Originally Posted By: javacontour
Do you understand how this works? I weigh 225# I can drink one beer/hour and my body will metabolize the alcohol nearly as fast as I drink it. It would take 75 hours of drinking at that pace to hit the legal limit.
If I drank 1/hour for 24 hours, my projected BAC would be 0.024% or less than 1/3 of the legal limit in the US and still less than Shannow's legal limit of 0.05%
The adult male who has two drinks over a two hour restaurant visit, or three beers during a three hour tip to the baseball game is likely not anywhere close to impared.
The typical adult male can metabolize one drink/hour. A good rule of thumb for women is 1/2 that. A 115# woman will hit 0.045 BAC after two glasses of wine during that two hour dinner. Her date, 0.002 BAC if he's a 225# male.
Now if you are going to a beer pong tournament, don't drive, get a driver, etc. But if you can pace yourself to one drink/hour as a man and 1/2 a drink/hour as a woman, you are not likely a danger to society behind the wheel.
If you can't monitor, pace or control your consumption, then I agree, make arrangements to stay the night, take a cab, arrange a DD. But if that's a recurrent theme in your life, perhaps you should give up alcohol totally. If you find you are repeatedly in situations where you are not safe to drive, then you may have a problem with alcohol.
Like everything else, YMMV.
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: Tom NJ
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
I have zero tolerance for anyone who takes even one drink and then drives. No excuse for it. If you will get behind the wheel leave the booze alone and that includes just 1 glass of wine at diner. Again, no excuse for it.
So you are suggesting we all have to drink only at home? And if we have guests over we should not serve any alcohol? And we should have to walk to bars and restaurants? Moderate drinking is a perfectly normal social behavior, has been for thousands of years, and provides great enhancement to life, not to mention health. The problem is drinking
too much.
According to the online blood alcohol calculators, a man my size can enjoy two glasses of wine over a one and a half hour dinner out and my blood alcohol level would be only 0.17%, less than 1/4th the legal DWI limit, and less than half the "impaired" level. This does not make me dangerous on the road, in fact I can argue I drive better when a bit relaxed. I have been enjoying a couple of glasses of wine with dinner virtually every night for over 40 years and never had an accident or even a ticket after drinking.
The important question in my mind is whether government authorities have the right to stop and search ordinary citizens without any probable cause whatsoever. The catch-all excuse of "for the public safety" is far too broad and vague to justify violating our rights under the forth amendment, and can be used to rationalize just about any such intrusive activity.
Tom NJ
No, I am suggesting if you are going to drink do not get behind the wheel and drive after. If that means drinking at home fine. It can also mean a designated driver. If you want to drink then drink. I pass no judgment and never said people can't drink who wish to. Just do it responsibly. You can't drink responsibly and drive right after. Sorry, can't be done.
There haven't been automobiles for thousands of years so your using that to justify it as you did doesn't work. I could care less if someone gets drunk and jumps on their horse. Getting drunk( or just drinking "moderately" as you put it )and then getting behind the wheel of a car though is a whole different thing.
Again if you drink and then drive I find that wrong and IMO the person should face stiff consequences if caught. I didn't say if you drink it is wrong though. Lots of ways to enjoy your alcoholic beverages and not drive.
Yes, I know there are formulas to determine when a person should be influenced by the amount of alcohol consumed. They are not 100% accurate though. Some people are knocked for a loop by just 1 beer or glass of wine while others could drain a keg and be fine. The effects don't always coincide with a person's size either. One small drink for me and I am gone for a couple hours and I am near 2X's your weight. Alcohol content in the drink matters too. Some beers/wine/hard liquors are stronger than others. Do you expect people to figure in the alcohol content as well when they are monitoring their intake and pacing themselves(
)?
Your mathematical formulas don't invalidate my point/opinion.
You yourself use words like typical, projected, pace yourself, etc... So it is not bullet proof science and it relies on self control as well. That is just what I want, a person drinking being asked to control and monitor their intake. That is as nuts as them driving.
I am sorry but IMO if you will drive after drinking any alcoholic beverage you are irresponsible. Just lay off the hooch. It isn't hard unless you are an alcoholic. No one will die if you skip a beer at the game or skip that wine or cocktail with dinner. Have those drinks though, and then drive, and someone "could" die or be seriously injured.
Try and defend driving after drinking all you wish. You can speak of moderation, self control, this or that formula, etc... Doesn't mean a thing. Just the drinking man's excuse to drink and then drive.
I really think opinions like yours are so common because so many people drink. They don't want to give it up/limit it for any reason at any time so they come up with reasons to justify it that others who drink will fall for. To me these arguments are just excuses. Others have the right to disagree. I just hope I am not on the road with them after dinner or a game.
