Drinking and Driving

[transformed]

For me, I think you shouldnt drink AT ALL and drive, dh thinks a few beers is ok.

Am I totally weird? What is your rule?

[sunflowergirll]

Originally Posted by transformed

For me, I think you shouldnt drink AT ALL and drive, dh thinks a few beers is ok.

Am I totally weird? What is your rule?

*I* don't drink and drive AT ALL because one beer can make me buzz (especially because I haven't been drinking much in the last few years with pregnancies and nursings).

But, my husband can have a couple of beers, especially with food and feel no effects. So, I am comfortable with him have a couple and still driving. BUT I also trust him that he would never drink when buzzed.

[Porcelain Interior]

Well my DH use to think that to. Until he got a DUI with a .08 limit.

He's learned more than he would have ever imagined going through the court system. They dropped the charge, but he had to take classes, a victim impact panel and pay heavy fines.

You can lose your job, house, family- and the very worst, you can hurt or kill innocent people.

With a mere .08.

I have zero tolerance for it. My husband now agrees.

[mbhf]

I think one beer is okay, consumed with a meal, if it's not a high alcohol content beer. More than that is too much. I personally do not drink at all if I am going to drive.

[velochic]

Everyone processes alcohol differently based on their own metabolism, weight and how fast they drink. Each person has to know their own limits.

Our rule is that we know when we shouldn't drive, and therefore someone else does in that case. That hasn't happened since dd was born, though. At most dh has 2 glasses of wine and usually, I have only 1 over the course of a long dinner. This amount wouldn't stop either of us from driving.

I guess the rule is that if you are feeling high, you're too high to drive.

[Lolagirl]

Hmm. I think we need more context to better answer the question you are posing. Can you give a better picture of what exactly you mean by a few beers, and the time frame in which they were consumed?

If the situation is one where the driver had one or two glasses of wine/beer over say a 2 to 4 hour period (and he hadn't consumed any alcohol for an hour or so prior to driving,) then I would conclude that driving was likely just fine. However, if we are talking about someone drinking those couple of beers in a very short time frame and then driving a car I would think that was very dangerous and say it shouldn't be done.

[tayndrewsmama]

I am probably extremely biased right now on this since we almost lost someone very close to our family yesterday morning from drunk driving.

Honestly, I have had it with anyone and everyone who drinks and drives. Even just a little bit. I couldn't care less if they lock people up and throw away the key for a first time offense now. I think they should even. The deaths that are happening all around us from this are way too many. In the last six months a girl was run down and killed two and a half miles from our house. Two people were put in intensive care after rolling their car across the road from the house. Someone swerved into the ditch and ripped the whole tire off their car in the front yard. Someone else destroyed their car after hitting a tree, which was the only thing keeping them from smashing into our neighbor's living room, and then stole their car! This last one is a guess that they were drunk, but it seems like they were. We were almost hit head on two houses away from home last night when someone driving at a high rate of speed completely blew a stop sign while making a 90 degree right hand turn right at us. All of that is just stuff that has happened right by our house and doesn't even begin to touch on all the rest of the stuff that has happened just outside of that. It's out of freaking control here.

It's a good thing I am not in a position to make decisions because I would say that no one could drive at all even if they just had one drink. I think the line between "I am okay" and "Maybe I shouldn't drive" is becoming invisible to way too many people.

[BabyBearsMummy]

Anyone who is driving with me or m DD should have not had a drop of alchol in the past 12 hours. Better sae then sorry.

[prettymatty]

If my kids or any other kids are in the car I don't care who you are, you don't drink or smoke or be under the influence of any drugs.
If it's just hubby & I and he's had one drink, I let it go but only if it has been like 4 hours since he drank. He's good about it because he's a reservist in the military and if he gets busted drinking & driving his military career is over after 14 years.
For myself if it is just me going with someone else I won't if they've had more than one drink. I've been known to take the bus or walk somewhere or take a cab. I won't lower my standards for that. I have kids that need me.
I wish they woudl get stricter on drinking & driving. There is literally ZERO need for it. Drinking alcohol is not a necessity so it's not necessary to drink & drive. JMO

[prettymatty]

I also want to clarify that just becasue someone thinks they aren't drunk or aren't buzzed.

