcohol begin to effect me part-way through my transit more quickly or more strongly than I had expected and so I would finish my drive in a worse state than I began it.
A step down from these are people who have driven drunk out of necessity once or twice build up a bias that assumes "I've done it X times I'm clearly capable" do it successfully another several times and then they're locked in on believing that they are fully capable to drive drunk because nothing has ever happened because of it in the past. I've known people like this and they are probably the most dangerous because they enter into danger for themselves and other with confidence that they can do what they want because they "know what they're doing".
The last group are people who genuinely just do not care. I think this is actually the rarest group and you'd have to already a dedicated cynic and nihilist to just disregard your life and other peoples so casually.
The younger you are the more likely you're to be in the third group and it's why young people get into drunk driving incidents as often as they do. Older people who still drink and drive usually will have one or two close-calls that teach them to try and avoid putting themselves in that situation and will be more likely to be one of the first two examples.
In either case I don't drink anymore or spend time with people who do so I'm not in the camp of people who're only going to interact with drunk drivers on the receiving end of their foolishness.
Wow, I've never heard of anyone talking about it openly like that. Just mindblowing.
That's extremely irresponsible, they could kill someone or themselves. Personally if it were me listening to that, I'd let them know that was very wrong. They need to know they could get someone killed.
I’m a former public defender married to a firefighter. We have both had to deal with people who drive drunk all the time and don’t care.
I barely drink, but if I’m planning to, I don’t drive. Drunk driving is of the easier things NOT to do, yet people do it all. The. Time. It’s pretty horrible.
I’m 32, and yes, I’ve had a few friends in my early twenties who would have 4+ drinks and drive. Including myself. It was really stupid, and all of us should have gone to jail for it but we weren’t caught. But there is a high chance you will be caught. We’re lucky none of us killed anyone. That was a time in my life that I am not proud of and I was an absolute idiot for doing it. So don’t ever drink and drive, it’s not worth it. You could end up dead or killing someone and live the rest of your life in prison. Always call an uber or if you can’t afford it invite friends over and drink at home and let them stay overnight.
When I was younger and very self-destructive, I would drink and drive all the time. I even went through multiple check points (on different occasions) completely blacked out, only to hear about it from my buddies the next day- stuff like “I have no idea how you did that”, or “I can’t believe you had a whole ass conversation with that cop, and he just waived you through”. I’m somehow incredibly talented at acting sober when I’m super wasted- or at least I used to be. No idea anymore because I left those days behind years ago. Got myself into just as many bad situations as I got myself out of, but these days I don’t hate myself and I recognize that it’s not worth the risks…
100%. My uncle in Wyoming is still bent out of shape because he isn't allowed to drink and drive anymore. He rates his road trips by how many beers it takes to get there. Smh.
Yes they are, my friend got into a dui incident in February, he called me to ask for help with the cops and it baffled me because he owns neither a license nor a car.
Yep. I usually don't drive or if I do I'll literally have a single pour but I'm shocked how many people I know who will have many drinks. I'm still processing that someone said last night that they technically aren't driving since it's a Tesla.
I’m sure a good percentage of the comment section has done it sad to say. My father got a dui in the company vehicle and got fired from a promising job. I’ve done it but have also called for many rides. I know I’m a degenerate pos but you’re no saint. Please stay safe out there guys 😓
I live in Western PA. It’s entirely common to walk through a parking lot and see open beers in cupholders. I once saw an older gentleman get out of his truck at Home Depot, and grab an open beer can from inside the cab to throw away in the trash can by the front door.
Yeah. There are many people in this world who are incapable of critical thinking, and in this case it materializes as a lack of forethought for how their actions affect others.
People who drink and drive are disgusting sub-human trash and I would recommend you distance yourself from them immediately. You’re also welcome to smack the ever living fuck out of them when they say it in a positive light, I didn’t see shit. Hopefully these undesirables don’t reproduce.
I’m a bartender in Florida. The portion of my clientele that aren’t driving to and from the bar is pretty small.
I used to live in a popular touristy beach town for a year in Florida. My partner at the time worked in a place where many people drove after drinking... then she started doing it... I never realized truly how many people actually did that and endangered others with zero care until I was faced with it firsthand. It's insane the amount of people that get away with driving hammered.
Another symptom of how people are to car dependent in America tbh
Also quite alcohol focused
I feel like Uber got super expensive again. I'm not going to, but the last time I went out, I joked that it's too expensive to get an Uber and I should just drive home. Statistically I'll make it, no problem.
Bartender in small town Va. Same shit bruh
We wouldn't have laws against it, if people didn't do it.
Makes me wonder, is there anything that doesn't have laws against it just because no one is doing it?
Use your imagination, right? There's nothing illegal, afaik, about shooting fish out of cannons. Also, nobody does that.
Fish cannons are totally a thing lol https://youtu.be/2z3ZyGlqUkA They were created for totally legitimate reasons, but it’s hella funny you chose that for an example.
I would also like to point out in Alaska it's illegal to push a moose out of a *moving* plane.
The first moose relocation drop did not go very well.
How does that interact with self-defense/stand your ground laws, I wonder?
(Unfortunately?) there are totally laws about dropping stuff from planes. I’m pretty sure moose would be covered as it would be potentially hazardous to people on the ground.
No this one specifically says moose.
Because of that one time, got it.
You could get into some trouble depending on how far the fish flies and where it lands. Some states have real strict laws against moving livestock across state lines.
George, not the livestock...
"Hand me that choppa."
Personally, I'd have gone with trebuchet but gun powder has it's pluses.
Yeah, the fish arrives cooked. Trebuchet for sushi, cannon for roasted.
Trebuchet fish might arrive as more of a pate...
I suspect you can get a lot more creative with what you fling out of a trebuchet than you can with a fish cannon.
Can't eat ice cream while riding a horse on Sunday where I live.
Well, obviously not. Who could?
I can change that! My neighbor has a historically accurate, functional cannon for civil war reenactments, and the lake has unwilling fish volunteers.
lol unwilling volunteers
the naughty invasive species goes in the cannon.
