Have you ever had a drink of alcohol and drove your car?

Not once in my life. Not a single drop of alcohol before driving a car. That simply isn’t a risk I’m willing to take, and I find it disgusting that anyone does it.

That video made me cry.

If I told the honest truth you guys would stone me. :(

When I was a lot younger, early twenties. I was lucky that I never hurt anyone, or myself. I’ve seen what the aftermath looks like, I was an EMT for a lot of years. The worst thing is that this is avoidable. They are clled “accidents” in that no one meant them to happen, but they all could have been avoided had someone not chosen to drive while in an altered state of consciousness. This is why we have laws, and law enforcement. People can drone and blather on all day about people havng the “right” to put anything in their bodies that they want, but the abuse of freedom by some means loss of freedoms by all simply because too many people act irresponsibly and endanger others by doing so.

I’ve had a few beers and drove right away without a break.. but I would never do an Hard A and drive without coming down a bit.

I thank God often that I never killed anyone when I was drinking. And it is one of the things that has kept me sober for the last 24+ years.

No, never. But then again, I don’t drink, so this has been very easy for me to do.

Yes. Most people have. It’s one of those mistakes your average person will make. I think it’s disgusting for someone to judge another so harshly; people fuck up.

Drinking one beer and driving is different than drinking 5 beers, 3 shots and a mixed drink then driving. People go out to dinner and have a glass of wine and drive all the time. I’m not saying drinking one beer and driving is fine, just that there is a polemic difference between the one that kills people solely because of the alcohol and impaired motor skills.

I have not, but recenly read that those who do typically get away 85 to 90 times for every one time they get caught.

Yes.Have you?

Yeah Cruiser. Fess up.

Unfortunately, yes. But in doing so a handful of times (thankfully without any incidents) I’ve learned to never do it again.

@lucillelucillelucille In college I actually got pulled over on my bicycle and given a field sobriety test. I passed with flying colors and the officer was unimpressed with my cartwheel darn it.

I had an Aunt that was with a friend and there were six of her children in the car and one child from her friend. A drunk hit them and killed them all so I went to a funeral with 7 caskets and watched my Uncle and his one son that didn’t go on the trip bury their wife/mother and all the childrren/siblings.

@free_fallin

“I think it’s disgusting for someone to judge another so harshly; people fuck up.”

As the post just above me shows, though, when people screw up in this manner, it can cost innocent lives. Not something you can just brush off and dismiss.

@Cruiser -XD Yes,the insanity of drinking and driving and cycling and texting and being tired and distracted and medicated and angry and applying lipstick and reading the paper and talking on the phone and wrapping Xmas gifts and getting blow jobs and listening to a backseat driver and looking at a GPS and unfolding a map and re-writing history while driving….

@lucillelucillelucille You left out the incredible insanity of Bedazzling your socks while driving

Of, course. Some of us come from the days of “one for the road”. I’ve always been a lightweight, so if I was too wasted I could never drive anyway. Now, I don’t drink. I’m always the designated driver.

@Cruiser -That is deemed acceptable but only if you are on painkillers by prescription ;)

@crisw I didn’t mention anything about dismissing such actions. I practice forgiveness and judging people as little as possible. In my opinion, one drink vs. 10 is a very different matter but this question is not about that nor is it about discussing the differences between the words we used. (I did refer to it as a mistake, in case you missed that part.)

Only once and I will never do it again. Shame on me.

“having a drink of alcohol and driving your car” may be different than drunk driving. There is a minimum for a reason. Having a beer or a glass of wine and driving is not drunk driving. Yes, I too, came of age in the 1980’s when drinking and driving was just becoming a negative, so I could not say I have never had a drink and driven a car. I am not advocating drunk driving, and at present I drink very rarely, if at all, but it is harsh to say anybody who has one drink and drives should be judged as an awful person.

@lucillelucillelucille So is that your secret for those far-out socks you wear?? ;)

@Cruiser Those aren’t socks

Never. I also haven’t had alcohol for about 10 years.

That video hit my emotions ..wow. I agree, we need more ads like this around the world.

@lucillelucillelucille Assless chaps then???

Just for the record, since this seems to have sparked a discussion. I think drunk driving is disgusting. My choice not to drink anything at all and drive a car is a personal one. Getting behind the wheel when you are drunk is disgusting. And I don’t feel like that’s “harsh.”

@TheOnlyNeffie I think I may have sparked a debate over my OP asking about having “a” drink and driving vs drunk driving…not what I intended to do but interesting none-the-less as the difference is profound yet the net result of such a poor decision is largely the same. Obviously, one drink is too many for a lot of people.

@Cruiser You wish XD

I have gotten into plenty of fights with people that do. They still drove – most of the time at least. But I don’t enable this behavior, or let it slide. I personally don’t drink at all. I don’t drive either for environmental reasons.

I actually make people take quick neuropsych tests before I’m confident enough to leave them be. I’ve considered pinning people on the floor instead of letting them drive—but haven’t gone through with it.

@lucillelucillelucille “WOOF”

Of course, but not for a very long time.

And, never in such a state of inebriation that I could truly say I was seriously impaired.

Occasionally I have a beer or two or wine at my friends up the hill from me and putter home on my private roads.

2 weeks ago I attended a dinner in the city and had a DD.

I had 4 glasses of ale, ate scads of food, stopped drinking 2 hours before we left, was an hour drive home, and by the time we arrived back up here I was more than sober enough to drive 10 miles home.

