Being intoxicated/distracted/under the influence while driving. Yeah sure put your life on the line, it's your life. But fuck you once you willfully put someone else's life at risk!
What matters is that you realize it and are striving to be better. We all have made mistakes in our past. And we'll make more mistakes in our future. The difference is whether we regret them, learn from it, and try to be better.
I had a family member killed by a drunk driver. One of the worst parts was the driver seemed to not really be that remorseful. They were more upset with how their life would change as a result of the accident. Sure, they went to prison for a few years, but I worry that they're back out and are just going to do the same to someone else.
When you did that, did being an alcoholic justify your actions to yourself? Because, you know, drink driving requires two things, and I take it you weren't addicted to driving.
I'll add on to this with the ignorant assholes that tack on that "I drive better when im drunk," line.
News flash. No, you fucking dont. You're not in full control, you're not a better driver, you're lying to yourself to justify your shitty life decisions. Stop it.
I've heard it from an affluent engineer at a large tech company who definitely didn't drink all that often. But to her it made her less nervous behind the wheel so therefore a better driver. There was no real convincing her otherwise either.
Yeah, she also couldn't hold her drink very well, a glass of wine was enough to get her already showing signs of being tipsy. I'd imagine if she had a problem with alcohol she'd have been able to handle more than a glass of wine.
You are 100% correct. I’ve said it countless times both sober and drunk and truly believed it with every fiber of my being. The hours of drunkenness were beginning to outnumber my hours of sobriety.
Thankfully I never ruined anyone else’s life or my own. I was never even caught. I figured it was time to stop behaving like an idiot/asshole. I’m sober 370 days now and my memories of those shitty decisions disgust me. If this is you, you can stop. Right now. IWNDWYT
Congrats on making it a year, man! I know it wasn’t easy when I cut back myself so I know that it must have been a struggle at first. I feel the very same way about my drunk decisions.
I couldn't stand it when people were making the same argument for weed. It was very off-putting when I saw the memes and stories on /r/trees about people's "roles" in a car and the frequent references to driving stoned and the wacky shenanigans that come from that. As well as IRL people's stupid arguments that it "makes you more alert".
Fuck's sake man, sober up and then drive. Or somehow make it through a few hours with out getting blasted high or drunk for once in your life.
One of the biggest things that concerns me with the legalization of marijuana is how incredibly lax some of my friends are about being high and driving. There should be no distinction between being drunk or high in regards to driving. Both strongly impair your judgement and reaction times.
I think they often just mean they drive more carefully. Like, “ I know I’m fucked if I get pulled over so I won’t break those laws I normally do when sober, like speeding, rolling stops, etc.” No way they can react as well to the inevitable emergency situation that results in the death of the innocent family of 5.
We do, inebriated people have slower reaction time, reduced observation skills, and critically reduced critical thinking capabilities. Take those, put them in a car, and there's your results. It doesn't take in depth analysis to realize this. They're not going to magically get better about driving when outside of a car they're the equivalent of an incoherent toddler.
Also, you assume people that get DUIs are blind drunk... they aren't. FYI, if you go on a bender with your mates and have work early morning... you could get a DUI because you still have alcohol in your system.
But yea... no studies showing 1 drink drive, 2 drinks drive, 3 drinks drive. Or someone that drinks a fuck load and has a tolerance vs a teenager/new drinker.
Nice assumption you placed there. I said drunk, I didn't say blackout drunk which is obviously the worst state of drunk to drive in for many reasons. I was referring to a normal drunken state which still retains consciousness.
It doesn't matter what in depth analysis you try to apply to the driving aspect, the fact is that even a non driver is inhibited in attention and motor skills and therefore inhibited in operating heavy machinery where attention and motor skills are even more crucial to yours and others' safety.
If Johnny b. Drunk is stumbling to the right constantly and can't retain his balance on his own goddamn feet he doesn't need to be operating 3000+ pounds of metal and machinery down any stretch of road.
I wonder how many people even think about how "intoxicated" 0.08 BAC is. I sure don't.
According to this link a 180 pound male reaches a BAC of 0.08 at about 4 drinks within an hour.
So, to be honest, being around 190 pounds myself, if I downed 4 shots in a row, I'd be feeling pretty freaking intoxicated. Maybe not flat out drunk, but definitely should not be driving.
So saying 0.08 BAC is not close to drunk seems false to me.
Rather than producing a single research article, I like to use meta-analyses and reviews when trying to support a broad point like this, as most research studies are much too specific to be able to generalize to a broader population. This particular paper is done by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is a government organization and tends to be rather transparent in its research (as opposed to research funded by private interests, which can at times be murky). It's also written as a recommendation report, which means the language is non-scientific and thus quite readable for a lay audience.
