DUI/DWI/Drunk Driving

[AlexandriaVA]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

The only conclusion I can draw is that certain localities just accept that DUI is a routine occurrence and that if one can manage to drive home without incidence, then you are effectively in the clear. In other words, do rural areas do DUI checkpoints and enforcement the way they do in cities/dense suburbs?

Personally I have a near-zero tolerance for anything that limits the ability of someone to fully attend to the operation of their vehicle.

[hotdogPi]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Unless it's on a Jersey freeway, walking should also be possible.

Personally I have a near-zero tolerance for anything that limits the ability of someone to fully attend to the operation of their vehicle.

Does this include electronic screens that are a part of the car itself?

[jwolfer]

There are tons of people driving around hopped up on painkillers or other mind altering prescriptions and its OK in their mind because its a prescription from their doctor

[AlexandriaVA]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Unless it's on a Jersey freeway, walking should also be possible.

Personally I have a near-zero tolerance for anything that limits the ability of someone to fully attend to the operation of their vehicle.

Does this include electronic screens that are a part of the car itself?

Frankly, yes. I realize it is impossible to remove distractions/hindrances, but the fewer that are involved, the better.

I noticed a commerical for a credit union (Navy Federal), where a dad is driving a car, and realizes his kid is going to spill an ice cream cone, and he turns around to prevent the kid from spilling the ice cream. Well, in that instance, the dad has neglected his duty as a driver.

Here is the ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKqemb7cHwU

I guess he spots the car at least.

[jwolfer]

I'd rather someone be driving buzzed than texting. There are so many rear end collisions  from people texting

[discochris]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

The only conclusion I can draw is that certain localities just accept that DUI is a routine occurrence and that if one can manage to drive home without incidence, then you are effectively in the clear. In other words, do rural areas do DUI checkpoints and enforcement the way they do in cities/dense suburbs?

Personally I have a near-zero tolerance for anything that limits the ability of someone to fully attend to the operation of their vehicle.

In rural Wisconsin, it's more or less accepted practice in some places. There was an article a while back about one county in Wisconsin that has one or two sheriff patrols at night for a huge area, and the towns are mostly too small to have local enforcement. Between dealing with domestics and other disturbances, there's de facto no enforcement. Couple that with the fact that Wisconsin is the only state where first offense DWI is not a criminal offense - it's a traffic violation, and yes, it's the norm.

I believe both Minnesota and Wisconsin have found mandatory sobriety checkpoints unconstitutional.

[corco]

I would say in Montana, outside of tourist and university areas, it's pretty hard to get a DUI. There a) are barely any police and b) they don't really actively patrol for them.

Even in a place the size of Helena, if I get in my car after 11 PM and go for a drive across town, through downtown, my odds of actually seeing a cop are probably at most around 5%. And then you'd have to be doing something obviously bad in that brief time you are in the cop's range of visibility, so the odds are pretty low of even getting pulled over for DUI.

Honestly, my view on this is a bit different. I'm absolutely certain that in general, a 25 year old that has had four drinks is still a better driver and has better reflexes than their 87 year old grandparents, but we let their 87 year old grandparents drive with impunity. jwolfer's point above is also valid. For that reason I favor a reactive approach to drunk driving - if you are in a wreck or significantly violate traffic laws (minor speeding, rolling through stop sign, forgetting blinker in ways that don't impact any surrounding traffic wouldn't count- basically anything for which a sober driver would likely be given a warning). and you are found to have been drinking, you should face a very harsh penalty (harsher than today's penalties for a first DUI). Otherwise, it should be more or less ignored.

[roadman]

I'd rather someone be driving buzzed than texting. There are so many rear end collisions  from people texting

Do you have an actual cite for that.

[jwolfer]

I'd rather someone be driving buzzed than texting. There are so many rear end collisions  from people texting

Do you have an actual cite for that.

Cite for what?
I am a chiropractor and since texting has be come more widespread I have seen and increase in rear end collision patients in the office.. So no actual scientific study to cite.

