drunk driving and the legal limit

Whatever happened to Joe Bob Briggs' Drunks Against Mad Mothers (DAMM)?

 

that's a good idea. they should have higher punishments for higher BAL

 

leo ... they do, most states have DUI and extreme DUI, with the fines for extreme being much, much more severe.

If you lower the limit below .08, you're going to start to bust people who aren't impaired. .06 isn't drunk. You are still plenty fine to operate a vehicle at that point. At .08, you start to get fuzzy. Anything more than .10 and you start to get into serious impairment.

 

Please appreciate that I have more than a passing interest in people who drink and drive and while I am biased that the blood alcohol level should be lower, here are just a couple of comments.

While the numbers will vary based upon patient size, sex and metabolism, a rough guide to blood alcohol levels says that 1 drink equivalent will increase the BAC by 0.02. The body will metabolize alcohol at a rate of approximately 0.02 per hour. One hour after drinking a beer should give you a BAC of zero. To get to 0.08, one needs to drink about 5 drinks in one hour.

Reaction times are affected after one or two drinks or a BAC of about 0.02-0.04. That's why one can be charged with operating while intoxicated with a BAC less than 0.08, if the behavior exhibited shows decrease function. Police videos are often helpful in court. It is also why the CDL limit is 0.05 in many states. And it's likely why the FAA has an absolute sobriety rule.

I absolutely agree that lowering the BAC level to 0.08 did not take the chronic, dangerous alcoholic off the road. That is the job of the courts, but I cannot count the number of times I read of people being charged with their 3rd, 4th, 5th or more DUI. Where are the legislators to tighten sentencing laws and where are the judges to impose harsh penalties on those who truly are a danger.

And then there are the people who show up in the ER injured and those who aren't lucky enough to make it. In 2006, there were 13,470 MVA deaths where the BAC was 0.08 or higher. 13,470...

 

Doc, I hate to quibble with the MD, but there ain't no way it takes four drinks to get over the limit.

Two, and you're flirting with .08.

 

It is getting to the point where someone who has two drinks with dinner is going to be in violation of the law.

As has been stated here earlier, I don't see too many drunken-driving fatalities caused by someone who blew a .09.

The appearance of "doing something" about drunken driving seems to be more important than actually doing something about it.

 

That's exactly it, and why it will never go the other way. I think the $1,000-a-year fine some states impose -- and it's a fine, no matter how they couch it -- is reprehensible. Someone said, "You know, we could raise $2 million a year if we just made people with DUI convictions pay an annual fee," and who the hell is going to risk their political lives by standing up against it?

And does anybody know, is it true that DUI lawyers say to decline to take any test (roadside, Breathalyzer or blood) if pulled over? I think in my state you get an automatic year's suspension for refusing, but it makes it extremely difficult for them to make a case on anything else.

 

It's not illegal, "per se," to drink and drive in the Magnolia State. At least, according to one lawyer.

Edit: Had to change "legal" to "illegal." Damn. I always fuck up some mundane detail.

 

You honestly believe you know better than a doctor?

 

Only if you weigh 100 pounds.

 

I weight a bit more than 100 pounds, and I think I'd be at or over .08 after two. It only took Kharie on Mythbusters about 1 1/2 to get to a .078 on the episode I watched today.

 

Hatches plan to get Kari from Mythbusters loaded with a pair of Seagram's Golden wine coolers and take advantage of her behind the gym.