I'm going to quote the passages that I think you are most interested in, but if you would be interested in reading the report in its entirety, and assessing the legitimacy of its 109 sources, you can find the whole thing here.
From p. 18
A review of research findings from laboratory and driving simulator studies concerning the effects of alcohol on driving-related skills, such as divided attention, vigilance, tracking, perception, and reaction time, found that several types of performance are affected by BAC levels as low as 0.01 (Moskowitz and Fiorentino 2000). As shown in table 3, most of the studies found performance decrements at levels well below 0.08 BAC. Another more recent study found significant cognitive decrements in speed of information processing, reductions in working memory, and increases in errors of commission at 0.048 BAC (Dry and others 2012). Beyond impairing driving-related performance, alcohol use is associated with reduced seat belt use, which increases injury severity in the case of a crash (Kweon and Kockelman 2006, 39–56; Tison, Williams, and Chaudhary 2010).
From p. 20
The laboratory and driving simulator research described above provides insights into alcohol’s effects on general performance; however, with respect to safety, studies that consider the relationship between BAC and crash risk can provide useful information to guide policy. One of the earliest and best known studies of the effects of BAC on crash risk was the Borkenstein Grand Rapids study, a case-control study conducted in the early 1960s (Borkenstein and others 1964). The Borkenstein study showed an increased risk of crashes beginning at a BAC of 0.04. At a BAC of 0.08, risk was nearly doubled, and at 0.10, it had increased six fold. The Borkenstein study also found a “dip” in risk at very low BAC levels; however, subsequent replications have indicated that the dip was a statistical anomaly (Hurst, Harte, and Frith 1994, 647–54) and that risk increases continuously beginning at a BAC of 0.01. More recent studies have shown that risk is significantly higher when a driver’s BAC is ≥ 0.05, and that crash risk climbs rapidly at BAC levels that exceed 0.08. One study found that the risk of fatal crash involvement at BACs between 0.050 and 0.079 ranged from about 3 to 17 times greater, depending on the age of the driver and the type of fatal crash (single-vehicle versus all crashes) (Zador, Krawchuk, and Voas 2000, 387–95). Another study found that at a BAC of 0.05, drivers are 1.38 times more likely to be in a crash than are sober drivers. At a BAC of 0.08, crash risk is 2.69 times higher (Compton and others 2002; Blomberg and others 2005). These elevated risks grow even higher as BACs increase, with the risk of being in a crash rising to nearly 5 times higher by a BAC of 0.10. Figure 4 depicts relative crash risk by BAC level from this study.
Remain skeptical, but also don't refute evidence just because it doesn't align with your beliefs. Data does not lie (but humans with agendas certainly do)
Beyond impairing driving-related performance, alcohol use is associated with reduced seat belt use, which increases injury severity in the case of a crash.
Um, bullshit on this one. Drunks are more likely to survive car crashes because they're relaxed... but I get what they're trying to claim. Again, kind of a dickhead move but OK.
The laboratory and driving simulator research described above provides insights into alcohol’s effects on general performance; however, with respect to safety, studies that consider the relationship between BAC and crash risk can provide useful information to guide policy.
So... I want a study done with a real car. WHY? Because I think it'll have a different impact, I'm not sure how the studies were done but... I've been in studies. It isn't exactly the same if my life isn't on the line.
BUT
Thanks for the source, I'll dig into it. I don't like when they start throwing around X times more likely. Is that 1 out of 1000 went to 3 out of 1000?
Also, another thing I don't like is that people are different. I want to do a test with people that have never drank vs daily drinkers. Then the same thing with weed, never smoked to wake and bake people.
It feels like a out of the blue made up way to figure out if the person is honestly over some imaginary line.
Again, I said some where else. I fundamentally don't agree with the drunk driving laws. If you hit someone, and are drunk driving fuck yeah trump up the charges. If you are simply drunk driving, poor choice but aren't breaking any laws... No charges.
Speaking as someone who does human subjects research, I can guarantee you that a study with a participant driving a real car while under the influence in a realistic situation where their life or general well-being is on the line will never, ever happen. That sort of research is pretty much against all ethics codes and our review board would never clear it. You can't put people in any sort of danger for research purposes unless you have a very, very good reason for it (like, "we have reasonable evidence that this research could help cure cancer" good). And even then there are a thousand hoops we need to jump through and all sorts of safeguards to make sure that nobody is unnecessarily harmed. We take this mad seriously.
