f***ing drunk driver

[witesoxfan]

I do the 4 beer thing too, but I will do 5 if I am somewhere for 4-5 hours. Regarding that gray area of should I or shouldn't I...I basically will imagine myself behind the wheel, and if I question myself whatsoever, I find a ride.

[southsider2k5]

One downside is that making these things work doesn't appear to be cheap. One brief check finds that the cost of operating one of those ignition interlocks for 1 year is on the order of $1000-$2000. Maybe they'd get cheaper if they were mandated on every vehicle, but there are a variety of safety devices we don't mandate in vehicles because of costs on that level.

 

For 250 million cars, that's a cost of a couple hundred billion dollars. The costs associated with DUI per year are on the order of $100 billion from this estimate...so maybe it works out, but either way, that's not a cheap step.

 

At the end of the day local governments make too much money off of DUIs to take steps that could end their highly profitable enforcement measures.

[Balta1701]

For an average adult male, one drink (one beer, one glass of wine, or one shot of 80 proof liquor) raises your BAC by about .02. Your body can metabolize at a rate of about .015 per hour. So 4 drinks in 2 hours would put you around .05. You should be good. The more you weigh, the less your BAC goes up with every drink. I weigh around 240 and if I drink at a rate of 1 drink per hour, my BAC will not keep escalating.

 

 

I do no more than a beer per hour, usually less, if I know I have to drive. Plus a cut off of about an hour before as well. So I guess if I'm going to be somewhere 5 hours, I can have 4 beers and no beer the last hour. According to your breakdown (and others I've read before), this is perfectly fine.

 

But most of all, just go by feel and logic. I know when I've had a touch more than I should have, and I'm still nowhere near drunk. If that's the case, grab a ride, call someone, wait another hour or two, whatever.

Just to point it out...if the new NTSB recommendation of 0.055 was followed, both of these cases would be right on the border of legal intoxication.

[StrangeSox]

At the end of the day local governments make too much money off of DUIs to take steps that could end their highly profitable enforcement measures.

Champaign's thing with letting 19 and 20 yo's into the bars and then raiding one or two Thursday-Saturday nights, handing out $300+ drinking tickets but no other punishment (lots of places have community service requirements) was a nice racket.

[IlliniKrush]

Just to point it out...if the new NTSB recommendation of 0.055 was followed, both of these cases would be right on the border of legal intoxication.

If his math is correct, mine wouldn't be. I'd be at .005ish.

[Balta1701]

If his math is correct, mine wouldn't be. I'd be at .005ish.

You're right, I read the hours/beers numbers backwards.

[Steve9347]

So much bad, non-science related math going on here. Four beers in four hours can have a vastly different effect on two men of same age and size. The body is a wonderland!

[Balta1701]

So much bad, non-science related math going on here. Four beers in four hours can have a vastly different effect on two men of same age and size. The body is a wonderland!

Which is worse...rough estimates for alcohol processing by a normal body, or quoting John Mayer?

[IlliniKrush]

So much bad, non-science related math going on here. Four beers in four hours can have a vastly different effect on two men of same age and size. The body is a wonderland!

I'll science your face.

 

I've always wondered what BAC I'm at even when it has nothing to do with driving. Like, what does .08 feel like? What does .02? What does .15 feel like? Sometimes I wish I had a breathalyzer around just to be like "hmm, didn't know that's what my BAC is at this point"

[iamshack]

I'll science your face.

 

I've always wondered what BAC I'm at even when it has nothing to do with driving. Like, what does .08 feel like? What does .02? What does .15 feel like? Sometimes I wish I had a breathalyzer around just to be like "hmm, didn't know that's what my BAC is at this point"

They do sell them...,

[IlliniKrush]

They do sell them...,

Buy me one!

 

I'm not THAT curious about it. But I guess my overall point is that I bet most people couldn't tell what .08 feels like, anyway. Which is why the mandatory one in the car would be awesome, even if tough to pull off.

Edited May 16, 2013 by IlliniKrush

[lasttriptotulsa]

Buy me one!

 

I'm not THAT curious about it. But I guess my overall point is that I bet most people couldn't tell what .08 feels like, anyway. Which is why the mandatory one in the car would be awesome, even if tough to pull off.

 

The WI DOT has a phone app that estimates your BAC. You enter your weight, how long you've been drinking and how many drinks you've had. While not 100% it is pretty close. Now if your drinking like 6.5% beer or something, just enter 3 drinks for every 2 you really drank to accomidate for the higher alcohol level.

Edited May 16, 2013 by lasttriptotulsa

[southsider2k5]

Champaign's thing with letting 19 and 20 yo's into the bars and then raiding one or two Thursday-Saturday nights, handing out $300+ drinking tickets but no other punishment (lots of places have community service requirements) was a nice racket.

 

Our state park system does the same thing. They don't even report the arrest to the police.

[LittleHurt05]

Champaign's thing with letting 19 and 20 yo's into the bars and then raiding one or two Thursday-Saturday nights, handing out $300+ drinking tickets but no other punishment (lots of places have community service requirements) was a nice racket.

 

While I enjoyed the ability to enter the bars (and drink) while I was 19 & 20, I always thought it made no sense to let us in underage. I did contribute $260 to the Champaign government fund after a raid at C.O. Daniels.

