re: Why does the OT think driving drunk is no big deal?

I'm glad the OT has done studies on the impacts of driving drunk. I'm not going to argue this, but you are significantly more likely to get into a wreck at .08 than 0.00

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I'm glad the OT has done studies on the impacts of driving drunk. I'm not going to argue this, but you are significantly more likely to get into a wreck at .08 than 0.00

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Same can be said for any opinion thread.

There are already actual studies on this. Most are done with participants driving an obstacle course sober, and then repeating the course after consuming alcohol to the legal limit. The studies show that there is a slight decrease in reaction time. What's interesting is that the decrease is actually not nearly as bad as various forms of distracted driving, and of course consuming a significantly higher amount of alcohol.

The problem is that distracted driving accidents don't receive the same levels of legal costs and public shaming.

I'm not arguing for people driving drunk, but the current system for handling DUI's is a joke.

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I've seen more fatal accidents of men and women who were at 0.0, what's your point?

I was a volunteer fireman for 4 year

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I've been involved fulltime in almost every level of emergency services for 27 years.

The part you missed in your experience is that the fatalities usually aren't the drunks who caused the accidents.

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IMO. 0.08 is a good number. Anything below is a straight up cash grab. I've taken care of some pretty intoxicated pussies at a 0.08. Let them all know they were bitches too.

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Everyone handles alcohol differently. It's nonsensical when you hear stories of guys passing the field sobriety test, but still getting run through the wringer because the cop is still suspicious. If check points are truly about public safety, then allow people that are around the limit but not noticeably intoxicated a chance to phone a friend if you don't want them on the road. You aren't arresting them because they are acting dangerous, but because the law says that they may.

Driving drunk is never a problem.

The problem comes from running into stuff while driving drunk.

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That reduction in reaction time, though, has significant impacts when driving drunk at high speeds.

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That depends a lot on traffic and road conditions, but I understand your point.

I would actually be curious as to what percentage of the population gets in a car accident each day under standard conditions vs what percentage of the population gets in an accident with any amount of alcohol in their system.

The current philosophy is that you don't have to drink alcohol, so therefore any accident that occurs with a possibly impaired driver was preventable. However, are people with say 3-4 beers in their system any more likely to be in a car accident? Mind you, that's the amount consumed by a 160 lb man that typically puts them in the 0.08 BAC range.

NHTSA's Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk Study

After reviewing the study linked above, it is interesting to note that your chance of getting into an auto accident after consuming any alcohol increases. However, for drivers in the 0.05-0.08 BAC range it less than a 3% chance. So, it really drives home that there is a factor of perceived risk vs actual risk.

In a perfect world everyone would come home safely from any journey in a car. I'm a firm believer that drunk driving is inversely correlated with lack of safe and efficient public transportation. LINK

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Everyone handles alcohol differently. It's nonsensical when you hear stories of guys passing the field sobriety test, but still getting run through the wringer because the cop is still suspicious. If check points are truly about public safety, then allow people that are around the limit but not noticeably intoxicated a chance to phone a friend if you don't want them on the road. You aren't arresting them because they are acting dangerous, but because the law says that they may.

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Saw an episode of cops or state police show a while back. Complete dick move. The guy is a redneck and I can't recall why he was stopped but it was silly. The guy was at a lake just got off of a boat. He protests saying he's fine he'd only had a couple and it had been hours prior. I believe he even asked straight up for the breathalyzer. Cop makes him perform the bullshite tests. Dude aces them. Cop then makes him blow. He blows 3 times and is a 0.072-0.078. Cop still makes the guy go to the station with him. And blow at the official machine. He gets there and aces THAT one. 0.078 I believe. They release the guy but still charge him and cite him. One of the only times Cops irritated me.

I can only assume the whole thing got thrown out at trial after costing some redneck a couple grand.

When a person DOES the right thing. Only has a couple and is the DD and you still cite him? Fah-Q random cop on TV.

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After reviewing the study linked above, it is interesting to note that your chance of getting into an auto accident after consuming any alcohol increases. However, for drivers in the 0.05-0.08 BAC range it less than a 3% chance. So, it really drives home that there is a factor of perceived risk vs actual risk.

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A 3% increase in your chance to kill an innocent person is enough to justify a harsh punishment to me.

If this was just a question of having a 3% increased chance of killing yourself, then I wouldn't particularly care. Innocent children should be protected from a person's irresponsibility.

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I'm a firm believer that drunk driving is inversely correlated with lack of safe and efficient public transportation

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I would kill for public transportation that works as well as the Tubes. Unfortunately it is a long way away.

If you pulled dead bodies out of cars after a drunk killed them you would find it a big deal. I feel the same way about texting. Worked a 4 person fatality last month where the at fault drivers phone was laying on the instrument panel

When I am in a hurry ( airport or whatever), I turn the radio off, hands at 9-3, focus.

You can move quickly through traffic if you pay attention.

Even at 80+, you would feel safe.

I would never do that after drinking, even well below the legal limit.
It has nothing to do with tolerance and everything to do with reaction time.