I have have read articles about texting causing a driver to be more impaired than a legally intoxicated. 

This is just an opinion/observation. I did not realize references were required to post on here, its a online group not a peer reviewed journal.

[cpzilliacus]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

[AlexandriaVA]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

In theory, yes. I don't know how prevalent taxicabs are in rural areas though. Plus in rural areas, you are likely to be far away from your home, and thus taking a cab would require a long return trip in the morning.

[discochris]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

In theory, yes. I don't know how prevalent taxicabs are in rural areas though. Plus in rural areas, you are likely to be far away from your home, and thus taking a cab would require a long return trip in the morning.

Public transportation is largely non-existent in rural areas. For that matter, it's not very good in medium-sized cities in many cases. I know when I lived in Fargo 20 years ago, getting a cab at bar close was a total crapshoot, and most would rather risk driving home than be stuck on a corner in -10 weather in the winter waiting for a cab to not show up. I'm not saying that's right, but that was reality.

And the truth about a lot of designated drivers, is that they're not stone sober - just the person who had the least amount to drink that night.

[roadman]

I'd rather someone be driving buzzed than texting. There are so many rear end collisions  from people texting

Do you have an actual cite for that.

Cite for what?
I am a chiropractor and since texting has be come more widespread I have seen and increase in rear end collision patients in the office.. So no actual scientific study to cite.

I have have read articles about texting causing a driver to be more impaired than a legally intoxicated. 

This is just an opinion/observation. I did not realize references were required to post on here, its a online group not a peer reviewed journal.

Thank you for the clarification.  And I apologize for coming off as snarky in my previous comment.  Guess I'm just sick and tired of seeing or hearing the increasingly commonplace "must've been talking/texting" knee jerk reaction to news of any motor vehicle crash.

[jeffandnicole]

Thank you for the clarification.  And I apologize for coming off as snarky in my previous comment.  Guess I'm just sick and tired of seeing or hearing the increasingly commonplace "must've been talking/texting" knee jerk reaction to news of any motor vehicle crash.

It is true though.  The reaction, that is.

Overall (as far as I know), there's really no one type or cause of accident that has increased, compared to about 20 years ago.  If 15% of accidents were rear-end accidents in 1995, and now 40% of accidents are rear-end accidents, then you could say texting is causing more of them.  But, I've never seen stats to prove that out.

[cpzilliacus]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

In theory, yes. I don't know how prevalent taxicabs are in rural areas though. Plus in rural areas, you are likely to be far away from your home, and thus taking a cab would require a long return trip in the morning.

All correct.

Self-driving cars may make the crime of DUI/DWI/DWB much less common, and that may be the solution to all of this.

[AlexandriaVA]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

In theory, yes. I don't know how prevalent taxicabs are in rural areas though. Plus in rural areas, you are likely to be far away from your home, and thus taking a cab would require a long return trip in the morning.

All correct.

Self-driving cars may make the crime of DUI/DWI/DWB much less common, and that may be the solution to all of this.

Until such cars hit the streets, it's all academic. I have noticed that many opponents of public transit, safety features, and traffic calming using the excuse of "self-driving cars will make this all irrelevant soon".

[SD Mapman]

Was reading an article in the Post about youth drinking and driving, and it got me wondering about how often I'll see a bar/saloon/establishment accessible only by car.

Is it not implied that everyone there will be driving to that location, and that you can almost been guaranteed that you'll have at least one person on any given night who drives home under the influence and/or above the legal limit?

Taxicabs, or a designated driver, deal with a lot of that problem.

In theory, yes. I don't know how prevalent taxicabs are in rural areas though. Plus in rural areas, you are likely to be far away from your home, and thus taking a cab would require a long return trip in the morning.

In my hometown, we have two or three taxis that are really only chartered ones (i.e. you have to call ahead). Suffice it to say, they aren't prevalent at all.