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<b>Shane</b>,
Many European countries have ZERO tolerence, that means 1 beer and driving could not only get you arrested but you can loose your license for some time. Yet, the restaurant/bar business in Europe is thriving..... Go figure! |
wsoxrebel,
Those coffee drinks from your corner coffee shop (like Starbucks or Tulley's) do not have alcohol. They use syrups that you can buy in the grocery store these days. Some have alcohol type names, like Irish Creme, but they are not alcoholic. They can also be used to make Italian sodas, which the kids love (soda water, syrup, cream and ice). |
Let's have the same crackdown on people talking on the phone while driving. This has been shown to cause as much impairment as a .08% alcohol level, yet it continues to be legal. How many people lose their lives every year because of cell phone use while driving? Talk on the phone while driving--lose your license.
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This is the Washington Post story Shane is discussing and the new police standards of .01 for DUI.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Debra Bolton, a 45-year-old energy attorney and mother of two who lives in Alexandria, was searched, handcuffed, fingerprinted and arrested after drinking a glass of wine with dinner in Georgetown last May. A breath test indicated her blood alcohol level was .03, comfortably below the .08 legal limit at which drivers are automatically presumed intoxicated. She sat in a jail cell for hours and later spent months fighting in D.C. Superior Court before the charge was dropped. A number of motorists yesterday said they have had similar experiences. One young computer programmer said he spent the night in a D.C. jail on a drunken driving charge even though the breath test registered his blood alcohol content as 0.0 percent. The zero-tolerance policy requires that police have a reason to pull the driver over in the first place -- for example, for poor driving, or in Bolton's case, for driving without headlights. In Maryland and Virginia, as in other states, drivers generally are presumed not to be intoxicated if they test below .05. In all three jurisdictions, .08 is the legal limit. |
This matter is getting a good bit of press-expect the hospitality industry will lobby to make things more clear.
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seetheworld: thanks for the response!
I'm also wondering what the police in the wine-tasting regions of California are doing? Do they follow people as they emerge from a winery after wine-tasting? Or stop people in the parking lots of fancy restaurants like the French Laundry? Maybe we should develop a zero tolerance program in the States so as to encourage the development of good mass transportation systems like the ones they have in Europe! Just a thought! :) Everything has to be done in moderation. My best rule is not to drink. But, if I do drink, then my second rule is: either drink (moderately) with food or drink (even more moderately) with others. Never drink alone and never drink on an empty stomach. I only drink to excess during Fodorite GTGs! :-D |
Reminds me of Ron White's Drunk In Pub-lik featuring Tater Salad.
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I would also be afraid to use a breath spray, as it has alcohol in it!
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Did someone say she didn't have her car lights on? Will she ever drink and drive again or just lie about what she had for dinner? This is too hard for me.
Hey GoTravel-aren't they funny? I saw Foxworthy biography on A&E and found out about his sitcom. A very young Haley Joel Osment played one of his children. It's now on at 10 Saturday on Nick for 2 hours! Cute show. Do you think Ron White was faking it??? Remember the guy who used to be on Carson who acted drunk? |
Nah, I think Ron White is a drunk. You can tell by his eyes, his skin, and his teeth.
He's funny as can be ("...we were going the speed of smell....") but definitely has had some substance abuse problems. |
Methinks Shane doth protest too much.
Since it's been tested among truck drivers, we know that at least among them, driving tired is as dangerous as driving while under the influence. Imagine what the combination might be like. I would like to know what behavior, if any, tipped off the police who tested her (or was it a regular roadblock?) -- it's easy to imagine seeing someone driving a bit erratically with her lights off at night, and then, when the police stop her, smelling the alcohol on her and deciding to test her. Sometimes the infraction is something other than DWImpaired and the blood alcohol is added to the charge if there's reason to think the impairment was something ingested (rather than being just a lousy driver). I have experienced over-ambitious policing in speed-traps and the like, but given the choice between "the hospitality business" and public safety, I'll come down on the latter, esp. since it affects the former. (In fact, how many people have hesitated to drive in the DC area because of the bad reputation DC drivers already have?) |
Let's at least face this fact: drunk driving laws are not consistently enforced. I think they are unenforceable.
My point is that legislators lower the acceptable blood alcohol level to win votes and make everyone feel they are Doing Something. Meanwhile, police can't and won't pull over everyone leaving a restaurant; they have to wait until a driver gives them a good reason. And the hospitaltiy industry would indeed revolt if the cops set up checkpoints outside every establishment that serves liquor--can you imagine?! So lots of slightly impaired drivers hit the roads every night. That's a fact, and it isn't likely to change. What do the cops in Napa and Sonoma do with all the "tipsy" drivers wine-tasting their way trhough the area? Ignore all except the obvious offenders, same as cops all over the world do. |
""Let's at least face this fact: drunk driving laws are not consistently enforced. I think they are unenforceable.""
While the above statement may be true, the THREAT of even being charged with Driving While Intoxicated or Under the Influence is enough to make me leave my car everywhere. The price you pay simply isn't worth the risk. Very close friend that got in a fight with his wife the night of his brothers wedding. Short story ran into the back of a van, killed two people, went to prison and lost everything. His wife divorced him and got sole custody of the children. She took out a restraining order against him and he hasn't seen his kids in almost 15 years. My freind is just like any one of us except he took the chance and ended up making the biggest mistake of his life. His driving while intoxicated impacted his immediate family, his parents, his wife's parents, the two famililies of the deceased, etc. |
Gotta say I'm petrified driving these days-read some place that 17% (it may have been higher) of the other drivers are on drugs, alchohol or are sleep deprived.
Unfortunately, the laws and rules don't always deter the worst offenders. GoTravel, what about Ron White's teeth? Bloodshot eyes??? Honest question, what are those signs? |
Does this mean that the wonderfully "all things in moderation" Bush children, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, etc. would also be arrested? Uh, somehow I doubt it and no, they don't all travel around the city with personal drivers.
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Some of you seriously seem to be arguing that it's actually okay to be driving after drinking, because everyone else does, because police enforce the law unevenly, because we have to support the hospitality industry, because you can usually play the odds if you aren't falling down sloshed.
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Author: donco
Date: 10/14/2005, 12:20 pm Remember the guy who used to be on Carson who acted drunk? VINCENT PRICE, RIP. |
Foster Brooks was the guy on Carson who acted drunk. Vincent Price was a brilliant actor who made a fortune in horror flicks.
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No, Cassandra, what I'm arguing is that a "zero tolerance" policy is absurd by definition.
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His gums are receeding and have the look of someone who has smoked and drank way too much.
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