Time to ponder it for a while.

  • Thread starter Thread starter kikie
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Yah I admit it....I'm a Kung-Pow-aholic....but I do agree that the courts are sometimes way too leniant on drunk drivers, especially in a situation like this.
 
I've never understood any of the justifications for drunk driving. Is it really that hard to get a ride or sleep it off at wherever the party is?
 
3-Wheel Drive
I've never understood any of the justifications for drunk driving. Is it really that hard to get a ride or sleep it off at wherever the party is?
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If you're drunk you're behaving irrational, so I don't think a drunk person thinks about what could happen if he/she gets into a car and start driving. getting a ride and sleep it off is definitely not on a drunk person's mind.
 
You should check out the statistics in Japan. Drunk driving is an epidemic. There as a highly publicized case last year, wherein a young public official drank at a party and a bar and got behind the wheel of his vehicle. Shortly after, he slammed into the back of an SUV sending it off a bridge into a river where the three toddlers in the back seat all drowned. He then raced home and drank liters of water to lower his blood alcohol level. Because the police couldn't prove he was actually drunk at the time of the accident he got a lesser sentence.

I don't know if the law has been changed or not, but citizens have the right to refuse to take a breathalizer, and all the police can do in response is suspend your license for 24 hours and fine you.

If I recall correctly, there were over 300 arrests for drunk driving on new year's eve last year.

Yay drunk driving! Everyone's a loser!
 
In most states in the US, I believe refusing to take a breathalyser test is an automatic DUI.
 
Duke
In most states in the US, I believe refusing to take a breathalyser test is an automatic DUI.
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I believe here in SoCal it means an automatic suspension of your license for one year.
 
Touring Mars
It's not like she is brain dead, paralyzed, blind or mentally incapacitated in some way - I'd say her quality of life was far better than you seem to think, despite her impairments. I can't understand people who think that she is as badly off as the two people who died in the same accident... I reckon if you asked her whether she'd rather be dead or disfigured and alive, the answer would be fairly unequivocal. I'd go as far to say that she would probably be pretty offended by the suggestion that severe disfigurement is reason enough to warrant losing the will to live - indeed, her actions and behaviour since the accident (notably her prominent role in publicizing the drink-driving issue) demonstrates firmly that her disfigurement needn't be the be-all and end-all for her...

Plenty of people feel sorry for her - but that's no reason why she needs to feel sorry for herself, which she clearly doesn't.
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Quoted For Truth. I think it is because these people who pity her think that she will be shunned for her disfigurement (I mean, Sam Cassell is barred for less) by other people, when her resilience will ensure that she is not. Those types are common as well; nobody would actually come up to her and say that she's hideous, and if they do, they keep it to themselves, though she may be able to tell if that is what they are thinking.

I can only imagine the pain she has gone through both in and after the accident, however. Perhaps that is why others may also show sympathy for her.
 
Would this have received as much publicity if it weren't for the fact she's a rather pretty girl?

I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened, and therefore, what about all the other people who've been burned in wrecks that were other people's faults?

I say this because I've seen this particular example a hundred times.

No less of a tragedy, however.
 
Speedy Samurai
... I don't know if the law has been changed or not, but citizens have the right to refuse to take a breathalizer, and all the police can do in response is suspend your license for 24 hours and fine you. ...
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Duke
In most states in the US, I believe refusing to take a breathalyser test is an automatic DUI.
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Solid Lifters
I believe here in SoCal it means an automatic suspension of your license for one year.
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Here in NZ, if you refuse the breathalizer, they get a doctor to come in and they force you to give a blood sample.

Of course you can opt for the blood sample if you prefer having a needle jabbed into your arm rather than bloing into a tube. :indiff:
 
ferrari_chris
Here in NZ, if you refuse the breathalizer, they get a doctor to come in and they force you to give a blood sample.

