Teen killed after picking up first car, hit by wrong-way driver on I-5

[capt. apathy]

I don't know (and when I see cases like this don't care) how much it would cost to implement.  but what I'd like to see is a drinking license.

you show your ID when you go drinking everyone gets carded no matter how old.
you get a DUI you lose your drinking license (maybe 10 yrs first offence).
you get drunk and act like an ass, tear up someones property you lose you license for a few years.
if your license is suspended and your blood alcohol level shows you've had anything to drink, you lose your license forever and some serriouse jail time

you sell or give alcohol to anyone without a license (except parents to there own kids who haven't had a license taken away) you lose your license for life.

the above punishments should go with the jail time, not instead of it.


drunk driving is a drinking problem not a driving problem.

most habitual drunk drivers cause more problems while drinking than just their driving, they also seem to be the ones that come home drunk and slap their wife around or have the 3am screaming match on the front lawn

I know a couple habitual drunk drivers(neighbors & co-workers).  they all drive anyway. one hasn't had a license since he was 17 (near 40 now)and it doesn't stop him from driving.  

so taking away driving privalages doesn't really mean anything.  if they aren't bothered by driving drunk then driving without a license doesn't mean anything.

btw-  one important thing I tell my kid about avoiding accidents on the road.  try not to look at the problem ahead (in this case the drunk going the wrong way).  but look for the safe way around the problem.  most people especialy new drivers will automaticly stear tward whatever they are looking at.  it's almost impossable to stear around a problem while staring at it.

[AKWeav]

I heard that the girl killed had not yet gotten a drivers licence. Having just purchased the car for her upcomming 18th birthday, she was following her father home.

[SOB]

I did a little digging to find out exactly what .08 is.  For some reason I thought it was 2 beers.  Also for some reason, this was hard to find until I got the right site.  I found info that said anything from 2 beers to 4 beers for a 160lb male and most sites didn't say anything about how much ... just expounded facts and figures about why .08 is a good limit (and a few that said it wasn't low enough).  Anyhow, this would seem to be a good source:

http://www.ncadd.com/08/charts.cfm


SOB

[funkedup]

.08 is bull****, which is why I hate drunk driving laws.  Punish people for bad driving and crashing, not for drinking.

[hawk220]

Funked

does that mean if someone can drink up to a 1.10 and still drive safely they should be allowed to?

[SOB]

I think so.  Frankly, if a dead person can manage to get behind the wheel of a car and drive, I say we let them!


SOB

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by SOB
I think so.  Frankly, if a dead person can manage to get behind the wheel of a car and drive, I say we let them!


SOB

Thats how you got your license, right?

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ooops! Sorry, I confused "Brain dead" with "Dead"

[hawk220]

you hear now and again someone who says 'I can drink all night and drive just fine'.. I suppose people like that exist, tho I've never seen one.

I've also read stats that say on any given night, some percentage of folks on the road, like 10% or something is under the influence of something and 10% aren't crashing, so who knows?

[Eagler]

Originally posted by funkedup
.08 is bull****, which is why I hate drunk driving laws.  Punish people for bad driving and crashing, not for drinking.

main problem with alcohol, compared to most other drugs - one does not know how fried they are until the next morning - especially the "expert" drinkers ... ie the drunk driver doesn't think/know they are "driving bad" until they "crash" or a cop informs them.

ANY alcohol is too much if one is expects to get behind the wheel and drive on a public roadway IMO.

My lawyer would be talkin to the owners of the Oasis Bar and Grill.
The establishments need to be more responsible in their serving of alcohol, not just how many $8 drinks they can cram down some drunks throat ... as the drunk cannot make a sober decision.

edit:
"found beer bottles in the car" - would get the bar of the hook - this time.

[boxboy28]

well here in Michigan the dropped the impared to .06 drunk is now .08  
used to be .08 was impared and .1 was drunk.

[john9001]

what kind of testing was done to arrive at the .06 and .08 numbers?

[SOB]

I've got no problem driving with two drinks in me, and that's where I draw the line for myself.  I think a .00 limit would be rediculous.


SOB

[Eagler]

Originally posted by SOB
I've got no problem driving with two drinks in me, and that's where I draw the line for myself.  I think a .00 limit would be rediculous.


SOB

no matter what?

no matter how much you have eaten or not eaten?

no matter how tired/awake you are?

no matter what you may have been doing the past few hours before you drank?

how bout road conditions? weather? time of day?

this is exactly the problem - can't go by that, though we all think so, especially when you are a drinker - I did. So did my brother ...

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Steve
"4-lane highway - 2 lanes going your way, 2 lanes going the opposite way. You're in the left lane following a truck or van, toodling along at a safe speed. Meanwhile, in front of that van is a vehicle that's completely stopped waiting to turn left. The van drives right up to the back of the stopped vehicle, then changes lanes at the last second, leaving you to scream into the back of the stopped vehicle that you didn't see because of the van.

Vehicle ahead of you is turning left into a parking lot. You're behind it and you want to follow it into the parking lot, too. There's a pause in the oncoming traffic so the vehicle in front of you turns across the traffic into the ramp of the parking lot. You proceed to turn left, too, thinking the car ahead of you will pull on in. Instead, the car ahead of you stops at the ramp and scans for open parking spaces instead of driving forward, leaving you broadside to oncoming traffic. "

You are reponsible for your own vehicle.  In both cases, there is no one to blame but yourself.  "You" assumed and made bad decisions.  These drivers didn't "hang you out to dry" you made foolish choices.

Exactly.  These types of scenarios aren't something most new drivers have learned.  Even older drivers fall into the trap of the first scenario sometimes.  Being able to anticipate and react to a sudden situation can be learned.

Back to the story: if the father had time to dodge out of the way, did the daughter who was behind him?  Was she "looking ahead" of the vehicle in front of her?

[capt. apathy]

Back to the story: if the father had time to dodge out of the way, did the daughter who was behind him? Was she "looking ahead" of the vehicle in front of her?

not necessarily,  you should follow close enough to handle the car in front of you stopping without warning, or having him change lanes and surprise you with something in the road.

 but a car coming at you at your same speed halves the amount of time you have to react.  basically it's like having a safe distance for 60mph and then suddenly finding yourself closing on the problem at 120mph.  add to that the surprise of the situation and a new driver who was likely stunned by the situation.  she probably had no time to react at all by the time she registered exactly what was happening