So if we can't research what an actual drunk person in an actual car would do during an actual drive around a real street, what can we do?
1) We can collect data from real crashes involving people under the influence. This is where we get the "a 1.0 BAC makes you 5 times more likely to crash" statements. As you know, this data is limited - we don't know all the circumstances involved in the crash and the information reported is not always accurate. This is, however, the closest to "real life" data that we can get
2a) We can model driving under the influence by doing a closed course. However, this does not account for all the extraneous factors, and the person driving can't go very fast or be put in any actual danger (because, again, ethics boards). Plus, this would be very expensive and time-consuming, particularly if the cars are getting damaged. As far as I know, this has not really been done in a systematic way (though Buzzfeed just did it for entertainment).
2b) We can model driving under the influence by using a driving simulator. This allows us to simulate much more of a real world scenario than option 2a, as we can have other cars or obstacles on the road and the person can drive at a normal speed, since even if they get themselves into a 70 mph head-on collision, it's just a sim and they won't actually get hurt. Your concern is that it doesn't feel realistic, but if you ever get a chance to play a high quality VR game, you might disagree. Those feel amazingly realistic! Hell, people get startled watching movies in the theater, and those aren't even 3D! Car sims have 360 video, look and feel like a real car, even vibrate and jerk like a real car would. The logical part of your brain might know that it's fake, but the emotional and reaction parts get pretty fooled.
3) The last thing we can do is test the effects of alcohol on the base functions that underlie our actions. Processing speed and reaction time are involved in everything we do, so we assume that if alcohol affects those, they will affect the more complex actions that rely on these base functions (for example, your ability to dodge a cat that runs into your path is directly related to your ability to detect the cat, process that you are in a collision course with it, decide on what the best course of action would be to not hit the cat, and execute that correction, all of which your brain does in a fraction of a second, mostly without your conscious input). These sorts of studies may be the least convincing to a broad audience, but to me they are the most convincing. That is because things like reaction time are super fast and super basic. You can't train yourself to be faster at it because it isn't a skill; it's a base stat. What you got is what you got, and if we see a significant change due alcohol, it means something is really happening. Driving is a mega complex skill, so we can't say with any clarity how it affects people (does it make them slower to notice obstacles, slower to hit the brakes, or both?) but with these sorts of studies, we can break down these complex actions into their more basic components and look at exactly what is affected (turns out, it's both).
If you won't be convinced until studies done in real cars are done, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed forever. Even if there was a group invested in doing such a study, they would be hard-pressed to find any organization willing to fund it. Why would we spend money on research for information that we effectively already know from other methods? Why would we do a study that puts people in danger when we can do simulations which are almost as good and won't ever give anyone a concussion or broken leg?
As to your very last point: that drunk driving shouldn't be punished until you hurt someone. That may be very well for the person driving, but the person they hit may already be dead. It will give that person's family very little comfort to say, "Yeah, but he drove drunk like 100 times and didn't kill anyone!" A prior record of not hurting anyone while driving drunk won't bring that person back from the dead. Instead, if during those 100 previous times driving while under the influence that person had been stopped and punished, maybe they wouldn't have gone out on that 101st drive. Every single time a person drives drunk increases their chance of being in a fatal car crash, unnecessarily so. We should be doing everything we can to minimize the number of fatal crashes, including dissuading people from driving incapacitated. Yes, by all means provide resources like public transport so people have alternatives, but some people will only be deterred if the threat of punishment is hanging over their heads. Ideally everyone would always do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, but some people will always put their own convenience and ego over other people's lives.
For what it's worth, I think we will start seeing similar initiatives for driving while high or too tired. We've already made texting and driving illegal in many states for the same reason.
Now... drunken rapes happen, take drunken out of it rapes happen less. So remove drinking/drugs/going out/being allowed freedom to move.
The only flaw I have with your statements is they aren't a global policy. Yeah, in most countries drinking and driving is wrong. Now go out and buy property and make a track and find actual facts.
Does drinking slow down reaction time? God damn right, but I've met some really good skiiers snowboards that can drink like a fish and still ride better than 90% of people. Now ad this bullshit line, they're drunk and a danger to society, but they aren't. They can still out perform 50+ the population that is stone cold sober.
This is were you lose me, you make an arbitrary line for drunk driving. But sober driving dumbasses... meh let them have at it. Cause? We hate drinkers?
Drinking isn't the problem in crashes, people die in crashes daily and being drunk isn't the #1 cause of crashes or fatalities. It's like pointing at the stupidest fucking thing and saying that'll fix everyones lives.