Of course you can opt for the blood sample if you prefer having a needle jabbed into your arm rather than bloing into a tube. :indiff:
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Same in Australia.
 
ferrari_chris
Here in NZ, if you refuse the breathalizer, they get a doctor to come in and they force you to give a blood sample.

Of course you can opt for the blood sample if you prefer having a needle jabbed into your arm rather than bloing into a tube. :indiff:
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Same here.
 
Wow, the car was not just destroyed, its now unrecognizably destroyed. She looked as if she had much going for her, and this guy comes up and rips her apart. I hope she made it into the world, or at least survived.
 
3-Wheel Drive
I've never understood any of the justifications for drunk driving. Is it really that hard to get a ride or sleep it off at wherever the party is?
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Why touch alcohol at all?

I'm 100% alcohol free, it doesn't taste good, it's unhealthy, I could go on forever...Drink alcohol to feel happy and social? Boy, what a life you must have then...

I don't know what's so "cool" about alcohol these days, just 2 days ago, 2 Romanian (Romenian?) drivers, who were drunk, hit a car which was driven by a mother and her 3 children, all of them were killed, unless the drunks off course, these are cases in which I honestly think they deserve no better than death themselves...
 
Bram Turismo
Why touch alcohol at all? it doesn't taste good,
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A matter of personal opinion - and I totally disagree. Infact, most of my favourite beverages involve Ethanol to some extent. :p

Bram Turismo
it's unhealthy,
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So is drinking too much water - used responsibly, alcohol poses as much of a health risk as cheese on toast.

Bram Turismo
Drink alcohol to feel happy and social?
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Yes. Sue me.

Bram Turismo
I don't know what's so "cool" about alcohol these days, just 2 days ago, 2 Romanian (Romenian?) drivers, who were drunk, hit a car which was driven by a mother and her 3 children, all of them were killed, unless the drunks off course, these are cases in which I honestly think they deserve no better than death themselves...
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People who drink and drive are stupid and deserve to be penalised, but using examples of people who drink and drive to demonise alcohol itself is not wise. It's one thing trying to tell people to leave the car at home if they're going to be drinking - it's another thing altogether to preach that drinking alcohol itself is the problem...
 
I'm 25 and don't drink, nor do i have any interest in it. I actually hate alcohol and don't really like to be around anyone who's drinking it, or definately anyone who is drunk.

Just think how many less crashes there would be if alcohol wasn't around (there would be less - don't need to do research to find that out and theres no need to be sceptical about it either).
 
Touring Mars
People who drink and drive are stupid and deserve to be penalised, but using examples of people who drink and drive to demonise alcohol itself is not wise. It's one thing trying to tell people to leave the car at home if they're going to be drinking - it's another thing altogether to preach that drinking alcohol itself is the problem...
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That is not what I'm doing, I've been drunk myself, and it only stayed with that one time, I did not like that I had no control of my body or mind. To come to this, when people are drunk, I mean, really drunk, do they often even think about "Oh crap! I can't drive!" when they're returning home? I mean, sure you can say that when your sober, but what when you're really drunk, do you still have those consequences in mind?

On that, what is "being drunk" actually? Sure, your liver cannot brake down the alcohol rapidly enough, but can anyone explain this more detailed? In a way, I find it a rather interesting phenomenon, being drunk. It's like getting high, what's "getting high"?
 
Banning alcohol isnt the root of the problem, people drinking alcohol and acting dangerously is the real problem.
Its so easy to say '' ban this and that'', I am a target shooter and I own and collect several guns so I know quiet a bit of people wanting to ban things without thinking twice about the problem.
Its hard to deny that alcohol leads people to act dangerously with their cars when drunk, but other people which enjoy alcohol carefully get blamed for the stupid idiots killing people because they dont know how''handle'' alcohol.
I am not much into alcohol at all, all I drink is two or three cans of beer a week...but If someone crashes because he was drunk and the government bans beer, well that would be just unfair.
Banning things is just getting rid ( or trying to) of the symptoms, and last but not least people which are really into alcohol get it anyway, no matter the ban. Just look back to the 30's, that law was just redicolous, in the end it caused more criminality than it should have prevented.

