Alcoholics kill innocent people

[bobs66440]

My wife and I were very lucky to walk away back in 2000 when a drunk illegal pulled out in front of us when we were going 40. 

The sad part is he's still probably here, getting drunk and risking lives on our dime

[1970Moparmann]

My wife and I were very lucky to walk away back in 2000 when a drunk illegal pulled out in front of us when we were going 40. 

The sad part is he's still probably here, getting drunk and risking lives on our dime

YEP.   I went to court and the judge just wanted to give him probation!  WTF.... I told the judge my 2 cents about how he should go in jail for 90 days for this action, and the judge wound up giving him 120 hours of community service.  I guarantee the scum bag is doing the same thing.

Sorry to hijack the thread.  I feel your pain OP, and think parents and adults need to do a better job in explaining "what if's" to kids.    When each of my son's hit 16, boy am I going to ram it in their heads not to drink and drive.

[Mike DC]

First off I have to say I'm not a tea total-er at all I like my beer & a spirit/hard liq. usually a Jack & Coke ever so often... America does love it's alcohol... I understand the people that think social drinking & buzzed driving is way less of a problem, than the real drunks on the road, my thoughts are, were do you draw the line, what's buzzed whats really actually drunk, a 100lb women at .08 is fall down stupid stumbling drunk, a 250lb man at .08 is hammered maybe fall down drunk, a 100lb women drinking socially a single 4 oz. Martini probably at .03-.04 will have far more effect on driving ability, than the 250lb Man probably .02, after the one drink, they would both be considered buzzed driving, both only had 1 drink, were do you draw the line to be fair, neither is OK to be driving in my book, it flat out impairs your abilities to function properly, talking on cell phones - hands free or not, texting, putting on make up, eating, smoking, load music, kids screaming & yelling, all distract drivers, but alcohol & buzzed or drunk drivers, kills far more people than the others... The only fair thing for all involved is if you plan on drinking at all, don't drive period, even 1 beer can show up on a Breathalyzer test, you can still be charged with DUI driving under the influence, DWI is driving while intoxicated... It's up to the officer to make a judgment call if your impaired, even after only just a beer & buzzed driving... Just not worth it to drink & drive ever socially buzzed or what ever you want to call it....

You're saying the BAC test isn't a reliable indicator of impairment because it fails to take body size and tolerance differences into account.  But as I understand it, it does take that into account.  It's not a measure of how much the person drank but rather how much has actually made it to their bloodstream.  It's not being pushed off the mark by either body size differences nor alcohol tolerance differences.  

We're already catching the dangerous drunks, the problem is that we're not punishing them.  

[nvrbdn]

right, the punishment isnt strong enough.and when they lose their license, they still drink and drive. they get busted, they get a fine and they still drink and drive. in illinois they put the breath things in their cars. but if they get in someone elses car, or get someone to blow into their analyzer they still drive.alcoholics dont care about rules,only how to get their next drink.

[Budnicks]

Mike & nvrbdn, My long winded point was, 1 drink will effect, different sized people differently, body mass, 4ozs in a 250lb person isn't the same as the effect of 4ozs on a 100lb person, man or woman, not that it doesn't register, as I understand it, it tells amount of alcohol in the blood stream thru your lungs, when you exhale, if your a fatter/heavier person it takes longer to go thru your stomach, intestines, kidneys & liver, to absorb into the blood steam, If you drink everyday it may not even take as much to register, because of residual affects of alcohol in your blood stream...One could be buzzed the other drunk... Maybe I'm wrong in my logic/thinking... Wouldn't be the 1st time... ANY HOW I agree with you guys, I personally think the punishment should be much harsher, that's 1 of the only things, I think local govt./law enforcement could do more of....

[nvrbdn]

i do agree with you that two different people with different weight ,height,  body mass will be affected different. at least thats the way i have been taught also. they did a test with highway patrol there on the steve and dc radio a couple years ago. they had a few people,guys and girls,different weights take one shot every 15 min. then keep talking on the radio. the smaller people were legally drunk in an about an hour and a half. the biggest male was about 3 hours before he blew over the limit. but he was sluring much before that time.

[Mike DC]

i do agree with you that two different people with different weight ,height,  body mass will be affected different. at least thats the way i have been taught also. they did a test with highway patrol there on the steve and dc radio a couple years ago. they had a few people,guys and girls,different weights take one shot every 15 min. then keep talking on the radio. the smaller people were legally drunk in an about an hour and a half. the biggest male was about 3 hours before he blew over the limit. but he was sluring much before that time.

That example doesn't hurt the validity of the BAC test in real world conditions.  That supports it. 

The heavy guy drank the same amount as the lighter people.  But he took twice as long to blow a given amount of intoxication, just like you would expect if it was really measuring his impairment and not just the raw amount swallowed.

[nvrbdn]

jn that test, the ones quit drinking when they reached the legal drunk limit. the guy that went 3 hours kept drinking.

[472 R/T SE]

OK here in Utah there is a lawyer that is on the radio shows all the time he specializes in DUI his main income is defending but he always says he is the bigest and strongest pusher to make the limit .00 of course it means he losses clients but he sees thing day in day out of what booze duz to people. we have the .08 law here and he believes if we go to .00 it Will stop alot of DUI's. But the only reason states wont pass it is for the revenue they receive. if the really honestly wanted to stop drunken driving the could but the cant as for the cash flow it brings. He states that it is not taking away your freedom to drink its just saying you cant drink one and drive its your choice.