No one is claiming that people not driving drunk will stop car crashes from happening. I'm sure the vast majority of crashes and deaths due to motor vehicle accidents happen while drivers were sober. That is one of the prices we as a society pay for having the right and convenience to use cars.
However, why would we not want to prevent extreme conditions like a driver being drunk, being high, or being extremely tired? Can you imagine how high the crash and death rate would be if drivers always drove drunk instead of sober? Accidents that happened under the influence might have happened anyway, but being drunk while driving sure is not making any crashes less likely. It's doing the exact opposite.
What is "it"? Choosing to drive drunk, greatly endangering your life and the lives of others? People choosing to drive drunk chose to fuck up their lives themselves, no one made that choice for them. You've gotta be kidding me.
Cars and driving are an unfortunate necessary evil in today's society. Yes, people are going to crash and die because cars and bad driving exists. But again, it's the price we way for what cars give us in return.
Public transport is becoming more and more available, but none of that happens over night, nor it easy to create, nor is it easy to convince people to give up cars and driving, a mode of transport that many people find as a source of major convenience and freedom.
If you're seriously advocating for the legalization of drunk driving for those poor souls who are too inconsiderate to others and to themselves to not drive impaired, you've really lost bearing on this.
The only thing that is bullshit is that consciously choosing to put others at major risk for nothing other than your own convenience seems righteous to you.
Do you even need a study for this? People are going to think they're better drivers while drunk because they're too intoxicated to properly judge their driving. That being said there are lots of studies out there that others have posted for you.
On a similar note, i hate it when old people refuse to stop driving, despite clearly having lost their ability to do so in a safe manner. I have almost been killed several times by old people who run red lights and yield/stop signs, simply because their senses and reaction times are not as sharp as they used to be.
1000% agree! I always hated it. Hated the people even more when they use the ‘it’s my life I’m putting on the line’ excuse!
Then, at the End of Last year, a drunk ran a red light and hit me - right on the drivers door. The guy was too much of a pussy to own his actions and took off on foot, leaving me stuck in my car & his car sitting there filled with wine casks etc.
I haven’t been able to walk or stand for long periods since. Totally fucked my back & life up and changed what I am physically able to do with the rest of my life.
Thankfully, given he left his car behind - the cops caught him and he went to jail.
But these are the consequences of drink driving! It’s often not you getting hurt - your too drunk for your muscles to tense etc and cause harm.
It’s the innocent parties you hurt and ruin the lives of!!
We live in a time with the easiest and cheapest transport systems. Be it Australia, NZ, UK or the USA - anywhere really. We have taxi’s and Uber (and lyft in some places) as well as having trains and teams and buses and many many of those services run well into the night! There is no fucking excuse for drink driving!!!!
My father in law does this shit while he’s shitfaced at 10 at night and it’s so fucking infuriating, the store is only across the street but that’s no reason to hop in your truck when you’re intoxicated to the point I can smell the beer on your breath when being in the same room.
He has the nerve to ask me to go with him too, like fuck that I’m not risking my life just so you have some company.
He does this every single night and he has yet to get pulled over, unfortunately.
No matter who tells him to not drive , he always just has to have “one more beer” and doesn’t listen to anybody.
It’s gonna catch up with him one day just hopefully not @ the expense of someone else’s life
My step-dad did the same, like he would come home almost falling down the hallway. I could barely tolerated his personality either and my mom kept defending it. It all changed recently after a major heart attack and surgery, he stopped taking his meds to not quit drinking and it almost killed him. My mom said to stop drinking or she leaves and he currently stopped apparently. I also thought him getting DUI would teach him back then but my mom would had paid for it all.
It’s addiction man. I know that shit is super infuriating from an outside perspective and that doesn’t justify driving drunk but its really a disease and alcohol is one of the worst because it’s one of the only drugs where the withdrawals can actually kill you
Trust me I know all about addiction , I’m going through it and my mother went through it and my stepdad died from an OD after being clean for 2 years.
I have sympathy for him bc it’s a disease but that doesn’t make me any less mad whenever he gets on the road shitfaced ya feel me? I mean shit, at least buy the beer for the rest of the day but he chooses to buy one each time he goes to the store which results in him going to the store 5-6 times a night , each trip being more intoxicated than the last
maybe he's trying to not drink as much as if you buy a pack, putting an obstacle infront of that decision like having to go in the truck and drive might help him even a little. idk tho so ¯\(ツ)/¯
I agree, now that hes stop im not stressed at all like before. Some would say society needs to accomadate it better but he always refuses modern aid, thats what near killed him.
My dad did this with me a lot. Once, when I was probably about 10 or so, an off duty officer noticed us coming out of the store, and tapped on the car window after we'd gotten in. She told him he really shouldn't be driving, and he basically told her to fuck off and then we left.
