I agree 100% Jeff. (By the way I am not a heavy drinker)

How about a roadside test for coke-heads and bongers??

What I do not like is the media term "legally drunk" when no vehicle operation is involved at all!

.08 may be a fine standard for drivers, but if this mind-set keeps up, you will not be able to walk home or get in a cab with a few beers in you..

I'd love to see bars that have breathalyzer's available and people trained in their use.

Or cops walking around bar districts offering to take BACs before people get in cars. Or make cheap breathalyzer's available for people to buy and keep in their cars.

IMO, most people who drive while over the limit do so because they genuinely think they are below the limit. I'd bet that if they saw a hard number to tell them otherwise, they'd find another way home.

And while we're comparing the way Europe does things and the way we do things, you can't forget that they make it easy and convenient to follow the law - neighborhood pubs, good public transit (even at night!), etc. If I'm going out to hit the bars, I often try to take the bus into town and grab a cab on the way home. The problem is, the buses don't run towards town at night. I once waited more than an hour for one and it never came.

If the MADD is going to berate us for being responsible, it has to be made possible to do so.

According to this BAC calculator I can have 7 drinks in one hour and still be below .08. :eek:

Edit: Of course I'm 6'7" and ~300 lbs...YMMV.;)

Try this one too.

I just wanted to add this as well. There is NO FREAKIN WAY I could drink a six pack in 60 minutes and blow legal, not a chance and I'm a huge guy with high tolerance. Something is wrong with that site or it's a typo. The site says .12 lower on the page for the same info so who knows.

After some further thought, maybe that is a literal statement. I mean at the one hour mark I may be at .08 BUT I would be climbing as it had not all made it into my system yet.

This is why you will not see too many bars make breathalyzers available. Too much liability - talk about being sued!

Good point, though I have seen a few. Anyway, does this not seem odd to you guys on the 6 drink/hour deal? So I could go to the beach for a cookout at 8:00, have dinner and 18 beers, leave at eleven and be legally sober???????? Not likely in the least!!!!!!

No, not 6 beers per hour. :eek: If it takes 40-60min to metabolize one drink, then you could drink 8-9 drinks over 3 hours and have the same BAC as drinking 6 drinks in one hour. That math actually matches with common sense.

Yes I get ya, it's telling me I can have 4.5 drinks (unmetabolized) in my system at any given time and blow under .08. Still seems awefully optimistic to me.

Excellent point.

What floors me are the "Alcohol Limit" signs. Like "Speed Limit" signs, these things are posted around town.

What a JOKE!

What next? . . .maybe a sign that reads "school-zone BAC .04 (during school hours) (?)

How 'bout a guy gets pulled over; but occifer. .. burp . .. I was just .001% over . .. and .. .but .. uhmm, I thought this was a .09% zone . .'cuz there were no "reduce BAC ahead zone" signs . .burp ..

-OTOH-

AS far as the legal system letting people go, they do.
just a couple years ago, a woman (hammered-drunk) plowed in to a parked car right outside my parents place. She was going to "hit and run," but some other motorist saw what happened and boxed her in.
Her fine consisted only of "treatment" and a 90 day loss of drivers license.

Nice, eh?

. . .or was it just because she happened to be a state Supreme Court Judge !? story

(Equal under the law . . . unless you happent to be an "in" lawyer or cop)

The bottom line is, we have laws to make the prolitariate class PAY and obey. . . .as it should be .. . and there's nothing you can do . . nothing is a "right" . . .alll are "privilages" doled out by the mighty LAW makers.

Want to license a privilage?

Click here to accept EULA :rolleyes:

A lawyer friend of mine once told me that if your indeed drunk, refuse the breathalyzer. Even though in most states you'll loose your license for not taking the test, you can't be charged with DUI, just failure to blow. A lawyer can then petition the court to get you a to and from work driving license for the year.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

From what I've read; In absence of the breathalyzer, they will use "smell of alcohol. . .blood-shoot eyes . . . refusing to blow (all suggesting guilty . .. even if not proven) '

I've asked a couple attorney friends this question (over drinks :D), one is an ex-prosecutor the other is current. Both said it's just as bad if you don't blow.

Also, there are no "work" permits or licensces in NJ. This probably varies from state to state.

Can't they just drag you to the station and force you to donate a pint of blood if you refuse the breathalyzer?

They do exactly that here in AZ. If you refused to take a breathalyzer you are arrested and a warrent is issued to take a blood sample.

in nc if you refuse to blow it is an automatic suspension of your drivers license for 1 year.

You can be tried for a DUI but it would be very rare that they would win the case and therefore many times it is not pursued.

So yes you loose your license but you are not convicted of a crime and you get few to no points.

There was a rude old b!tch here that was head of the mad mothers. One day when she was on the radio railing against the horrors of demon rum I called in. I told her that my problem with her group was that it was not the mothers against dangerous drivers or the mothers against bad drivers. As best I could tell they didn't care how bad or dangerous a driver you are, as long as akyhawl didn't cause your problem. I next challenged her to a contest, supervised , on a closed course, where I would drink to the legal limit and then we would engage in a driving contest of her choosing & if she didn't win, then she needed to shut up, go home & quit bothering people. She refused. I told her I considered her a hypocryte because her real issue was with akyhawl, not safe driving. My belief remains unchanged.

If I remember correctly one of the founders of MADD went on to become a consultant for an alcoholic beverage company.

I see many a driving record due to my job, the part that baffles me the amount of multiple convictions that some folks have,and still are able to drive, unless you hurt someone..all it takes is money=here you go and keep trying ..maybe next week you will kill someone
Rika