[gatnom]

While I enjoyed the ability to enter the bars (and drink) while I was 19 & 20, I always thought it made no sense to let us in underage. I did contribute $260 to the Champaign government fund after a raid at C.O. Daniels.

 

As far as I can tell, they just don't want the local high schoolers to have an easy time getting into the bars while still allowing local bars (and themselves via tickets) to get the increased business. They definitely ramp up the raids at weird times/places in the summer, which makes it look to me like they're trying to keep an eye on the local kids. There was a point last year where Murphy's got raided at least once a week for about a month in the summer.

 

Luckily for you that ticket now costs about $320 I believe, assuming they haven't raised it again in the last year or so.

 

 

[farmteam]

I do the 4 beer thing too, but I will do 5 if I am somewhere for 4-5 hours. Regarding that gray area of should I or shouldn't I...I basically will imagine myself behind the wheel, and if I question myself whatsoever, I find a ride.

This is exactly what I do. If I have any question at all about my ability to drive, even just a tiny one, then I don't drive. Either find a ride or wait.

 

To clarify in terms of making yourself "feel" less drunk, eating more/drinking water doesn't actually lower your BAC, it just makes you feel less drunk, correct?

[G&T]

This is exactly what I do. If I have any question at all about my ability to drive, even just a tiny one, then I don't drive. Either find a ride or wait.

 

To clarify in terms of making yourself "feel" less drunk, eating more/drinking water doesn't actually lower your BAC, it just makes you feel less drunk, correct?

 

Food absorbs alcohol thus spacing out the time it takes for the alcohol to enter your system. As you drink you will be eliminating alcohol. So if you lengthen the absorption time, there will be a more time to eliminate thus keeping your BAC a bit lower. However if you've already been drinking then food isn't going to do much.

[farmteam]

Food absorbs alcohol thus spacing out the time it takes for the alcohol to enter your system. As you drink you will be eliminating alcohol. So if you lengthen the absorption time, there will be a more time to eliminate thus keeping your BAC a bit lower. However if you've already been drinking then food isn't going to do much.

Yeah, I meant after you've been drinking. That's what I figured.

 

Who needs Google when you can ask Soxtalk.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Four beers over a two hour time period is probably still getting close in some states isn't it? Are you willing to take the risk on some broken breathalizer?

 

 

For an average adult male, one drink (one beer, one glass of wine, or one shot of 80 proof liquor) raises your BAC by about .02. Your body can metabolize at a rate of about .015 per hour. So 4 drinks in 2 hours would put you around .05. You should be good. The more you weigh, the less your BAC goes up with every drink. I weigh around 240 and if I drink at a rate of 1 drink per hour, my BAC will not keep escalating.

 

I'm 6'1" 230 so I'm not exactly small. I know at what amount I should be ok to drive both legally and in actuality. The one beer an hour philosophy is good as well. Everybody is different, but once you've grown up some, you should really start knowing how you handle it as well.

[StrangeSox]

While I enjoyed the ability to enter the bars (and drink) while I was 19 & 20, I always thought it made no sense to let us in underage. I did contribute $260 to the Champaign government fund after a raid at C.O. Daniels.

My sophomore roommate turned to selling pot to raise funds for his drinking tickets.

[witesoxfan]

My sophomore roommate turned to selling pot to raise funds for his drinking tickets.

 

Good to see the system of giving out drinking tickets kept the streets safer and cleaner.

[G&T]

Just kinda throwing this out for fun, but being a beer snob has proven very helpful. These days, it's really common for people to come in and say "I only had two beers" or whatever. Making defendants show what beers they were drinking by name to get the alcohol concentration is really helpful to block a curve argument. Police are getting savvier about that too. Meanwhile most people still don't realize that beer is much higher in alcohol than it used to be. So they have their 3-4 beers and are totally messed up because they were 8%.

[iamshack]

Just kinda throwing this out for fun, but being a beer snob has proven very helpful. These days, it's really common for people to come in and say "I only had two beers" or whatever. Making defendants show what beers they were drinking by name to get the alcohol concentration is really helpful to block a curve argument. Police are getting savvier about that too. Meanwhile most people still don't realize that beer is much higher in alcohol than it used to be. So they have their 3-4 beers and are totally messed up because they were 8%.

G&T...I've seen you mention this a few times now...what is the curve argument?

[Steve9347]

Which is worse...rough estimates for alcohol processing by a normal body, or quoting John Mayer?

I LOL'd.

 

The latter. Clearly.

[G&T]

G&T...I've seen you mention this a few times now...what is the curve argument?

 

A curve argument refers to the rise and fall of BAC levels. Tracked on a graph, it's sort of a bell curve. The argument is that at the time of operation a person had just finished drinking and had unabsorbed alcohol in their system. Driver is stopped, does the field tests, goes to the station, blows. In all that time, the BAC has risen as the alcohol is absorbed. So if someone blows a .15 in WI they will have an ignition interlock on their car. The defense will argue that BAC was rising so at the time of the stop, he was at a .14.

 

This seems like an easy argument but it isn't. The stop would really have to occur within 30 mins or so (dependent in part on food consumption) of consuming the last drink. Eliminating alcohol takes longer than absorbing. It's far more likely that a person is on the way down rather than rising. Most defendants won't have a good memory of what they drank anyway.