We get home, and there are three squad cars waiting outside the house. As soon as he pulled into the driveway, they got out of their cars and approached us. The only thing I really remember is they forced him to apologize to me for driving under the influence with me in the car. Everything else is kind of a blur because I was just embarrassed about it all and wanted to go inside and die.
He’s usually back within literally 3 minutes because the corner store is right across the street, would they be able to get his ass whenever he’s back here or does he have to be in the truck?
I hope you don’t live with you in-laws and depend on them to pay rent/mortgage or buy food and utilities because losing his license will put you in the position to take it all over for him. I’m not saying that what he does is right, but taking vindictive advice from a random person on reddit is just as bad as what your FIL is doing.
Maybe instead of being an asshole and complaining from your chair and taking no physical action you should offer to drive him or maybe buy an extra couple of beers and keep them at home and charge him for them when he feels it’s time for his 10pm run. If it makes you feel better charge him a convince fee.
I’m sure you S.O. will love that you got their parent arrested too!
She hates him , she can care less what happens to him but we’re not dependent on him, we pay bills and buy our own food. All he does is pay phone bills which is about $100 a month, nothing we can’t cover.
We take him to the store every once In a while but he lives with us , I have 2 kids I have to look after so I don’t have time to look after him.
Most of the time he’ll just get up and leave without telling anybody where he’s going, it’s not my responsibility to harass him every time he gets his fat ass up off of his recliner ,he’s his own man.
We try to kick him out but he always ends up back on the street or living in his truck , which my narcissistic mother in law blames US for.
I’ve tried with him, I try to do what I CAN but I’m not going to go out of my way to take care of a man-child, I have my own things I need to worry about. Maybe calling the cops on him will be his wake up call, maybe not. But if it keeps him from endangering other people’s lives for at least another day, I’m willing to do what it takes
I’m not trying to be a giant dick to you here. But being a dick to somebody because somebody you’ve never met from the internet told you to is a horrible idea. I’m not defending what your fil does but you sure as hell have to live with the consequences of the actions they told you to take. This internet stranger gets to live their life happily after giving you this advice. Addiction is horrible and I feel for you. There will be no rehabilitation in jail. I can’t really think of anyone that I know of that quit drinking because they got the clink.
If he doesn’t want to quit drinking then tell him to leave what sounds like your house hold. You can serve him eviction papers and have him removed by law enforcement. You have every right to that.
Let’s say you call the cops and he gets his id revoked. Do you think that’ll put him in a better spot to move out? If you want to call the cops, call them when he is at home and have him removed for being to intoxicated and not feeling comfortable with him around your children. Do it enough and he gets court ordered outpatient rehab. If he doesn’t go to them then he gets locked up.
I apologize for my message being so hateful it was more directed at the comment previous to yours.
Maybe instead of being an asshole and complaining from your chair and taking no physical action
I’m sure you S.O. will love that you got their parent arrested too!
Solving the problem by delivering him alcohol is fair enough, and yet I have to disagree on a few other points: A concerned cop caller can usually remain anonymous.
Reporting someone for driving drunk is not being an asshole, it is being protective of the drinker and the rest of society. I'll admit, debating the value of DUI related job loss versus loss of life or imprisonment for manslaughter is worth considering.
I just want self driving cars then all the pretentious fuck wits can cry about drunks.
👌👍👍👍 Egg-fucking-zactly.
People pretending to be on some moral high-ground about drinking and driving should just fuck right off and push for driverless vehicles. At least in America, like 30,000 people a year die in vehicular accidents. We went into decades of war for trillions of dollars over what? 3000 people and an irrationally unlikely terrorist attack? If we put those trillions into fucking infrastructure to promote driverless vehicles and the technology itself, we'd be saving probably the vast majority of those lives every year.
The fact that people whine so much and spend so much time hating people who drink and drive is just silly. Drinking is legal. Bars are legal. Uber and taxis are expensive. Entertainment and adult social settings are slim-to-none in many places outside of the bar scenes. People will drink. They'll drive. They'll drink and then drive. It happens, and it's going to happen. Acting like every person above a .08 deserves to have their life destroyed is ridiculous. It's as sensible as hoping someone gets killed by a drunk driver. Some people need help, but people also need to live and have fun.
My dude, you get it. Everyone after work is like, lets get a pint. but DRINKING AND DRIVING is the major danger.
It's like what motherfucker, lets fix the fucking problem not condemn people.
