Drunkenness Limit Is Set By Clinton!

[FettsBabe]

Clinton signs tougher drunken driving law

"The United States now has a national standard to determine whether a driver is legally drunk, a law that proponents say could save hundreds of lives a year. It could also be costly for states that don't comply. U.S. President Bill Clinton
today signed into a law a bill that sets a blood alcohol limit for drunkenness at 0.08 percent, a level stricter than what is currently used by more than half the states."

**Hope no one gets in a license check when coming home from a restaurant (after having 1 freakin drink). While I don't believe in drinking and driving, I do hope cops use good judgement issuing tickets. I don't think having one drink while at a restarant and then driving home is harmful.

Drinking and Driving

Calculate Your BAC

 

[Viper GTS]

Good, it's about time. It's been .08 in Oregon for a long time anyway, so it won't affect us.

Viper GTS

 

[NFS4]

<< I don't think having one drink while at a restarant and then driving home is harmful. >>


I don't give a sh!t. You shouldn't be drinking at all and driving. I don't care how many drinks you had. If you're gonna drink, be sure to have someone there with you to take you home.

I don't want to hear all of this &quot;bla bla, it's my right&quot; &quot;I can drink 3 beers and still be fine&quot; etc. When my life is at stake, and you're behind the wheel on the same road as me, I want you to be AS SOBER AS POSSIBLE. Hell, people have trouble enough driving while NOT intoxicated around these parts. We don't need alcohol making matters worse.

 

[StageLeft]

Well one drink won't up you past 0.08. Generally an adult is supposed to be around 2 drinks before hitting this...I know for a fact that if my blood alcohol is 0.08 I can feel it. I doubt it affects my driving _that much_, but I'm sure that if you gave the average race car driver a blood level of, say, .079 then they would lose the race badly.

My point being that 0.08 is still enough to feel the alcohol, and thus still enough to compromise one's driving, at least to a small extent. I think its a good law signed.

 

[403Forbidden]

eh...all the States Righter's are bound to come in here and cry
and moan about State sovreignty and all that jazz.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

0.08 is two drinks in an hour for the average person. Of course 0.80 is average for TeD kennedy at any particular moment </cheap drunk kennedy joke>

 

[Chef0083]

Yeah,, I try not to drive afer drinking but I occasionaly have a beer and drive but I try to wait an hour first.

 

[StageLeft]

Drunken driving is a major problem...I feel that more importantly than setting a nation-wide limit of .08 (which i agree with) it would be better to start punishing drivers more. I've heard cases of people being cause DUI like a half dozen times. I would give a stiff warning first time, if caught again _no F**king driving for several years_. The laws are not strict enough with drunken driving.

I can have a beer and get into a car right after and be under limit but if I sucked back two real quick I would not be driving for an hour probably...

 

[FettsBabe]

My weight fluctuates between 105-110, and one drink does put me over the limit, and I don't feel it. I think all cops should be able to use their judgement when issuing a DWI/DUI ticket. Yes, I do believe that laws should be strict but I believe in good judgement too.

NC is strict on drinking and driving. Some common laws:
*Zero tolerance for anyone under 21, if you are caught you lose your license for 2 years or until you turn 21.
*NC installs a BAC Blower on the car (I think its after your second conviction).
*Jail time, huge fines, etc.

 

[Chef0083]

You're right about that Skoorb,, the problem is the punishment. I personally know people who have gotten 2 or 3 dui's and continue to drink and drive and they get some comunity service or a 30 suspension of their liscense and then it's right back to it.

 

[403Forbidden]

I'd say ANYONE caught under 18 and above the limit should loose their license
until the age of 21...2nd time caught it's gone FOREVER and go to jail.

1st time caught over 18, loose it for 3 months. 2nd time caught, loose it FOREVER
and go to jail.


OH yeah and make it a FEDERAL law too so that you can
bypass wacko states like Texas.

 

[StageLeft]

I dunno about FOREVER 403 - Maybe forever on the third, but I think the second offense should result in losing it for a number of years anyway...plus I guess in deciding the forever or not would depend on how damn drunk you are.
fetts I'm sorry to hear that you can't have an entire drink and that this limit you cannot feel anything, but then again if you can't feel anything just drink a pop I would say that many/most people can feel something...