I found this site and thought it was pretty informative.

http://howto.dcrdetox.com/how-long-d...in-your-system

[Ironica]

We have an Alcohawk in the glove compartment. I tried it (when DH was driving and I wasn't) after having a glass of wine with dinner. I'd had it near the beginning of the meal. I blew a .04, and based on how I felt, I would have been comfortable driving, but would have given preference to another driver who had not had a drink.

DH won't drink at all if he's driving, unless he knows it's going to be several hours (like 4 or more) until he leaves.

There's lots of factors: your own metabolism/how you feel, where you are with respect to the legal limit, how good a driver you are when sober ;-), how long until you have to drive, whether you've eaten, how fast you drink. You have to know a *lot* about your body and chemistry to safely imbibe alcohol before driving, so the safest is to not do it if you're not sure.

BTW, the reason they can't do "zero tolerance" is because many medicines and foods have alcohol in them. They could lower the limit a lot, I suppose, but you wouldn't want to charge people with drunk driving because they had tiramisu for dessert or took some cough syrup.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by BabyBearsMummy

Anyone who is driving with me or m DD should have not had a drop of alchol in the past 12 hours. Better sae then sorry.

That's more extreme than I follow.

It generally takes about one hour for a person to metabolize the alcohol in one alcoholic beverage. I don't see a problem getting in the car with somebody who had 1 drink an 2 hours ago, or 2 drinks 3 hours ago, etc. So, wait a bit longer than should be needed to metabolize all the alcohol.

Say, for example, the driver has one glass of wine with the meal, and the meal lingers 1.5-2 hours. I would have no problem getting into that car. However, if the person has a mixed drink at dessert and then wants to drive home 10 minutes after finishing it, I wouldn't get in the car with that person- no matter how little he or she had drunk earlier in the day. A mixed drink at dessert, then we schmooze for another couple of hours and drink coffee or soda, and getting in the car is fine.

[Ks Mama]

Any alcohol can impare your abilities - and particularly at night when you're already impared from lack of light - if you're planning to drive, you shouldn't drink.

My aunt was killed by a drunk driver, left behind two children (and no father). Hit & run, as she was jogging with her dog (who was also killed), with a light vest, and one on her dog too.

I have been rear ended with my two children in the car by a drunk driver. Just plowed into the back of us, as we had been stopped at a light (which had been red, and us already stopped for a good minute), she was going 40 - 50 miles per hour - our car was completely totalled - undrivable - not even MOVABLE from the scene of the accident. If I had not been driving the car I had been driving, and my kids not in the seats they were in... I'd HATE to even THINK of what could have happened. She attempted to flee the scene, but passed out before she could get far enough away (she had hit her windsheild).

There's just never a reason to drink & drive. If you're going to drink, either stay in, or have an alternate way to get home. It's that simple.

[sunflowergirll]

Originally Posted by prettymatty

I also want to clarify that just becasue someone thinks they aren't drunk or aren't buzzed.

I wanted to clarify when my husband does drink when out, it is with food over time. He is a big guy.

I think that absolutely no drinking before driving is extreme. But, one should definitely be responsible.

[DQMama]

My husband is a big guy and it takes a LOT for him to "feel" drunk. He had one beer over the course of a 2 hour happy hour and then got pulled over in a routine police checkpoint. He blew a .04! Legally that was fine (the limit is .08 here) but I was really surprised and it was a lesson to us not to drink and drive!

[NicaG]

I think 1 drink with dinner is ok, driving 1-2 hours after that drink is consumed. Yeah, in a perfect world no one would touch any alcohol before driving. But practically speaking, I feel fine with dh driving after 1 drink. For us, it never really comes up (we so rarely go out).

[Peppermint Poppies]

If, for example, we've gone to someone's house for dinner, I'll have a pre-dinner alcoholic drink, stick to non-alcoholic drinks for the remainder of the 3-4 hrs we are there, and would feel comfortable driving home. But any more than that, and I would be catching a taxi.

Our legal limit is a fair bit lower here in Oz (0.05) and it's easy to end up over the limit, even if you're following the 'guidelines' (over here - for women - one standard drink each hour). A friend of mine was our designated driver one night (pre-kids) ... followed the guidelines and was pulled over for a random breath test. She lost her licence for 3 months for being over the limit. My husband, NOT our designated driver, who'd had about 6 beers in 2 hrs, blew 0.00. Metabolism has a lot to do with it.

[grumpybear]

One beer with food.
He doesn't drive until after at least a couple of hours after he's consumed the beer.