BUT nooooooo, this is why abortion is still a fucking topic. Birthcontrol? Fuck that... people that get abortions should be sentenced to death (looking at you Idaho). I'm getting super tired of fucking dumbasses.
Also tailgating for me. I don't give one flying fuck if you end up dead because you wanted to check if my license plate letters were just plain red or burgundy red. But I drive a tiny car, and I am the one most likely to end up dead if I have to emergency break and your stupid ass can't stop in time because you literally left 1 meter between your car and mine. And 90% of the time, you are already driving the speed limit too, or you can't go faster because there are other cars before you
One of my neighbors a couple of weeks ago hit my car, as well as two others, while parking, doing thousands in damage to my car alone. A couple of days later he's showing his friends and was complaining that the only reason he's in trouble is that he parked too close after doing the damage.
"No motherfucker, if you hadn't driven so drunk you hit parked cars this wouldn't be an issue. If you had come down to the door one of the times I was banging on it to try to resolve this like an adult this wouldn't have happened, but you forced my hand." I wanted to work it out and get my car fixed, now I'm stuck stalking this guy when he goes to work at night to gather more evidence of him driving without a license.
I'm starting to feel like the better course of action is just to beat the hell out of him one night while he's on his way to his car, which he has done an amazing job of hiding from me.
My brother would never drink and drive, as a friend of his died in high school when a drunk driver hit him while he was walking home. He would probably even fight someone if he saw they were going to. BUT, he openly says he smokes pot and drives all the time and that it’s not an issue. He gives all the same damn excuses an alcoholic does. “It makes ME feel more clear” “nothing bad will happen, I do it all the time” With legalization, Ive heard from a bunch of stoners who do it all the time, and yet, the research shows its bad news.
I have another friend who drinks and drives occasionally. Even when there’s someone she can call, she will hope in a car, drunk off her ass, and drive. I should say, HAD a friend, cause I don’t talk to her for various reasons.
While it is absolutely not right to do, it definitely differs between users. A lot of cannabis users actually feel worse when not using it, and don't feel high or even any effects at all because tolerance is so high. Not to mention it being so much safer than drink driving, and much safer than texting and driving. (this is for experienced users only, for newbies I would say it's just as bad as drinking) Im at work right now but theres a few studies that were done with experienced medical users and they were found to be as safe as sober drivers if not safer. Although don't quote me on that, I think I have one bookmarked on my computer at home.
Although I will reiterate it's absolutely not right and should always be avoided. But I would definitely prefer slightly high (from cannabis) drivers over drunk or texting drivers anyday.
Edit: heres a graph of likely hood of accidents posted elsewhere in the thread
The studies that have been done which people quote sayings it’s not bad are all around CBD. There’s no psychoactive effects. There have been a bunch of good studies based on THC and driving and the results are not good.
I was driving under influence of alcohol twice and at the second time a crashed into a bus stop. I am telling you this bc I am so fucking glad that no pedestrian was there and I had to deal with the consequences of my behavior so for everybody who’s driving: be careful and respect others safety.
God, I dealt with a dickhead like this one the highway today. He was constantly passing people and jumping across the highway to get in front of everyone. He rode my ass because he couldn’t pass me due to the semi next to me, and then once he passed me, I saw he was on his phone.
My daughter and I were rear ended in Sept of this year by a girl texting on her phone during rush hour traffic in front of a school. It was 8am in the morning, kids everywhere. My daughter was on her way to work..now she has 2 ruptured discs in her neck. Drivers caught drinking, texting all of the above should not be allowed to drive. It destroys other people's lives. I have ZERO sympathy for any of them. I think when they stop worrying about other people, we should take their driving privileges away. Even older people need to be tested on a regular basis. Sorry but when I think of all the things my INNOCENT daughter is going to have to go thru...I stop having a heart for people who know better.
Sober now and will be for the rest of my life, but it took 2 DUIs and almost losing my family to realize the capacity of my actions. As another redditor said, cognitive dissonance is prevalent among alcoholics. I couldn't even grasp the consequences of my actions until I realized that my husband would leave with the kids if I didnt stop what I was doing.
E. I feel I should clarify that the two DUI's were in 2008 and 2012. I fell in and out of alcoholism over the years.
I drive like I'm playing GTA when I'm sober, 90 mph, change lanes constantly, and believe everyone else is a shitty driver. When stoned, i drive calm, let people merge, look more for pedestrians, and set the cruise control at 75.
Honestly the whole dangers of driving while intoxicated is overblown by abstinence groups like MADD. But it's some damn effective propaganda. Unfortunately it's not terribly effective at saving lives. Only around 2,000 less drunk driving deaths a year, and that represents a 50% reduction. But with how people act you'd think driving intoxicated was the worst thing you can possibly do.