It’s all about responsibility, and I do not condone drunk driving, but I also don’t agree that one or two drinks impairs a person enough to be slapped with a DUI.

@Coloma—Were you wearing assless chaps??—XD
@Cruiser-I challenge you to a duel for asking this type of question. ;)

@lucillelucillelucille

Yee Haaaw, spank the foam off that beer! lol

I wanna see the socks that @Cruiser “BeDazzled”.

A drink is a lot different then impaired. I can drink two beers after golf and it doesn’t bother me, but I really notice it if I have three. That’s a lot different than what I did as a kid. I was stupid.
(And can we get visuals on the socks and the chaps?)

@Coloma I’d like to spank this question off it’s soapbox.XD
@Cruiser—Bend over—XD

@Adirondackwannabe

Yes, the 70’s was the Country Club, gin & tonic, cadillac crowd in my neighborhood. EVERY golfing geezer was shitfaced by 2 pm. hahaha

I agree.

I don’t drink much as it is, but I can have 3 beers ( lite ) and be basically fine.
4 is my limit and I won’t drive in those circumstances.

Most of my drinking is in my hot tub with the biggest hazard being steppng on a skunk or raccoon when I get out. hahaha

@lucillelucillelucille

Yer gonna need those assless chaps and a WHIP! ;-)

Well, I haven’t seen the video, but I’ll try to get to it tonight at home.

With that said, I came of age when drunk drivers were still a topic of comedy rather than drama, but I was at least smart enough (and had parents to help me) to recognize the potential for tragedy, so I never have driven “drunk”. But have I ever had a drink and driven? Of course, yes. In fact, even now when I go out to eat at restaurants I will almost always have one and usually two gin-tonics and then drive later, usually at least an hour (and a full meal) after the second drink. I am very conscious that “I have had booze”, and though I don’t have to “concentrate” or “think about” not screwing up my driving, I wonder if there really are any effects on me, because I certainly can’t detect any. I don’t think I’m fooling myself about this, either. I can tell when I’m a little drunk, and I absolutely won’t drive then (and I wouldn’t go to a bar, belt down a couple and then hit the road, either.)

I’m far more concerned about my driving when I’m the least bit tired, however.

When I was in highschool I had to watch lots of movies like this before I got my DL in California. It was part of school and it was part of my DL training. I don’t drink and drive, but because of these movie/clips I’m actually scared to drive because of other ppl.

So in a way it’s helped me not drink, but I dont drive either…

I have but not in a really really long time. I’d be way way too scared to ever drive after drinking nowadays. Actually, since I lived in Australia….

Yes. Most people, if they drink at all, have done it. But there’s a difference between having one drink with a meal and driving at some point after that when you’ve likely metabolized most, if not all, of it and going out to the bar and getting smashed and then driving. Most people are fully capable of having one drink and being fine to drive, not immediately but once they’ve metabolized the alcohol (some individuals, with medication, body weight, and other factors that affect their metabolism, get and stay intoxicated longer than others and would need to be more careful). There’s nothing whatsoever wrong with this the vast majority of times. There sometimes is a problem with that “one drink” is the equivalent of three or four (think mega margaritas that are served at some restaurants) , but most times there is nothing wrong with having “a drink.”

There is a vast, vast difference for the average individual in “a drink” and being drunk (even a little), incapacitated, and unable to safely operate a motor vehicle. People who want to condemn people for having a single drop of alcohol anywhere in their system when driving, without taking anything into account, are just being silly and overly judgmental.

To clarify for those who might misconstrue. I do not approve of drunk driving. I do not approve of people going out drinking and driving home. I do not approve of people doing stupid things with alcohol. I don’t even approve of people getting drunk. I do, however, see a big difference between these things and having a drink with a meal and with enough time to become road ready before driving away. And I do approve of thinking about this matter rationally without assuming that everyone who drinks even a sip is automatically drunk and incapable of driving without being a danger to themselves and others.

I’ll wave down a cab and pick up my car in the morning if I have to.

Oh probably. I’ve never been drunk and driven my car, though.

@trailsillustrated Have you seen these ads before?? Are they common?? Played how often??

I’ll never drive drunk, but I’ve driven after a couple beers in my hometown. I’ve been driving on those roads since I was 15, and I know them so well; I really think I could drive this route with my eyes closed perfectly. I wouldn’t drive after drinking anything on roads I don’t know as well as these.

On my Honeymoon, 26 years ago, I got so drunk I was passing out at the wheel. I am sure that Heavenly Guidance got my car back to the hotel safely.
Since then, I don’t drive at all if I have had any alcohol.

Don’t get me started. We were all young once. The ones still alive are the ones who figured it out in time.

@woodcutter It’s the one’s who aren’t alive is what inspired me to post that link…

When I was in my 20’s it wasn’t nearly the big Deal it is now. We knew it was dangerous, but not really how dangerous it really was. My then husband was a heavy drinker and I was a light drinker, so I drove us home from parties.

After I made a vow to never do it again, I stopped.

@Cruiser yes i’ve seen them, often, theyr’e on very often during the holidays. Cigarettes also have very interesting warning photographs on the packets. They have these ads in england too. The funny thing is that people really drink hard in australia, and it’s very accepted.

I never have a drink, unless it’s with dinner. Even after that, I usually walk down to the local bookstore and browse for a while, something I enjoy anyway, before driving home. Even then, the people I’m with always make sure I’m okay before letting me drive home, but by the time dinner is through, and we sit and talk awhile, and then I spend an hour or so walking around, I’m fine.