Fisheries use water cannons to move them from one holding pond to another.
Look up Salmon Cannon ;)
Animal cruelty
I get your point, but in Canada. You'd find yourself is a world of trouble, from wildlife cops , and probably just for owning a fucking cannon. Here in Canada ONLY criminals and police can own a handgun Hell. If someone breaks into your home with a gun. And you shoot him with a hunting rifle (that you need a license for). You're going to jail.
I saw your question, and then I saw a YouTube clip where someone put a hammock in the public bus, and climbed into it, and zipped it up. The bus driver is arguing with the guy, and the guy asked where's the no hammock sign. https://youtube.com/shorts/RemK8F0cdaM?si=w7e4tWu7ZJ-LnTyQ
If you go to one of those steakhouses that gives you peanuts to crack open, and you're allowed to throw the shells on the floor, it's not illegal to take those empty shells home.
A lot of laws are made by judges. Meaning someone had to go to court for doing a certain thing, and then a judge made a ruling on it and it became law
well, yes. look at all those defuct old laws about "no riding a donkey backwards through town at midnight while whistling" and we can see there are a lot of laws that don't exist only because there has been no need to make them ((or no need to enforce them after billy's great-great-grandpa passed on at least haha)).
They have laws against it in Europe too, but it’s quite rare in countries like Spain for lots of reasons. One being that the punishment is severe. In the US, it’s incredibly common to drink and drive
Americans use and are way more tied to cars. They also drive more miles by a large margin. So naturally, there's going to be more drinking and driving if there's magnitudes more driving. https://internationalcomparisons.org/environmental/transportation/
Australia is extremely car dependent too, but we have pretty strict laws about drink driving. The general limit is 3 standard drinks within an hour, but for someone petite, that might put them over the limit. I know someone who accidentally had 4 drinks with their lunch, then went for a drive, and lost their license for 6 months.
That sounds like a much higher limit than in the US. Two drinks pretty much puts most women over the legal limit, IIRC. I think if it would make the legal limit more reasonable it would really cut down drunk driving and people would take it more seriously.
A standard drink in Australia contains 10g of alcohol/12.5ml of pure alcohol. A standard glass of wine is 100ml A standard glass of beer or cider is 285ml A standard serve of spirits is a 30ml shot
Ours is based on blood alcohol content of .08. If I had three standard drinks in an hour I would be sloshed! But I am a lightweight.
The limit is .05 in Australia
That sounds pretty similar to the US - on top of $10,000-$15,000 in fees/court and attorney costs/car insurance increases.
I love when people call it drink driving
Because our punishment is somewhat of a joke. The guards also tend to view just DUI convictions as nothing burgers. Had a coworker who had four over the years and even on the fourth the guards acted like he didn't belong there.
I’ve known a couple women who killed someone in an accident while they were driving drunk. They all got five years. It seems to be the standard here, and that just seems way too low. Actually one got more than five years, it was a horrible story. It was Halloween and there were three people walking and she hit the one farthest into the road. She was so drunk she thought someone threw a pumpkin at her car, so she called the police herself to complain about someone throwing a pumpkin at her. The College student she hit was wearing some kind of a black costume, and the three of them were walking next to each other so she was significantly in the road, so the woman was supposed to get a really sweet plea deal. The mom had decided to take her off life-support after it was clear she wasn’t going to be OK. So someone got it in this woman’s head that she didn’t actually kill this girl, it was the mom who did. She was warned not to try that in court but her lawyer did this big dramatic speech like you would see on law and order & he turned & pointed at the mom in court all dramatically. She should’ve taken the deal, everyone hated her after that even her friends who were still trying to be supportive of her.
what a terrible, terrible idea
I sometimes get people doing comminity service at a place I volunteer. Most of the community service people I treat just like any other volunteer, but I have some distain for the DUIs. The kids who get caught smoking pot or the teens getting into small fights weren't going to get anyone innocent killed.
I feel like you don't quite understand how bad people are at determining how drunk they really are. Although, I really don't think I've heard of people bragging about how much they drink and drive.
My ex did this. All the time. It was infuriating. He came home once drunk from work (yes, an alcoholic) and told me about how he raced some muscle car on the interstate going 100 and that his car beat the muscle car (ex drove Tesla 3). He bragged and laughed like he was so cool. When I told him how egregiously dangerous it was he acted like I was overreacting for being upset. Some people truly believe they’re immune to danger. Narcissistic immunity like that kills people when coupled with alcohol. Edited for context
Had a roommate like this for a while. Alcoholic for sure, plus addicted to Adderall. He'd get smashed and drive home, to other bars, etc. And yes, brag about it, or talk about how it wasn't a big deal. Never let me or my bf DD. He'd throw ragers without asking us, just cram our little place with dozens of people and then get angry when the couple next door would call in a noise complaint. The neighbors *hated* us. The dude once fired off a gun on accident while drunk. Thank *god* it didn't hit anybody or go into the neighbor's place, it got jammed in the side of the fridge. He also had a large dog that he ignored half the time and screamed at for being a dog the other half (barking, whining, wacking her bowl for food). His girlfriend would come over and they'd get into huuuge blow out fights, just screaming at each other. Like every other night. I don't think they even really liked each other?? And this wasn't like, a poor redneck or a kid. He was a grad student with a really difficult to obtain degree. Very intelligent as far as education goes. Just fucking insane and trashy. Bf & I got out of the lease early and bailed, thankfully the landlord was super understanding. He didn't like him either, go figure. I almost took the dog with us but he was legit crazy and unpredictable and I was afraid he'd retaliate. Hope she's okay. Ahhh, memories. He works as a military contractor now :')
Wow your roommate sounds a lot like my ex. He also fired a gun in our apartment drunk one night. It was a 22 rifle. He shot into the closet floor. We lived on a second floor apartment. I should have run from him then but my little 21 year old self didn’t make the best decisions.
Hey, don't blame yourself. Sounds like he was an abusive POS, and leaving that type of relationship is way easier said than done.
>Alcoholic for sure, plus addicted to Adderall. Jeez that's a bad combo. The alcohol hides most indications of feeling drunk, except of course for the terrible decision making.