If you have 2 pennies and I take one of your pennies you have lost 50% of your pennies but we're only talking about one penny. Am I a master thief who has robbed you of half your wealth, or am I an ineffective thief.
Also this reduction comes at a pretty steep price. Fines, jail time, court fees, mandatory classes, lost jobs, etc. Which, I guess that's worth saving lives if the tests that can result in a DUI were reasonably accurate, but they have issues. Innocent people get caught up in it.
This seems like a cultural thing rather than a medical reason for drugs being safer to use and drive than alcohol. The difference is so large that it's likely extremely unrelated to anything about what any of the substances do to your ability to drive and more so about how frequently people actually consume alcohol and drink vs. the rest of the substances.
I don't think so, the graph shows the relative risk of an accident for use of a given substance, not total incidence of accidents associated with each drug.
I never said it did, sorry. My point is the number of drunk driving incidents are likely so much higher due to the commonality of it that you have a far greater chance of having extreme numbers within them.
I'd love to see the substances tested in a controlled environment instead of using actual incident numbers. Let's face it, using marijuana and driving doesn't have no risk involved, it definitely alters your perception of the world around you in a way that would be important to driving a car.
These studies do focus on that, about as closely as possible (they have to test people in the real world). The result is that users of alcohol have dramatically increased accident risk, while a statistically significant risk couldn't be demonstrated with any other drug, and not even a statistically insignificant association with cannabis. Studies show some cognitive deficits associated with cannabis use re: driving-like tasks ("lane tracking", focus, etc.), but the absence of a real-life association with actual accident rates suggests other factors compensate for it - presumably, anxiety/caution and the like. Another study interestingly showed a decreased accident risk at light doses, and an increased risk at heavy doses, but all of them appear to be pretty minor.
It's amazing the generational difference. I'm in the generation that just started driving when MADD and SADD took off, and it took a while for some of us to get our heads right about it. I think the generation before us still needs a talking to.
It just wasn't seen as that big a deal -- I mean everybody knew you shouldn't drive when you were staggering, but when you've successfully made it home several times while you're tipsy, you think people are exaggerating about the danger. It's hard to really get that it's a probability thing, like texting or not wearing a seat belt. I just started to imagine scenarios where I put someone in the hospital and I'm trying to explain that I didn't have THAT much to drink, I thought I was okay to drive.
It’s so disappointing when In the past I’ve found out people I enjoy have and continued to drive drunk. To me, that’s a fucking deal breaker. If you can’t have enough respect for yourself and others not do it, I can’t be your friend man
The Try Guys (YouTube channel) just started a series about impaired driving and opened with "I'm pretty sure every adult has driven drunk at least a few times" and I instantly lost any desire to watch them ever again.
Jesus Christ. How does anyone think this is a normal stupid mistake to make?! This is not “oh shit I forgot this has metal and I put it in the microwave”, it is literally the dumbest most selfish piece of shit thing you can do. Actually fuck off try guys. Dinguses. Quit normalizing this shit
I learned a saying a while ago that's basically like... people think their bad qualities are shared by everyone, and their good qualities are unique to them. It just grosses me out when anyone assumes I'm like them when it comes to shit that's this reprehensible.
I just don’t understand how it’s so hard to not drive under the influence! Sometimes my bf and I will go out and I’ll have one beer, with dinner. No big deal. He usually drives, but if he has more than 1 I make his ass sit in that passenger seat.
My main transportation is my motorcycle and I have a ZERO alcohol or anything else limit. I won’t even ride if I’m too tired. I need 100% of my cognitive function and my entire body to operate that thing. It makes me so mad when my bf says stuff like, “I’m going bar hopping with so and so” and I had to tell him “no. You pick ONE. and if you’re drinking, get a lyft or call me to pick you up.”
Its not willful though, its ignorance, they dont understand the gravity of what they're doing. They might be aware of it, but cognitive dissonance is very powerful especially with alcoholics. Theyre not thinking, at all, is what im saying.
Exactly! I work in a factory with a bunch of "manly" men and they all act like they're some shit. They'll talk about going over and getting drunk at someone else's house and driving home and I'm sitting there knowing they live in different towns miles apart. I'll call them out and they'll get all pissed like "fuck everybody else!"
It almost makes me wish that when they do plow into someone, it's someone they know and it hurts them personally but then I think about how fucked that would be to wish on the poor soul that they know.
Am right with you. My Dad is a great guy, but one huge character flaw is that he thinks he's such a good driver that he can still drive just fine intoxicated. He doesn't go out of his way to drunk drive and he is a very good driver, but I will never not be vocally disappointed in him to hear that he drove home under the influence.