Its the same with guns, just because some crazy teenager get on a killing spree with the illegally bought guns I and all other responsible and lawful owners get blamed for nothing. That the teenagers had problems with their family, drugs and mentally problems is of course not responsible for that ''tick out'' its the gun which causes people to turn evil and kill people.

And the story goes on and on with all kind of things you can imagine, SUV's, dogs, metal fenders, just to name a few....:yuck:
 
Duke
In most states in the US, I believe refusing to take a breathalyser test is an automatic DUI.
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In Canada, it's automatic day in jail and 90 day license suspension I *think*;

. . . could be 90 days in jail without the suspension, too.
 
^ I know in Washington if you refuse to take a breathalyser its a day in jail and you get your license suspended for 90 days. I also know that if you are driving down the raod and get pulled over and when the officer gets to the car and you open a beer/an alcoholic drink and take a swig he can't give you a breathalyser because they wont get an accurate reading.
 
Diablomonkey
I also know that if you are driving down the raod and get pulled over and when the officer gets to the car and you open a beer/an alcoholic drink and take a swig he can't give you a breathalyser because they wont get an accurate reading.
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Similarly in the UK, you are entitled to refuse an immediate breath test on the grounds that very recent drinking can leave alcohol in the mouth that will generate an excessively high 'false' positive.

Bram Turismo
To come to this, when people are drunk, I mean, really drunk, do they often even think about "Oh crap! I can't drive!" when they're returning home? I mean, sure you can say that when your sober, but what when you're really drunk, do you still have those consequences in mind?
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Alcohol intoxication is known to (considerably) lower your inhibitions and make you alot more prone to bad decisions, but many of the decisions that lead to drink driving are also influenced by what the person does when they are sober. If they know they are going to drink, they should leave the car at home. If they are out with the car and have to drive home, then they need to make the decision to not drink. Neither of those involve making poor decisions when actually drunk.

People who drink and drive come in various shapes and forms - Some people don't care about the consequences of their actions (driving) whether drunk or sober... many people simply do not accept that alcohol impairs their driving (very common), and yet another type (the most worrying, in my opinion) are those who don't even know that they're about to do something extremely dangerous - usually inexperienced drinkers.

Bram Turismo
On that, what is "being drunk" actually? Sure, your liver cannot brake down the alcohol rapidly enough, but can anyone explain this more detailed?
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This is an issue you can argue with a drink-driver until you are blue in the face - hence why discussing relative impairment is pointless with most hardened drink-drivers. The law is not based on impairment levels, but on blood alcohol levels. That way, the whole issue of impairment is rendered a moot point.

A close friend of mine used to be a 'hardened' drink driver, until he wrapped his car round a traffic bollard. We used to have arguments about the impairment caused by alcohol (or other drugs) on driving ability, and he would steadfastly refuse to accept that 2 pints (beyond the legal limit in the UK) was enough alcohol to impair his driving in any way. (The fact that he rarely drunk just 2 pints, whether driving or not, was seemingly irrelevant, but anyway...) The irony was, I didn't doubt that he could handle his booze well enough to be perfectly capable of driving beyond the legal limit - especially knowing what I know now about 'hangover management' (most alcoholics function considerably better after one or two drinks than they do stone-cold 'sober'). His argument centered on the fact that he could drink 3 or 4 pints with no ill effects, whereas his wife was tipsy after a single glass of wine - i.e. she was impaired but under the limit, yet he was unimpaired but (way) over the legal limit. The downshot is that the legal limit is quite arbitrary, but is low enough to err on the side of caution. Ironically, my friend's wife is a good example of why the legal limit should really be reduced to zero alcohol. Indeed, most of my friends (mostly semi-heavy drinkers themselves) never drive if they are drinking anything...
 