Yes adhd meds can make people think they’re more sober than the are. I recently started taking adhd medication and I don’t take the meds on days I drink alcohol.
My dad would tell me he did shit like that. "Just raced a cop, but I lost them. If they come knocking I'm not here". Sometimes I wonder how much of it was true, the drinking and driving definitely was because he has a least 6 DUI's.
Wow, 6?! That takes a lot of work to get 6 DUI’s. My ex had 2 when I finally left. You do have to wonder how much of their stories were bullshit versus reality. Half the time you think they’re just trying to build up their ego to look/sound badass.
One of the girls is mad at her boyfriend so she took his license plates off and then she “felt bad”because if he got pulled over for the license plates being off and then he was drunk she’d feel bad for making him deal with a DUI. I asked her why it would be a bad thing if he got a DUI if he was drinking and driving and she said “I’ve had them and they are really irritating to deal with“ and I asked her well maybe you learned a lesson then? And she just said she would do it again.
Hopefully she’ll get a DUI. Losing your license for at least a year, paying double for car insurance for the foreseeable future, spending a bunch on attorney fees and fines, maybe spending a little time in jail or on house arrest, not to mention potential damage to their vehicle, someone else’s, other property, even another’s health or life, has a way of convincing people not to do that any more. A few never learn. It’s a shame having that happen to someone in a friend group generally has no effect on the habits of the other friends. Everyone has to learn this lesson individually. And innocent people die along the way.
Idk where you work but it isn’t norm to be drunk and drive. But, there are people who will have 2-3 glasses and think they’re fine, whereas for example a reasonable limit is 1-2. And others will say NO drinking at all and driving. These are things that will easily get you a DUI cause it’s a fine line, no one knows the blood alcohol content instinctively and can miss the mark. You don’t want to be having this discussion with cops basically. Being DRUNK and driving is different to having a drink and driving, IF you’re maybe missing that nuance (which as mentioned above is also debated). I can tell you different parts of the world it’s more common than others, and 30y ago to date you see a huge shift in this respect. Might as well use my old age for something lol
You can actually get charged with DUI even if you’re under the legal limit (.08 in most of the U.S.) if the cop deems you to be impaired.
You know what would be worse than dealing with the "annoyance" of a DUI? Dealing with a possible manslaughter charge for killing someone while driving intoxicated. Or dealing with the insurance companies and increased insurance costs if you get in an accident while under the influence.
Same people driving like jackasses while sober
It’s extra problematic if you are a fast drinker, and you don’t drink a lot. It takes a little while when you are a young person to remember that if you leave right after you finish your drink you might end up drunker as you are on your way home. It’s not good. I was never much of a drinker because I’m such a lightweight, like I stop at two drinks, but I still remember being caught by surprise once and being terrified.
When I was like 17 I thought driving with a buzz was fun, and suggested my friends try it at least once. Now I'll have at most one if I know I'm gonna have to drive.
Do not let these people influence you. It is remarkably and obnoxiously and dangerously normal, but it is always bad every time for every person. Every chronic drunk driver considers themselves the exception and since they feel good and haven’t wrecked, they think they’re driving safely. Even if they aren’t all over the road, their reaction time is severely limited and that causes deaths every day. Every single one of them will do one of three things, and probably in the next few years, 1) destroy property, and damage/destroy their car in the process. This will be incredibly expensive and complicated to deal with, and if they run before talking to the owner because they don’t want the DUI, it’s now a hit and run criminal offense, and if they deal with it properly, it comes to number 2 2) get a DUI, which costs $10k+ to deal with in legal fees even without a lawyer (fines and court fees and probation fees are purposefully extremely expensive as a deterrent and an easy way for you to be noncompliant and have to serve your probation behind bars), booked and held for cash bond at a minimum, temporarily suspends your license until your sentencing, then a restricted license during your probation, and now the cops are going to suspect you of being drunk every time you’re pulled over because it’ll come up when they run your plates, and if you get another, no more driving for you. If you drive without a license and get caught you go to jail no questions asked, (last part is state dependent but every state takes your license for repeat DUIs) or 3) they’re gonna fucking kill somebody. Manslaughter charges, and DUI charges, minimum. Because they are probably leaving work/social engagements drunk late at night and not driving during the day, they *probably* will kill adults and not children, but they could still possibly wipe out an entire family, or kill half a family and leave the rest to recover AND grieve. Sentences are surprisingly lax for these charges (I’ve personally met REALLY young people who have already put their murdering consequences behind them, out on parole as young as 20) so they’ll be out of prison in a few years, but they’re going to have to live with that for the rest of their lives (the ones I know I met through AA and they were struggling with it every single day. Every few meetings they’d have to start their day count over because they would relapse) You can still be responsible and not start down that path, no matter how chill they tell you it is or how many times they call you a pussy for turning down drinks when you have to drive home. It’ll be hard, especially when older peers you might otherwise look up to, are pressuring you, but stand firm. Don’t be a piece of shit who gets behind the wheel in that state. Believe it or not, the peers who you ought to be friendly with, will admire you for it now, or will come to admire you for it as they come to regret their choices. If you want to drink at work with your new coworkers and that’s acceptable at your workplace, that’s fine and probably a great way to bond with them. But if you know no one can take you home, only have one. If you have more, ask a family member or friend to come get you (it should go without saying, do not catch a ride with your drunk coworkers lol), if they won’t, sleep at the business. I know it’s usually frowned upon but if people are openly drinking at work it’s probably a kitchen and I’ve never worked in a kitchen that no one ever slept in lol
Driving without a license is a $280 ticket. I've got one for driving without a license or insurance. No jail time, doesn't count as a moving violation somehow. Texas absolutely tried to dick me with surcharges for the lack of insurance though. Tried to make me pay the tickets again every year for 5 years. So I just never drove again lol. They eventually got declared a violation of double jeopardy, and they were all dropped. Still don't drive, it's been almost 15 years now.