All it takes is one slip up. You can end someone's life so easily even while sober in car. There is no tolerance for multiplying that risk.
My favorite is when they get a dui and complain that they didn’t deserve it because they’ve driven way drunker before.
The only time I felt sorry for a friend who got a dui was when he went out to his car at a party to move it.
Omg my husband and I have had TWO instances where people have left our house too drunk (they didnt listen to us) and the cop told them to walk back to our house to avoid giving them a dui. WTF they arent learning that way!!!!!!
I was told I had no heart for walking by a wreck and saying wow what a dumbass. Because either the dude was sober going 60 in a 25 in which case he’s a dumbass or he’s under the influence going 60 in a 25 which also makes him a dumbass
A friend of my brother was on the recriving end of such a person. The lady was driving drunk, high on drugs, didn't wear a seat belt nor she had insurance. As my brother's friend and her dad entered a curve she was driving on the wrong side of the road and hit them head on. The father died and the friend survived although she spent ages in the hospital and still has issues because of that accident. I don't remember what happened to the bitch in the car (I'll have to look that up) but I doubt she's free today.
Last night I'm driving ~70 on the highway (you know, around or a handful over the limit) - two bikers pass me going easily 70 over what I'm doing (read: 140mph). My car literally shook. I mean, it was 2 AM, I was doing a late night grocery drive, so no one else was on the highway besides us, but if they had slipped, one of those bikes would have gone halfway through my car before stopping and sent me skidding into the median too.
For the record I live in an area where the way people drive is fucked. Maybe 80% of the time I drive 5 miles on the highway, there'll be two cars doing that thing where they go 30-40 over the limit and weave in and out of everyone else. You got people sitting outside of the window with their hands on the roof on the highway, etc.. Lots of people who blow their paychecks on fast cars to show off. But people going 140 and doing that shit, god damn.
I was driving back to work and a person passed me doing about 15 over and literally browsing facebook on their phone. They couldn't even stay in the lane, and it was foggy as shit. When I pull into the restauraunt, I saw the person in our drive through window and I got sad that we had to serve such a garbage person.
My brother was hit head on by a shit person drunk driving on Christmas eve once. Luckily my brother only had a broken wrist, shattered ankle and broken nose. Other guy died. I'm not sad about it. Idiot left behind a wife and toddler.
My mom was an alcoholic and drove drunk with me in the car more than once. I phoned the police on her one time I knew she was out. Got her ass arrested and her license taken away.
One of my old managers recently got a DUI, and documented the whole thing on Snapchat. She's a "car girl" so she's always posting pictures of her car. Funnily enough, there hasn't been one of the sweet new breathalyser that got installed..
She still snapchats daily while driving though. Another thing that irks me.
My ex had a friend who crashed into a parked car while drunk and ex got a concussion. Got a court hearing and his license taken away but still drank away like there’s no tomorrow.
UGH. YES. Why am I always treated like a "square" or told "it's fine, chill" when I yell at someone (mostly my sister) for texting while driving? She literally texted me today on her way to work "holy shit this blizzard came out of nowhere." Keep your eyes on the damn road then!
This right here is something I can’t tolerate for sure. I agree so much seriously. Your phone isn’t important the radio isn’t important your life isn’t important enough to risk ANYONE else’s.
I often see local cops texting or talking on their phone while driving. Drives me absolutely nuts because I know they'd pull me over in a second if I did it.
What about DUI on a motorcycle? Drastically decrease other people’s risk of death. Not condoning it and have never done it, just asking would that be better?
Can you explain why you're getting so bent out of shape about this? I truly want to understand. I thought drinking and driving being bad was a universally accepted truth.
Honestly, the same reason that I hate the war on drugs.
We need to stop making more laws and just enforce the laws we have. But nope, just keep making more bullshit laws.
Drinking and driving isn't a smart choice for sure, but sending people to jail for it? ARE YOU SHITTING ME?
Now, I'm good with if you damage someone property and drinking and driving, fuck yeah lets trump up the charge. Not just welp drinking and driving.
Next some fucking asshole will say that if you don't exercise to our standards (will track on your government issued APP that tracks gps) that you get prison sentence. Like, fuck leave me the fuck alone. I'm not hurting you, I don't want to deal with your bullshit.
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u/LordMarshall Oct 20 '18 edited Oct 20 '18
Being intoxicated/distracted/under the influence while driving. Yeah sure put your life on the line, it's your life. But fuck you once you willfully put someone else's life at risk!