What lengths would you do to assure someone does not get on the roadway drunk?

I would be prepared to steal the distributor cap, or take the keys to drive the car and the person home myself. There is no excuse for drink driving, and it is irresponsible to let a friend do it. If you do nothing when a friend drink drives, you are putting their life at risk, as well as innocent road users.

I wouldn’t drive with them. I would plead with them to take a cab and find an alternative (drive safe program, second driver, desig. driver). If they still insist on driving, and get forceful – I’d sock ‘em in the head, put them passed-out in a cab, and send them home.

I’ve wrestled friends to the ground to get the keys from them. I’ve said ‘oh, I forgot something in your car, gimmie the keys and I’ll go grab it- be right back’ and then kept the keys. I’ve driven them home and the like.Another option is to let the air out of two tires on their car- easy to remedy the next day with a portable air pump yet pain in the ass enough to keep them from driving home. Usually there are enough of us around that we can ‘convince’ our friend to give over the keys.

If none of that worked then I would call the cops as a very very last resort. Anything to make sure my friend was there the next morning and in one piece.

I would find a way to steal their keys. Even if I had to knock them to the ground to do it, I would.

I would be firm and tell them to not be so stupid and get them the cab. That would be enough for 99% of my aquaintances, and for that one stubborn SOB, I would take down like a Cape Buffalo, take their keys and stuff their sound asleep body in the back of their car and drive them home. Done that a few times way back in the crazy dayze.

Call someone to come help; someone who hasn’t been drinking. They can drive the guy and his car back.
I wouldn’t mess with the guys car, and I wouldn’t try fighting him for his keys. That kind of thing can lead to hard feelings long after the events of the evening.

Anything necessary, including physical restraint (perhaps unavoidable) Calling the cops to intervene will likely result in a PI and other unnecessary complications….try to video their behavior if possible to show them later..

I would take their car keys, and then if they got too antagonistic, I would knock them over the head with something hard. : )

I’m with @CaptainHarley. I would do whatever I needed to keep them off the road, including knocking their ass out.

@drClaw LMAO! Exactly! : D

Yeah, I’d get someone to drive them, that’s for sure. If that’s not possible, I’d stand between them and the car, at all costs. I’ve taken keys away before.

I’m not big enough to take physical action, so calling on someone to help (police, bouncer, or such) would be my only choice. By the way, the bar keep can be held responsible for anything that might occur due to his negligence in serving a drunk person, so make sure he knows his liability in this case.

@FireMadeFlesh @gemiwing If you disable the vehicle and it is left overnight, should the worse happen and it gets stolen, vandalized, or something gets ripped off could he/she sue you, and of so what 5 chance you’d lose and have to pay?

@zenele @DrasticDreamer @BluRhino @CaptainHarley @drClaw If the person got injured (fell and fractured a wrist, knuckle, etc, or dislocated a shoulder) cou;d they sue you amd what side of the law would you be on, the right or in the worng? Also if you were male and the drunk was a female in a cocktail dress how would that play into the “get tough and rough” scenario?

@YARNLADY I don’t know about there but the cops around here won’t get to the call until at least 20 minutes later, the only way to get them there in 3 minutes (and they won’t get there quicker) is to lie to them and tell them there is an armed robbery in progress, there is some loon with a machete, or another SOB with a pistol firing at anything that moved. When they know they can show up and pull their own pistols and maybe drop a perp they will rush over. A drunk could be in their car and long one in 3 minutes. Then what? :-)

@Hypocrisy_Central A person’s life is more valuable than a car. If something happened to the car, I would willingly pay for the damage, and be glad that someone else did not have to pay for a funeral(s). Although it wouldn’t be my responsibility to pay for the damage, since they were the ones that made it unusable by not being in a fit state to drive, I would still pay for it (at least in part) to save the friendship.

@FireMadeFlesh The LOGICAL thing would be to err on the side of any one that could be hit, but this IS America and the law is often illogical. Some lawyer will find a way to sour your good deed because his client lost out.

@Hypocrisy_Central I am not familiar with American law, but here in Australia I wouldn’t be comfortable with going to court. It would probably be cheaper to buy them a new car than to pay a defence lawyer, so I would go see them the next day to see how they felt about it and whether they expected me to cover the cost. If they threatened legal action, I would be seeking an out of court settlement.

In America I might not be so bold in stopping them from driving, since everyone has a gun in their car over there.

@FireMadeFlesh If they had a gun it better be locked in the trunk and unloaded guess the right to bare arems meant the right to bare empty arms because other than that they risk breaking the law. Ever wonder why America has more layers per person than anywhere in the world? Even if the situation was brought on by them trying to break the law, the law or torts (a seperate direction) would not be logicall enough to see the greater good in doing what you had to stop them.

I do not associate with people who drink. The last one was my ex SO and the neighbors called the police due to the scene that ensued when I refused to relinquish his keys to his drunk ass.
Now, I simply avoid being in that situation.

@Hypocrisy_Central I’m not sure if they could sue you or not, but even if they could, I still wouldn’t care. We’re talking about stopping a friend from possibly killing themselves or other, completely innocent people. After all was said and done, no matter what kind of confrontation occurred to stop them from driving drunk, I don’t think a true friend would even think about suing the friend who stopped them.