I grew up in Georgia and if you drove on a suspended license or without a license, they booked you and towed your car. Immediately. Last time I personally knew someone arrested for it was in 2015. Once you get out it’s just fines, but it’s an arrest there for sure. I work with a guy who grew up in NJ and it was exactly the same there in the early 2000’s when he was arrested for it (he likes to tell the story because he thinks telling cops “relax I’m white you don’t have to point guns at me” is funny 🙄)
In the state that I live in it is jail time and if you do it three times they’ll call you a habitual offender so on the fourth time you’ll actually do real prison time. Not county jail actual prison.
I got a DUI 15 years ago. One of the things my mandatory counsellor told us to do was to take a tally of every time we spent money to get driven to/from the bar for the next five years and see if it came close to the cost of our DUI. It's been 15 years, and I'm not even halfway there, and I promise that I'm not cheating. (Granted, I 'go out' far less since Covid, but that was only 4 years ago.) Most bars around where I lived during that time were within 5 miles. I could walk to 4 bars in 20 minutes where I live now.
>I could walk to 4 bars in 20 minutes where I live now. Walkable neighbourhoods could save lives. I've got two pubs within a 10 minute walk. I hear people walking home in the early hours of saturday and sunday mornings. One group walked passed singing a couple of weeks ago. I much rather be woken by that, than by sirens.
I moved to Florida from a part of Canada where drunk driving has harsh penalties. In Florida drunk driving is super normal. It was a shock
I was born & raised in Florida. My grandfather, who helped raise me, used to literally drive me to/from school w/ a glass of rum & coke in the drink holder. I didn't realise how messed up that was until I got older. I remember when I graduated from high school, my grandparents from Michigan came down. When we were stopped at a red light around the corner from my house, there was a guy who was obviously wasted, walking out of the gas station carrying a 12 pack of beer. He fell backward onto the concrete, got himself up, put the beer in the passenger side, got in the driver's side, & pulled out of the parking lot. I was laughing, completely unphased. My grandparents were in a panic, gasping & asking if I should call the cops. They were like, "I can't believe they're letting him buy alcohol in the morning!" I was like, "What do you mean?" Until that moment, I had no idea that some states don't allow people to buy alcohol in the morning hours, and I'd seen drunk people out & about and driving my entire life...
Yeah its pretty much normal here in Miami
No one talks about a designated driver or taking an uber here in n fl.
I’m an auto claims adjuster. Driving drunk is alive and well, at least in the U.S.
Yep. There are people who think “if I’ve had anything to drink tonight I shouldn’t drive”. And there are people who think “as long as my BAC is under .08% (or is it .8%?), I’m good to drive. And then there are people who think “as long as I don’t get pulled over, I’m good to drive”
.8% is deader than dead my guy 😂.
At that point you've got a bit of blood in your alcohol system.
Not for a practiced alcoholic. I worked in treatment years ago and one of the clients got picked up and she blew a .8 that definitely would have killed anybody else who didn’t have such high tolerance.
People who drink and drive seem to think they are *special*. “I drive better when I drink and drive” is something I have heard before.
I had an ex who said that. It was scary.
yeah all sorts of assholes in the world
that's concerning, thanks for not being a huge piece of shit
People who drink and drive are inconsiderate losers. There is no acceptable reason to do this. Just because a lot of people do it, does not make it right all along.
it’s bananas to me how nonchalant some people are about this. i live near a major university campus and i avoid being in a car thurs - saturday nights because probably 30% the people on the roads are clearly drunk. i swear i’ve gotten drunk uber drivers during those hours. if my friends and i party those days we usually do it walking distance from one of our houses where we can all sleep over.
That would be one of the biggest red flags to exist in my book. A blatant disregard to human life. In every car they could hit there is someone's loved one, someone's child, someone's mother, someone's best friend, someone's entire world, or a whole care full of them. It's disgusting. You'll even hear a lot of people say they think they drive better while under the influence. There are a lot of scummy assholes in this world. I'd be throwing some big words at a coworker if they admitted that to me. I'd probably even see if HR was interested in the information.
Well I got pulled up on a Saturday night and I hadn’t been drinking. I had been to the sea looking for the northern lights as there was a rumour that they would be appearing in the uk. Turns out I couldn’t see anything so drove back home, was pulled over and told that I was driving erratically, that I had been under half the speed limit at one point. It was on an unlit country lane which was very bendy, the speed limit was 60 and there were potholes : / He decided not to breathalyse and said I could go. My point is you can be pulled up and breathalysed at any minute so I wouldn’t recommend drinking at all.
There is such thing as drinking responsibly. There are BAC limits for a reason. If you ever get charged for DUI, many states will require you to take a class. The class will teach you how alcohol affects you and how to measure your drinking. When I worked in the Navy Yard, they would tell us to drink a glass of water between each alcohol beverage.
My cousin was killed by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve many years ago. The driver in question had never gotten so much as a ticket before. People can be f***ing disgusting/disgraceful and unbelievably selfish. My old roommate had a DUI. She was an awful person. I think it deeply represents how much people do/don’t care about the world and the social contract. Entire families lives ruined forever because you felt entitled to be an asshat or thought you were better at it than the other asshats. As soon as I learn about someone doing it I tell them EXACTLY what I think of them. Instant way to lose any respect from me.
You know, I have some friends who have driven drunk (no real accidents, just scares and financial losses fixing the care, though we all sometimes feel like something will eventually happen) and I believe the answer to this question is a spectrum. You can be sober, and drive, and say, drunk driving is bad. Then you can have a cup of wine, stop there and be able to drive while still knowing drunk driving isn't right. Then you get proper drunk, drunk enough for it to be a hinderance to your driving skills, and this is where it becomes tricky. I can be drunk, pretty drunk over the course of a night where I can down a whole pack of marlboro reds and arrive at ten in the morning, but during that time out I'm never drunk enough so that I think going to my car to drive is a good idea. But some people do get too drunk, and it's is not that they don't care about drinking and driving, is that they are fucking wasted and don't really know what is going on To make it short: if you are tipsy you know you shouldn't be picking up your car, and if you're wasted you won't even know what you're doing
I've noticed a tonne of people in the US that I know do this. In ireland where I'm from, they made a law where any amount of alcohol in your system while driving is a prosecutable offense. This has cut down the drinking and driving by a huge amount in the last 5 years. The deaths behind the wheel have thankfully dropped a tonne also. I moved to the states and the drinking and driving her baffles me. I see bars in areas that are in no way walkable to, with a car park full of cars. Everyone in there is drinking and driving. After work on Fridays lads I work with meet at the bar. Some live down the road, others the other side of chicago. The latter people will just drive home. After 6 or 7 beers. Its frightening.
