Please, step out of the car

“I tried to highlight this thought provoking editorial, but couldn't for some reason. How much hot water are you in if you have had a few beers but are not at the state allowed Blood-alcohol-content?
Hmmmmmmmm ”

“Excuse me sir, you blew a .03. As you may know, the legal level is a .08. We are going to have to ask you to step out of the vechicle, stand in line with the rest of these pusseys and have a few beers. Once you have reached the legal limit, you will be booked on drunk driving, your license suspended and you car impounded. Your wife will leave you and take your kids, you will loose your job and probably end up committing sucide.

Have a nice day!”

“In 11 years of criminal defense, I never saw the state prosecute anyone under the limit. In the days of Blood tests (actually drawn and sent to the lab for analysis), if the report came back under limit (.10 at the time) the case was nolle prossed (dismissed).

Judges would tell the defendants that they did not need a lawyer until the test came back.

I would think there would have to be some other circumstances to cause someone to prosecuted at less than half the limit.

As a side note, you can expect your BAC to increase .03 with each beer/glass of wine/drink. Expect respiration to reduce your BAC at .01 per hour.

Thus, three beers in an hour's time will put you right at the limit.

Various factors affect those rates, but they are a good rule of thumb when you are out have a few cold ones.”

“Chili36, Q. what approximate body weight for that rule of thumb?

I am working on the assupmtion that a 100lb person would be more drunk than a 200lb person with the same input.”

“I don't know the ratio, but a 200lb person doesn't have twice as much "blood volume" as does a 100 lb person.

BAC is just that. Percentage of blood volume that is alcohol.

As a side note, I know a few 100 pounders than can drink just about anyone under the table. BAC and tolerence is not necessarily proportional.”

“For this reason, if I have any alcohol at all, I let my wife drive.”

“I am one of those hundred pounders. I used to be able to drink a 1/5 of Tequilla in an evening. Of course I would be Sh*&faced, but never got sick!”

“I used to hit the stuff pretty hard, then one day I lost all desire for it. Not sure why, but it sure beats all those dammed meetings. ; )”

“"a 200lb person doesn't have twice as much "blood volume" as does a 100 lb person"

Well we also know that they do not have twice as much brains (or cojones) either.

So what accounts for that extra 100lbs? please tell me it is not all fat LOL.”

“I'm big-boned.”

“What's that Tilt ? with alcohol you get a big bone, I'll bet it is not 100lbs worth.”

“Depending how you were driving you could get a ticket for careless driving or if your driving was bad enough it could be reckless driving.”

“Drinking and driving is stupid. If I'm drunk I 1. Have a friend drive me home (call and have them get you if necessary). 2. Go home with a drunk chick from the bar that lives nearby and spend the night with her. Leave quickly in the morning if she's ugly...claim to have slept behind a bush.”

“So now we have to worry about driving sober???”

“NYC takes your car and auctions it off if you’re caught DUI. I went out and bought a $400 piece of #&%!$. If they want to take that, it’s fine with me.”

“NYC has so much public transportation, why not take this if you are going to drink? A designated driver or non-drinker? Or walk there? Why risk injuring/maiming/killing another individual or child? An accident can be become a major problem if drugs or alcohol are concerned. Why risk the legal hassle? You start pulling dead/maimed people/children/infants from drunk driving accidents (everyday)& perhaps your indifference would change.”

“ummm... stupid joke? I don't drink and drive and don't think others should either.”

“This wasn't about DUI, but rather having had "a beer or two" and running into one of those holiday check-points.”

“You buy a throwaway car for them to impound but you aren't driving under the influence? Sorry, but doesn't make any sense to me? And some think that just one beer doesn't effect some people's driving? Or a jury hearing that you had ANY amount of alcohol in your system where someone was killed won't effect their decision? Most of you are pretty sharp cookies, a little extra effort if you choose to drink etc isn't that hard to do.”

“I haven't seen them here in Salt Lake City, but about ten years ago in Albuquerque, some of the bars had breathilizers next to the door, and you were allowed to check your alcohol level free of charge. The police also had free "BAT Mobiles" (breath-alcohol-test mobiles) set up outside some of the bigger establishments, where you could get tested without fear of reprisal, as long as you didn't drive if you tested over the then-legal limit of 0.1 % (if you tested under, they just told you to drive carefully, and to not drink any more that night).

I was surprised to learn how MANY drinks it took to get me to the legal limit. I'm 5'10'' and weigh 175 lbs., and it would take about 6 pints in two hours to reach 0.1 %.

On another note, a coworker's sister did a Masters in Public Health on the effects of drinking LESS than the legal limit on driving skills. Her findings were very controversial, in that her study actually showed that drivers that had had a few drinks, but NOT enough to reach the legal limit, were actually SAFER drivers than those that had had NO drinks at all! She concluded that, while those that had had a few drinks were not yet physiologically impaired, they were sufficiently FRIGHTENED by the potential consequences of being pulled over that they were MORE attentive compared to the stone-sober drivers!

Needless to say, some of the faculty were not pleased - her statistics were good enough, however, that she pased anyway. I don't know if the study was ever publicly distributed beyond the printing of her thesis...”

“Berkeley did a similar study. Studies showed that after one or two drinks, drivers on a closed course performed better than drivers who had no drinks (all subject were given a drink without knowing if it had alcohol in it). It was due to how the alcohol loosened up the drivers. However, the improved driving immediately went downhill after one or two drinks due to slower reaction times.”

“ummm... see the thing is... I don't really have a $400 car... that was the stupid joke part (why do I bother?).”

“After the Allman Bros show we all piled back into the pickup for the ride back to the campground. Half way there we passed a cop going the other way and immediately he pulled off the road and we saw the reverse lights go on. Well, he passed all the cars behind us and...um...would NOT get off our tail.

The first thing he said to us when he got out was "Someone here better be rich!". Turns out you're not allowed to drive with 5 people in the cab and another 5 in the open bed of a pickup.

Well, when he found out that the dood, the one who wouldn've succumbed to the fines, who was driving volunteered to drive the vehicle because he was the only one who didn't drink that night AND that we had less than a mile to go to get to the campground, he had enough sympathy (or sumpthin') to let us him and us off the hook.

...or maybe he just didn't want the hassle of all the paperwork.”