[Norabella]

Originally Posted by sunflowergirll;13368382
But, my husband can have a couple of beers, especially with food [B

and feel no effects [/B]. So, I am comfortable with him have a couple and still driving. BUT I also trust him that he would never drink when buzzed.

Originally Posted by velochic

Everyone processes alcohol differently based on their own metabolism, weight and how fast they drink. Each person has to know their own limits.

Our rule is that we know when we shouldn't drive, and therefore someone else does in that case. That hasn't happened since dd was born, though. At most dh has 2 glasses of wine and usually, I have only 1 over the course of a long dinner. This amount wouldn't stop either of us from driving.

I guess the rule is that if you are feeling high, you're too high to drive.

The trouble with the attitude I see expressed in these statements is that it fails to account for the fact that the first thing alcohol impairs is our judgment. Which means that lots of people (maybe everyone) will think they are fine to drive when in fact they are not.

Originally Posted by tayndrewsmama

I am probably extremely biased right now on this since we almost lost someone very close to our family yesterday morning from drunk driving.

Honestly, I have had it with anyone and everyone who drinks and drives. Even just a little bit.

:

Originally Posted by tayndrewsmama

It's a good thing I am not in a position to make decisions because I would say that no one could drive at all even if they just had one drink. I think the line between "I am okay" and "Maybe I shouldn't drive" is becoming invisible to way too many people.

It is not just that the line is becoming invisible to people, it is that we believe that we can judge when we are safe to drive or not, and since alcohol impairs judgment, this is not possible.

Originally Posted by prettymatty

If my kids or any other kids are in the car I don't care who you are, you don't drink or smoke or be under the influence of any drugs.
If it's just hubby & I and he's had one drink, I let it go but only if it has been like 4 hours since he drank. He's good about it because he's a reservist in the military and if he gets busted drinking & driving his military career is over after 14 years.
For myself if it is just me going with someone else I won't if they've had more than one drink.

Since there are sure to be kids in other cars you pass on the road, it seems crazy to me to have different standards based on whether there are kids in your vehicle or not.

Originally Posted by prettymatty

I wish they woudl get stricter on drinking & driving. There is literally ZERO need for it. Drinking alcohol is not a necessity so it's not necessary to drink & drive. JMO

: : :

Originally Posted by Ironica

There's lots of factors: your own metabolism/how you feel, where you are with respect to the legal limit, how good a driver you are when sober ;-), how long until you have to drive, whether you've eaten, how fast you drink. You have to know a *lot* about your body and chemistry to safely imbibe alcohol before driving, so the safest is to not do it if you're not sure.

There are so many factors that it will be different every time, and again, because of alcohol's effect on the part of the brain that controls judgment, the safest is to not do it at all, because even if you are "sure" you could easily be wrong, and the potential consequences are way too high.

Originally Posted by Ks Mama

Any alcohol can impare your abilities - and particularly at night when you're already impared from lack of light - if you're planning to drive, you shouldn't drink.
There's just never a reason to drink & drive. If you're going to drink, either stay in, or have an alternate way to get home. It's that simple.

Originally Posted by NicaG

I think 1 drink with dinner is ok, driving 1-2 hours after that drink is consumed. Yeah, in a perfect world no one would touch any alcohol before driving. But practically speaking, I feel fine with dh driving after 1 drink. For us, it never really comes up (we so rarely go out).

Shouldn't we all do our best to act the way we thinks things would be in a perfect world? Obviously that is not always possible, and sometimes the "practically speaking" part takes precedence. But, on a safety related issue, where it is absolutely within our control to live the higher standard, I see no excuse for making a choice that can endanger other people.

[Lisa1970]

Your dh is wrong. A few beers can impair someone enough to kill someone else's child, someone else's mother, father, grandparent, sister, brother, and so on. Your dh is completely wrong and out of line and I hope you set him straight. I also hope you refuse to get in the car with him behind the wheel if he has been drinking and refuse to allow your children to go. Also, I take it an extra step. If I know someone has been drinking and is getting behind the wheel, I call the police immediately and give them the location of the car, a description, the license plate number, and the direction headed if known.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k4CZ...om=PL&index=21

The guy "just had a few beers." Apparently, he felt his party was more important than these children's lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uynkcggf_Nk

I could go on and on. But if your dh can watch these videos and feel no emotion or change his ways, then there are some serious issues there.

Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJAsN...eature=related