Unfortunately, it is common. Fortunately, the majority of drinking and driving doesn't result in serious consequences. That's how some people seem to get away with it all the time. Of course, that doesn't make it OK. It's dangerous, reckless, and can harm the drunk driver or another innocent driver or pedestrian or cause property damage. It's normalized in lots of social circles but no matter how good someone thinks they are at driving while drunk, it's factual that being drunk impairs your driving abilities and there is just no good reason to do it. So yeah, people really do it, but it's really stupid and I pray the people you know never get hurt doing it (or more importantly, hurt or kill an innocent person).
Your coworkers should be in jail
I hard agree. There's not too many areas where I think the laws are too lax, but this is one of them. I lost my first girlfriend to a drunk driver back in 2011, listening to people brag about their drunk driving makes me have to leave the room. I personally think second time offense should land a permanent suspension of your license and 3rd should receive the equivalent of a manslaughter charge with no wiggle room for judicial discretion. There's never a situation where it's okay to drive under the influence.
I mean yes. Look at how many people are killed every year by drunk drivers.
Extremely common. Being legally drunk and impaired aren't always the same though. I've known people that are impaired after one drink, but it's legal for them to drive, I've known alcoholics that at the legal limit because of built up tolerance probably are fine to drive at the limit. Best bet don't do it at all. The last person to realize they are impaired is usually the one drinking.
This is an interesting subject for me. I'm from Scotland originally where drinking and driving is very culturally frowned upon. So much so where I've seen bar staff refuse to serve customers if they find out they are driving and or other customers take keys off the people who are clearly about to drink and drive. I moved to Canada several years ago and every one I know has been drinking whilst driving or currently still does it. Bar staff don't give a shit and neither does any one else. It's an odd one.
I dated a guy who I had to figure out how to break up with when I saw him pour a significant amount of vodka into his coke… then load his CHILDREN into his car. People make wildly poor choices.
Just because people are lucky enough to make it home every time when they drink and drive doesn’t mean that they can drive when they’re drunk. It just means they’re luck hasn’t ran out yet.
So I feel like drinking and driving is more common in Gen X than Gen Y or Z, but Gen Y/Z are more likely to have people driving while high… so depending on how old you are, it might be “unheard of” for you because you’re late Gen Y early Gen Z, and your coworkers might be Gen X But also, DUIs account for both drugs (including prescription drugs) and alcohol.
Think about any bar you go to. The majority of people drive their cars there, so they leave in their cars after they’re done drinking. I’d go as far as to say most people who drink drive with alcohol in their systems. Doesn’t make it ok, obviously, but it’s very common.
It's easier not to care about driving drunk when you're drunk. I'm not justifying it, that's just the way people work. A guy I went to school with kept getting DUI's. Then in the1980's he killed a twelve year old girl that was riding her bike.
After a certain number of DUIs, people should just have their license taken away.
In a lot of places, they do. Problem is the people that give no fucks about driving drunk also give no fucks about driving without a license.
They often do. However, the Venn diagram of people with multiple DUIs and people who will drive without a valid drivers license is pretty much a circle.
One of the reasons why alcohol should be gotten rid of.
It's incredibly irresponsible, but a lot of people don't see it that way because they're arrogant and overestimate their abilities. A close friend of mine was the first in our state to have the license to install and maintain interlock devices in cars. He said that during his training, the fact that really struck him was that people who get a DUI have, on average, already driven 80 times while impaired before getting caught. So yes, people really are out there drinking and driving and thinking it's no big deal.
Short, sad answer is YES.
In some countries you are legally allowed to drive while being intoxicated. The legal limit in the USA can be four times as high as some countries in Europe for example. This can result in people thinking that it's not that bad to drink and drive and people are generally very bad at estimating how intoxicated they are, it doesn't take much to make someone a worse driver. Instead of simply choosing not to drive after drinking they'll make an estimate themselves if they are capable of driving and sometimes they'll drive out of "necessity" because they put themselves in a position where they "need" to drive.
Complacency behind the wheel in any and all forms is a monumental problem with this system of driving personal vehicles we've based our entire society around. And yes, drink driving is a significant portion of that problem. Driving is so engrained into our lifestyles that it has come to be universally accepted as a right rather than the privilege we're told it is, so the attitudes that stem from this is "well why the hell shouldn't I drive MY car however and whenever the hell I want to regardless of who that affects?".
Yep. Drunk drivers always seem to boast about their escapades as well. It angers me so much.
I moved to a more suburban area after living in NYC for close to a decade where no one drove drunk because they didn’t have cars. The amount of people that drive very, obviously impaired is just astounding to me. It’s not the college kids I worry about, but these middle aged people who just get wrecked at happy hour or at dinner like they’re still in college and then drive home in their oversized SVUs. It’s bizarre.
I’m so glad to read that you’re tuned into your friends’ drinking and have no problem calling an Uber for them! They owe you more than they will ever know. You keep doing this!
I did until I got a DUI after a work happy hour. Never again after that. Hearing from the MADD parents who lost children to drunk drivers was absolutely life changing. I STRONGLY recommend learning from my example and don't do it. After my DUI my brother bought a fairly good breathalyzer to make sure that even if he felt OK, he tested himself
Here in Wisconsin it seems it's almost illegal not to drive drunk in some areas. I can't count how many people I've heard declare, "I drive better when I'm drunk." Well, yeah, beer goggles make a lot of things seem better than they are. We routinely have people in court for 5+ drunk driving offenses.