Touring Mars
A matter of personal opinion - and I totally disagree. Infact, most of my favourite beverages involve Ethanol to some extent. :p


So is drinking too much water - used responsibly, alcohol poses as much of a health risk as cheese on toast.


Yes. Sue me.


People who drink and drive are stupid and deserve to be penalised, but using examples of people who drink and drive to demonise alcohol itself is not wise. It's one thing trying to tell people to leave the car at home if they're going to be drinking - it's another thing altogether to preach that drinking alcohol itself is the problem...
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I could not agree more !... Thanks !..
 
I saw that a while back. Why the hell did you have to bring it up again? Now i'm going to have nightmares for weeks on end again...
 
Touring Mars
...

A close friend of mine used to be a 'hardened' drink driver, until he wrapped his car round a traffic bollard. We used to have arguments about the impairment caused by alcohol (or other drugs) on driving ability, and he would steadfastly refuse to accept that 2 pints (beyond the legal limit in the UK) was enough alcohol to impair his driving in any way. (The fact that he rarely drunk just 2 pints, whether driving or not, was seemingly irrelevant, but anyway...) The irony was, I didn't doubt that he could handle his booze well enough to be perfectly capable of driving beyond the legal limit - especially knowing what I know now about 'hangover management' (most alcoholics function considerably better after one or two drinks than they do stone-cold 'sober'). His argument centered on the fact that he could drink 3 or 4 pints with no ill effects, whereas his wife was tipsy after a single glass of wine - i.e. she was impaired but under the limit, yet he was unimpaired but (way) over the legal limit. The downshot is that the legal limit is quite arbitrary, but is low enough to err on the side of caution. Ironically, my friend's wife is a good example of why the legal limit should really be reduced to zero alcohol. Indeed, most of my friends (mostly semi-heavy drinkers themselves) never drive if they are drinking anything...
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This is interesting.

Last year after my company's Christmas party (which is a breakfast) I arrived home, after taking the provided bus back to work and getting a lift to my house, feeling drunk. Not heavily intoxicated, but I was definately feeling the effects of the alcohol and I knew that I wouldn't be driving that afternoon (I knew that before the day anyway.)

Coincidentally my brother turned up about 30mins later, in uniform, with a patrol car.

Curiosity got the better of me, so we decided to see how much over the limit I was. I blew in the machine... and was clear to drive! Now, I'm a regular drinker so it's not like I'm sloshed after a couple of pints, and I had stopped drinking about two hours prior to the test. But I was astounded, that in my mindstate, I was legal to drive a car. I certainly wasn't in any mental state to do so...

:crazy:
 
It's an interesting point. There is any number of reasons why people shouldn't drive - fatigue, stress, deteriorating eyesight/physical fitness etc. - all can and do raise your risk of an accident dramatically. Drink or drug-driving is as avoidable as tired-driving, yet someone who causes an accident when they are a bit over the legal limit are considered scum. Interestingly, in the case of the accident in question in this thread, the guy was driving home the morning after the party, so he probably thought he was OK to drive (clearly tests proved otherwise)...

Here in the UK, a guy was given five years in jail for causing a train crash (in Selby), killing 10 people and injuring another 70. He admitted to having had no sleep and fatigue was judged to be the principle cause of the accident... yet strangely, you don't see any of the victims from that accident being paraded on Oprah Winfrey to show people the tragic consequences of driver fatigue...
 
What would driving be like with a heavily caffeinated alcoholic beverage?

Are these the new threats to drunk drivers: that they feel awake and jittery, but are still impaired and pose a threat to the public?

I find it very interesting that bartenders won't mix you a Rockstar (or Red Bull) with alcohol, but rather hand you the drink, then the liqour, and make you mix it yourself. . . which is ironic, because our government-sanctioned LCBO will gladly sell you pre-mixed alcoholic (6.9% @ 473ml) Rockstar drinks for the SAME price as a regular Rockstar.
 

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