 

[RU482]

Here's a question...

Yes, they imposed the lower limit, but did they outline penalties for being over???

 

[FettsBabe]

Forever would be excessive, but its not going to stop people from driving either. I worked with a girl who lost her license when she was caught drinking and driving, and she drove to work every day even though they were revoked. I didn't know they were revoked at that point either or I would have turned her in to her probation officer.

 

[Tripleshot]

FettsBabe

It is my understanding that food in the stomach skews the bac results. In your case,based on your petiteness,you should be able to have 2 glasses of wine with your meal(why,I'll never know. Seems to me alcohol ruins the taste of food)and still be under the limit. But more important,make your dining out experience last longer before getting behind the wheel. Time also reduces the bac. Make that husband of yours romance you longer when he takes you to those fine restaurants.

 

[FettsBabe]

No penalties were set by the law.

State Penalties

 

[ATLien247]

Using that BAC calculator, I can drink six 12oz. beers in an hour and still not be legally drunk. Interesting, eh?

(I weigh 250lbs., and the beer here in Utah is 4.3% alcohol.)

That seems wrong to me, though. I'd definitely feel a little tipsy after a 6-pack in an hour!

 

[rahvin]

0.08% is where it should be, we lose 50,000 people a year to auto-acidents and it's unacceptable that people drinking and driving are causing a nice hefty percentage of those. If you drink, you shouldn't drive. If you choose to drive after drinking you accept the consequences of your actions.

 

[StageLeft]

7 days after 1st offense in Virginia. Jesus H Christ what a joke. Where I live we lose it for that long for a bloody speeding ticket.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I've had a situation where me, my parents, and my grandma were out eating. My mom and dad pretty much downed a bottle of wine (my grandma had a glass or two, I don't drink). I simply insisted that I drive since my grandma would get pulled over for drunk driving (even though she wasn't drunk, she hasn't driven on a freeway since 1976) and neither of my parents would pass a breathalizer test. People just can't be afraid to ask for keys or give them up.

 

[Frenchie]

Why not have .08-.10 be Driving While Impainred and .10+ be Driving Under the Influence, a la NY.

Edit: So we dont rehash a lot of prior comments, here is the link to the last DUI Thread.

 

[Mister T]

HAHAH... I just used the BAC Calculator.

I can drink 6 Budweiser in 1 hour and drive.

BAC is 0.07718285104551725

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO... time to get a 6 pack and celebrate

 

[DirkBelig]

403Forbidden barfed up this chunk:

&quot;eh...all the States Righter's are bound to come in here and cry and moan about State sovreignty and all that jazz. &quot;

The Feds take our money and then say, &quot;You want your own money back? Well, here's what you're gonna do...&quot; Real nice.

People like you LOVE when the government tells you what to do. &quot;Thank you, Sir! May I have another?&quot; is your mantra.

Bah!:|

 

[StageLeft]

misterT

If thats true and you weigh less than 400 lb that calculator is screwed

 

[Double Trouble]

I agree with FB on this one. It's not people who have a drink (such as a glass of wine) and then drive that are the problem, it's the people that are impaired when they drive that are the problem.

I'd like to see a comparison in the number of drinking related traffic accidents in states that have lower alcohol levels (.08 vs. .10 etc) to see if there is really a correlation between a state having a lower blood alcohol limit and the accident rate. My guess is the answer is &quot;no&quot;. I'd guess that the vast majority of alcohol related accidents are caused by people with BA levels well over .10 anyway, so lowering it to .08 does nothing but punish the occasional drinker that is not impaired.

The laws against repeat offenders should be tightened and enforced though. If someone is caught driving drunk more than once they should no longer be able to operate a vehicle until they can establish a track record of sobriety for at least 5 years.

Of course the Fed vs State thing is a side issue -- the federal government is basically doing an end-run around the constitutional provisions that bar it from interfering in state rights by blackmailing states into complying with federal mandates. The fed gov can't legally force states to comply with a federal BA level law, so they blackmail them by withholding monies -- monies to which the residents of the state contributed.