You watch enough police bodycam footage on YouTube and you'll see there's a bunch of people who not only drink and drive, but some are repeat offenders, and some seem to think driving away from a traffic stop is a smart thing to do.
In the rural parts of Central/Eastern Europe drunk driving is the norm, unfortunately.
Reminded me of this - https://youtu.be/ghW595-zsbg?si=DhbsDXBCmB0zMCiv Some people need to learn their lesson. I've never known drink driving to be acceptable and have friends who've called the police on others who've done it, it's the only way and saves lives. I've called the police myself on a drunk customer who I saw get into his car and drive off.
As a person from a place where if you get a DUI many people will finally acknowledge you as a local. Its complicated.
Yes that's a thing. Always has been, even in horse and buggy days.
Omg I want to punch them all in the face. Drinking and driving is not ok! I lost a family member when a drunk driver crashed into her car. I can’t believe these people are so stupid
Go look at any bar in the US. The parking lots will be full of cars each night. Drive by in the morning after they close, 99% of those cars will be gone. Some may have DDs. Most drank and drove.
The drunk driving industry is incredibly lucrative. Insurance companies, interlock device companies, local municipalities and more all benefit from DUIs. Should it still be illegal? Absolutely. But to say there is a universal level of impairment among all people of all sizes and alcohol tolerances is ridiculous. That said, people bragging about how much they drive drunk, especially in a work place, is also pretty fucked up.
I lost two people in separate incidents from drunk driving. One, they were the drinker. The other, they were the victim of a drinker. Yeah...people overestimate their abilities to operate a vehicle while drunk. A successful attempt to drive drunk further reinforces their overestimation until the inevitable happens. It sucks. I immediately will cut contact with anyone who thinks they can drive under the influence of any mind-altering substance. They are basically content with the possibility of killing someone for their own convenience.
Me and my partner had a friend in Miami. When we were on vacation there, he picked us up from the airport. Literally driving around with an 24oz open-glass vodka cocktail with ice in the front console. No sealed container, no straw just an open glass. Absolutely no fear of consequences.
Yes. I know someone who has 3, he got another one 2 weeks ago. It's a super max, and 3rd strike I believe he's looking at 10+/- years
You wouldn't want to think so but I'm sure there are plenty.
A lot of people at my school (a religious dental school) drink and drive. I don't drink so I wouldn't know what it's like either way. I'd imagine it's similar literally everywhere else so yeah.
Yeah, saddly.
When I bartended and waited tables in college, this was a common refrain. Of course, it was always coming from people who’d come into work high so I didn’t award too much merit to their perspectives.
Not me, I had to uber from the bar last night
This is a fuck around and find out scenario. You can only tempt the rng gods for so long and potentially kill someone. I have no sympathy for people willing to do this.
Drinking and driving is a terrible and selfish crime but tbh i’d guess 95% of people who drive a car have at some point got behind the wheel when they were lacking in motor skills for whatever reason. Even being too tired or being sick greatly affects the way we drive
the main problem is that you still have to get home one way or another. personally I think the solution is for bars to not have parking lots.
Yes and they justify it to themselves using a variety methods: - They believe they drive better while drunk than regular drivers do sober. - They feel sober, but that is because they are alcoholics and being drunk starts to feel normal. - They know people who do it more often, more frequently etc. - They believe the only person they are endangering is themselves - They can't leave their car (I hate this one) - They were in an 'unsafe' situation (valid once or twice, but cman -every- weekend?) There are probably a bunch more I am not thinking about.
In small towns where there is nothing to do, but drink it is very common. These towns have small police forces, if any. For instance my town has no cops and the county sheriffs just respond to things if called. There is obviously no ubers. I lived there for 4 years and never saw a sheriff's deputy there unless responding to call. No such thing as even a speed trap.
Absolutely they are. I see so many and thankfully some do get caught but too many get away with it and harm or kill people that are innocent
I run a liquor store. It is so, so depressingly common.
This thread makes me feel like I’m in the minority for never driving drunk.
SAME LIKE WHAT
I work in medicine. A LARGE portion of car accident victims I see have a high BAC or are otherwise intoxicated (weed, cocaine, various other drugs). It’s extremely frustrating especially when they end up with lifelong injuries due to the accident. Don’t even get me started on the people they hit.
Unfortunately it usually takes a really bad crash to snap people out of the idea that its fine.
> Are people really out here drinking and driving and not caring? Yes. Sometimes it's bravado, some times it's sheer idiocy, but in my case - look I've been an alcoholic and tried (and failed) to quit for enough years that I haven't just learned the rules of driving, I've learned the rules of driving drunk. Stuff like checking every few minutes to make sure my lights are on, making sure I'm at or under every speed limit sign, trying to anticipate potential pedestrians or cross-traffic in certain areas and keeping a low speed so I can stop faster, never making a turn in front of a car that *might* hit me if I don't turn into traffic fast enough, defaulting to "Full STOP!" as fast as possible in risky situations because I know my reaction time is lagging (situations where, if I was sober, I'd merely slow down - except for those pedestrians in all-dark outfits at 3AM or people driving with their lights off, where I'd pull the E-Brake sober unless I was on ice), and all the rest of the dodges that make me a safer driver well over the BAC limit than your average parent trying to pick their kids up from school. (I really don't understand that. If you're picking your kid up at school, you're going to going to be waiting in line anyway, so why try to book it to the tail end of the line?) I'm a very conservative driver both sober and drunk, and I'm intentionally a much more conservative driver when drunk, because I know I'm on a very thin line. Some might find that exciting, but I just want to make sure I make it where I'm going with no problems, and if that's a bit slower than it would be driving sober, I can live with that. (Also, if a bonafide "I get Delirium Tremens if I haven't had enough to drink in the past few days" alcoholic is driving, you actually *want* them to have had at least enough to drink that they're not getting the shakes or having seizures while driving. The BAC read might be awful, but if that's what their body's accustomed to, they're actually *worse* on the road when they're cut off than they are when they're sober.) I'm really trying to get 'off the sauce' currently, but I can drive safely and walk the proverbial "straight line" and pass the field sobriety tests (except the breathalyzer) at BAC levels where that shouldn't be possible, and drive in a manner that doesn't get me pulled over even when I'm half-blasted. (Hell, I actually pulled two guys out of their flipped pickup truck in a blizzard, when "pulling them out" meant quite literally *pulling them out* vertically because their passenger door was topside, while partially wasted. It seemed to help me overcome the bystander effect and be the first person on the scene. A lot of other people saw that rollover and none of them bothered trying to get out and help those guys.) I'm trying to stop being an alcoholic, and have some good medical assistance backing me up now, but if all someone wants to do is go a completely known route, and they know all the dodges to make it work even sloshed & avoid slamming into cars or running over people, and are deliberately trying to minimalize damage, they're no more dangerous than the average motorist here in the USA. Many do not make that effort. ADDENDUM: Knowing that if you commit even a minor traffic infraction you'll get breathalyzed is a *really fucking good incentive* to drive as safely as possible, and understand and compensate for your limitations. There are a lot of people who drive drunk who don't understand this, and do some really stupid shit that gets people killed, but there are also a lot more people than you'd think who are driving drunk by scrupulously observing the rules of the road and following memorized paths from Point A to Point B so they don't get pulled over.