It's all about the almighty dollar.  If they really wanted to knock DUI's down, they'd close bars'.  Think about it, how many people leave a bar & are legally fit to drive.  My guess is maybe 10%.

Closing bars' will never happen but I'm just throwing it out there...

[bobs66440]

OK here in Utah there is a lawyer that is on the radio shows all the time he specializes in DUI his main income is defending but he always says he is the bigest and strongest pusher to make the limit .00 of course it means he losses clients but he sees thing day in day out of what booze duz to people. we have the .08 law here and he believes if we go to .00 it Will stop alot of DUI's. But the only reason states wont pass it is for the revenue they receive. if the really honestly wanted to stop drunken driving the could but the cant as for the cash flow it brings. He states that it is not taking away your freedom to drink its just saying you cant drink one and drive its your choice.

It's all about the almighty dollar.  If they really wanted to knock DUI's down, they'd close bars'.  Think about it, how many people leave a bar & are legally fit to drive.  My guess is maybe 10%.

Closing bars' will never happen but I'm just throwing it out there...

I agree. If they want to collect a lot of dwi's, all they have to do is pull everybody over leaving the bar.

[1970Moparmann]

Copied from a website.

How Many Drinks Until .08?
WARNING: NO CHART OR RULE OF THUMB CAN ACCURATELY PREDICT BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL

There are many factors which will determine how many drinks will put any individual over .08. Charts, calculators, and general rules of thumb can provide an idea how many drinks it takes to be over .08, but each person is different. The following list of variables are the most influential in influencing the number of drinks which will cause a person to be over .08.
AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL IN EACH DRINK

The size and alcohol content of each drink is the most important factor in controlling when breath or blood alcohol levels will reach .08. Liquor and wine are the most unpredictable, because the size of each drink is only an estimation. The difference between a shot and a double shot may not be obvious to a novice bartender. Some bartenders may purposefully pour drinks extra strong or extra large for friends or good tippers. Obviously, this will cause a person to need a DWI lawyer if they are deciding how many drinks to have based on calculators and averages. Beer is the most predictable, since the alcohol content and size of each drink is consistent. Police chemists often try to convert breath test or blood test results to a number of drinks when they come to DWI court. Only a Houston DWI lawyer with detailed knowledge of the pharmacokinetics of alcohol can prevent these errors.
SIZE OF THE DRINKER

The body size of the drinker is an important factor in how many drinks a person must consume to become over .08. It is important to remember that lean body mass is the important characteristic- not weight. Alcohol does not distribute to fatty areas, so a heavy person who has a lot of fat weight on them will not be able to drink any more drinks than a thinner person before they are over .08. It stands to reason that a 120 pound person will only be able to drink half as much as a 240 pound person before having a .08 blood alcohol level, assuming each person has similar body fat ratio. A small size person will need a DWI lawyer much sooner than a larger drinker.
GENDER OF THE DRINKER

Males and females have different rates of handling alcohol also. A female will generally reach a higher alcohol level upon drinking the same number if drinks as a male- even if the male is no larger than the female. This is due to a combination of factors, including the fact that females tend to have a higher proportion of body fat than males, so the ladies tend to need a DWI attorney faster than similarly sized males drinking at the same pace.
DRINKING OVER TIME

The shorter the time period of the drinking, the higher the blood alcohol concentration will go. The body can only eliminate alcohol so fast. In fact, the body generally can only eliminate about 3/4 of a drink an hour. Some people may be a little faster or slower than this average though. At this average rate though, a person would require 8 hours to burn off a six pack of beer. If a person is drinking strong drinks and is perhaps below average on elimination, just 3 or 4 drinks over a couple of hours could cause them to need a top DWI lawyer.
AN EMPTY STOMACH

The presence of food in the stomach slows the absorption of alcohol into the blood. Drinking on an empty stomach will cause a person's blood alcohol level to become higher and high faster than if alcohol were consumed with a good sized meal. If a person estimates the number of drinks it takes them to become over .08 with food, the number of drinks that will actually get them intoxicated will be less if the drinking occurs on an empty stomach. Many people who are arrested for DWI and end up needing a DWI lawyer were arrested after drinking on an empty stomach.
SHOULD I GIVE A BREATH TEST OR VOLUNTARY BLOOD TEST?

Due to all of the factors discussed above and others, predicting whether a breath or blood test will be over .08 is a risky prediction at best. Every driver is presumed innocent of DWI unless evidence proves otherwise. Voluntarily blowing into the police breath test after an arrest for DWI is rarely in a person's best interests. If asked to provide a voluntary breath or blood test following a stop for DWI, obtain the advice of a DWI lawyer before giving evidence to the police, NO MATTER WHAT THE POLICE TELL YOU. Of course, do not physically resist a blood test if the police have a warrant; you could risk being seriously injured by the police or nurses.

[Mike DC]

                 
Evidence that alcohol affects people differently does not mean a breath or blood test is inaccurate. 

That would be like saying different engines get different MPG, therefore an engine dyno's horsepower reading can't be accurate.

[Budnicks]

                 
Evidence that alcohol affects people differently does not mean a breath or blood test is inaccurate. 

That would be like saying different engines get different MPG, therefore an engine dyno's horsepower reading can't be accurate.

[69rtse4spd]

Sorry for your loss. .