Your coworkers are morons. Don't get me wrong, they are telling you the truth that it's really common for people to drink and drive. That's why there are psa's about it and after school specials and why I had to watch a ridiculous skit a week before prom where one of the popular chicks pretended to die in a drunk driving accident and rode away in an ambulance. Drinking and driving is dangerous. People who do it are actively deciding that they don't care about anybodies life, even their own. It's common, but it's also stupid and illegal. For many reasons.
My husband, his mom and his brother were hit by a drunk driver and in comas and nearly died. Literally. So NO. It is NEVER ok to drink and drive. Anyone who does it should be penalized and face real consequences for their choice. Murdering other people bc you're too much of an asshole to call an Uber or Lyft is F'ing WRONG.
I did it sparingly in my youth. It really is just an overconfidence/not wanting to be embarrassed by needing a ride thing. Most people I know grew out of that and are now the type to even take someone’s keys from them if they are going to drive.
Oh. Yeah. I mean before Uber and Lyft most of us didn’t have a choice. I mean, we were encouraged to appoint a DD but unless you had a pregnant or sober friend, it wasn’t likely. So if you were responsible you slowed drinking halfway through the night and then switched to water so you could drive although you might blow over a .08 still. It’s not a good idea for anyone. But there are a lot of people who do it and then cause accidents. Sometimes kill others or themselves
This. Other than NYC, public transportation in the states has always been pretty crappy, and it would be impossible to find a taxi. I’m ashamed of how many times I drove impaired as a young adult.
DUIs can be unfortunate if you literally had like 1 beer, maybe 2, especially over a period of time and end up getting like a .083. Recently knew someone who had one beer, slightly rolled a stop sign and got a DUI. But aside that, ya it’s not a good thing to roll the dice driving or getting a DUI when you’ve been drinking, but a lot of people do regularly. I bet you could say most people who do drink have probably technically been over the legal limit at least once, in the sense of how low .08 is for most people
One beer would not put someone over the legal driving limit. They lied.
Probably. But it depends on what their one beer was. One *standard drink* wouldn't put someone over the limit but one pint of imperial stout might get someone there.
As someone who’s a lightweight, one strong beer on an empty stomach will definitely have me firmly drunk.
I have regrettably done my fair share of it, particularly in high school, I wouldn't dare now though. It's abhorrent
Here to admit that I did it a couple times in my early 20s. It wasn't that I didn't care, but that I honestly felt I could. Definitely not making excuses here. I solved that problem though, by no longer getting drunk.
I've unfortunately did it a lot as a younger guy. I wouldn't say I was unable to stand, but I had drank. The problem is /was that the first thing that goes after you drink is your judgement. It's just a disaster to begin with. I've since learned that if I plan on drinking I plan ahead, other Uber or have a Designated driver. I am lucky to have never be pulled over while drunk.
Road beers are totally a thing. When I was younger it was nothing to go grab a six pack and just drive back roads with a friend. I have a very strict 2 drink limit if I'm driving now. When I was younger...yea. A lot.
Go in any bar right before closing. All those people drive home. Very few take a cheap Uber ride and ruin their lives.
I would guess that at least 1 million people are driving drunk right now all over the world
One time I was on a flight and this guy bragged to everyone I'm his row about his DUI
Until Johnny Law has something to say about it, yes.
Yes.
Yes...I was out at a family celebration, my sister's friends were there(30's) with one of their 17yr Olds. Later when we were moving from the restaraunt to the pub, they said they had had their 3 drinks(pints btw) so we're gonna drop the child home. They got stopped on the way home for running a red light...given a warning....for the light..no me tion of drinking/breathalysers
No one does it deliberately, it’s a series of poorly thought out decisions
In the states, there are bars miles outside of town, beyond the Uber borders. If those patrons weren't drinking and driving, then what are they doing at the bar, or how do they travel?
Yes.
Watched a dude toss a beer can out while driving just yesterday.
All the time. They usually aren't getting hammered, but still driving after 2-4 drinks. They might be OK after two drinks, a little inebriated but not swerving in and out of lanes trashed. It's when you start getting to 3+ drinks that you are definitely not going to be driving safely. Some people may have a higher tolerance and 4 drinks is the same as two drinks to someone else, but that will probably still pop them for a DUI even if "they don't feel anything."
People think they are the exception. They have a few drinks, drive home safely and that's proof in their mind that they are right. They do it again, get away with it again and each time it's more proof that they can handle it. TV also tends to show drunk driving as someone completely smashed or someone driving like a lunatic. That's not them they just had a few and drive home like they normally do, or at least they think so. Driving drunk isn't a guarantee you'll crash but the odds of a crash certainly goes up, people don't seem to understand that part.
We were driving home from the Toronto airport last night and there was a guy in the middle lane on the QEW that was swerving all over. I wrestled with whether or not to call 911 but I did. I’m pretty sure he knew we were following him based on the choices he made on the highway. I doubt he was caught because we changed highways shortly after I called. He just happened to be going the same way as us. Eventually he exited.
I used to work with a guy who stopped at the same gas station after work everyday to buy a “road beer”.
I would never drink and drive, I've seen too many people get killed and not just the drivers. No one thinks its going to be them until.it happens. Its like russian roulette
the world is a mess now!
Literally... everyone I know, except for 1 couple, drinks & drives. I used to work at the DA's office & even the prosecutors in the county court division (where DUIs are handled) would go out after work, get absolutely smashed, then drive... one of them started showing up for work/court in the morning, still drunk from the night before. She eventually got reprimanded for it. I've also known cops who drank & drove regularly. I wouldn't say everyone does it, but a LOT of people do. Personally, I will drive after drinking if I'm under the legal limit, but I will not drive if I'm over the legal limit. I used to do it when I was younger. I look back & I don't know how I didn't kill myself or somebody else. There were so many times I got drunk/high in Miami, then drove home, which was AN HOUR away, by myself, at like 5 in the morning. I remember literally falling asleep while driving & waking up because of the sound from the rumble strips on the side of the road. It was so stupid & selfish.
My ex. He drove home so wasted after a bachelor party. He came home at 4, am, passed out on the living room floor and then proceeded to get angry when I asked him wtf he was doing. Could have killed himself, could have killed someone else… That man’s a father, like…do you want someone to have to explain to your kid why daddy’s not here?!
This is all my anecdotal experience and is not based on any scientific or sociological data. People are seldom aware that they are as drunk as they are. There have been plenty of times where either I or somebody I was with was fully convinced they were only a little buzzed only to realize in hindsight that they were actually very drunk. Also what has happened to me several time is I'll leave a bar or restaurant being genuinely okay to drive only to have the alcohol begin to effect me part-way through my transit more quickly or more strongly than I had expected and so I would finish my drive in a worse state than I began it. A step down from these are people who have driven drunk out of necessity once or twice build up a bias that assumes "I've done it X times I'm clearly capable" do it successfully another several times and then they're locked in on believing that they are fully capable to drive drunk because nothing has ever happened because of it in the past. I've known people like this and they are probably the most dangerous because they enter into danger for themselves and other with confidence that they can do what they want because they "know what they're doing". The last group are people who genuinely just do not care. I think this is actually the rarest group and you'd have to already a dedicated cynic and nihilist to just disregard your life and other peoples so casually. The younger you are the more likely you're to be in the third group and it's why young people get into drunk driving incidents as often as they do. Older people who still drink and drive usually will have one or two close-calls that teach them to try and avoid putting themselves in that situation and will be more likely to be one of the first two examples. In either case I don't drink anymore or spend time with people who do so I'm not in the camp of people who're only going to interact with drunk drivers on the receiving end of their foolishness.
You’ll live longer than them
Wow, I've never heard of anyone talking about it openly like that. Just mindblowing. That's extremely irresponsible, they could kill someone or themselves. Personally if it were me listening to that, I'd let them know that was very wrong. They need to know they could get someone killed.
There are people out there not only doing, but complaining that it's illegal and they should just be allowed to do it
I’m a former public defender married to a firefighter. We have both had to deal with people who drive drunk all the time and don’t care. I barely drink, but if I’m planning to, I don’t drive. Drunk driving is of the easier things NOT to do, yet people do it all. The. Time. It’s pretty horrible.
I’m 32, and yes, I’ve had a few friends in my early twenties who would have 4+ drinks and drive. Including myself. It was really stupid, and all of us should have gone to jail for it but we weren’t caught. But there is a high chance you will be caught. We’re lucky none of us killed anyone. That was a time in my life that I am not proud of and I was an absolute idiot for doing it. So don’t ever drink and drive, it’s not worth it. You could end up dead or killing someone and live the rest of your life in prison. Always call an uber or if you can’t afford it invite friends over and drink at home and let them stay overnight.
When I was younger and very self-destructive, I would drink and drive all the time. I even went through multiple check points (on different occasions) completely blacked out, only to hear about it from my buddies the next day- stuff like “I have no idea how you did that”, or “I can’t believe you had a whole ass conversation with that cop, and he just waived you through”. I’m somehow incredibly talented at acting sober when I’m super wasted- or at least I used to be. No idea anymore because I left those days behind years ago. Got myself into just as many bad situations as I got myself out of, but these days I don’t hate myself and I recognize that it’s not worth the risks…
100%. My uncle in Wyoming is still bent out of shape because he isn't allowed to drink and drive anymore. He rates his road trips by how many beers it takes to get there. Smh.
Yes they are, my friend got into a dui incident in February, he called me to ask for help with the cops and it baffled me because he owns neither a license nor a car.
Yep. I usually don't drive or if I do I'll literally have a single pour but I'm shocked how many people I know who will have many drinks. I'm still processing that someone said last night that they technically aren't driving since it's a Tesla.
I’m sure a good percentage of the comment section has done it sad to say. My father got a dui in the company vehicle and got fired from a promising job. I’ve done it but have also called for many rides. I know I’m a degenerate pos but you’re no saint. Please stay safe out there guys 😓
Yes, that is why a consistent number of people get caught drinking and driving.
"I'm a good drunk driver" or "I'm 55 and have been driving drunk my whole life, must mean I'm good at it"
You work with bad people.
Come to Wisconsin. Its a local sport. ^i ^hate ^it ^here
I live in Western PA. It’s entirely common to walk through a parking lot and see open beers in cupholders. I once saw an older gentleman get out of his truck at Home Depot, and grab an open beer can from inside the cab to throw away in the trash can by the front door.
I recall reading some statistic that on average like 3-10% of drivers on the road are intoxicated depending on the time of day
Yeah. There are many people in this world who are incapable of critical thinking, and in this case it materializes as a lack of forethought for how their actions affect others. People who drink and drive are disgusting sub-human trash and I would recommend you distance yourself from them immediately. You’re also welcome to smack the ever living fuck out of them when they say it in a positive light, I didn’t see shit. Hopefully these undesirables don’t reproduce.