Drink/Drunk/Drunken Driving

[Gavin]

I don't drive.

However, when I'm drunk I know for a fact it makes me an amazing dancer, like, literally the best in the world.

Going by this logic, I'd be an amazing driver after a bottle of 3 of wine.

Seriously, no excuse. There just isn't, and I don't care who tries to "justify" it and why.

 

[Will]

I was 10 months sober by the time I finally passed my driving test, so my answer's obvious - though I may well have failed at least one test while... hungover

If I DID (god forbid) still drink, I reckon I'd probably fall into the morning after trap (I was going to point that out to one or two people who, in between preaching, I know for a fact are guilty...). The following morning, you want to get home to recover, not be stuck wherever you are still feeling like death. Not that I'm condoning it at all for reasons outlined above, I'm just saying that's more forgivable.

Driving tired or on not enough sleep though - now that's a grey area, and one most of us are probably guilty of - I've usually reached the end of the A51 in the morning before I'm properly awake at the moment :?

 

[kimahri]

the excuse "I drive better drunk".

People actually use that?!

 

[nadroJ]

^Yeah, definitely. It's the false sense of confidence thing and the point Gavin was trying to make with his 'I dance better drunk' comment ;]

I'd say there is definitely a difference between driving drunk and driving hungover from the night before. Yes, you may technically still be over the limit but you don't feel all silly and drunk and unable to focus (ie, the key thing you need to drive haha) when you're hungover, nor do you still have the false sense of confidence that is arguably the main reason by drink driving so often ends in crashes (because people pull out into gaps you usually would judge as too dangerous, etc).

It's when people get in their car and drive to the pub/club/wherever already with the intention of driving home after drinking. Absolute insanity. Especially when they decide they're going to take all of their friends home too.

Luckily I live pretty close to town and don't actually drink OR drive all that often anyway, so I rarely find myself in this kind of predicament.

Driving tired is scary, I've fallen asleep driving a few times </3 Like, for a split second and literally veered away from the road. I guess that's what you get when you refuse to drink coffee or energy drinks <//3

 

[tks]

I think the only time I've knowingly driven whilst probably over the limit was coming home from Manchester after a drink with a friend, I had a pint of strong cider, followed by half a pint a couple of hours later. But I went through a red light without even noticing the traffic lights! Luckily it was about 2am and there was no traffic/police/traffic cameras!!

After that I don't tend to even have half a pint if i'm driving. Luckily I don't actually own my own car so it's rare that I drive anywhere I might be drinking which allows me to get absolutely plastered and get a lift/taxi home. <3


At uni I used to drink-drive on a bicycle quite a lot after house parties when I lived a good 40 minute walk out of Kingston and there weren't any night buses to my house. I pedalled into a ditch once and spent a good 5 minutes lying there in agony before peeling myself off the ground and trudging home. :lol:

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Driving tired is scary, I've fallen asleep driving a few times </3 Like, for a split second and literally veered away from the road. I guess that's what you get when you refuse to drink coffee or energy drinks <//3

I agree, just as bad as drunk driving in my opinion, and I have also dozed off a few times at the wheel. If I'm going on long journeys, I always need another person in the car to keep me awake.

 

[Antinos]

I've never driven drunk. Living on a small campus really helps since we can walk everywhere, and if we go to one of the farther out frats, we'll get a sober drive. Even if I am back home and have a car with me, I usually have arrangements to stay the night. I've heard too many stories about people driving drunk, getting into car accidents and killing people, and I don't want to be one of those people even if it is only a slight chance.

 

[Ian]

I've never driven drunk but I've driven with alchol in my system.

In the good ol' days when me and my mates would go to the pub at least four nights a week, I'd have one beer if it was my turn to drive. I'll never have more than one low % beer if driving, sometimes none at all.

Nowadays if I'm driving on a night out, I won't drink. I'm terrified of losing my driving licence (read: freedom) and the financial consequences of being caught.

However, I will drive the morning after if I feel compos mentis enough to do so. I like to think I've got enough sense to know when I'm "safe" to drive.

 

[Hixee]

I've never driven drunk directly (by that I mean the same night), but I have driven home the morning after a drinking session. I had heard about how much alcohol stays in your system afterwards, but I don't think I ever really realised quite how much. That's entirely my own fault of course, for never having looked this up!

As much as this is wrong (if you're over the limit you're over the limit, end of), I do (for some reason) see it differently. I'm struggling to think why, but I do. I suspect seeing these stats will change my opinion of driving the morning after but - and I'm not just saying this - I'm blessed with being one of those people who sobers up (not just not getting a hangover) quickly. Now obviously, how you feel doesn't dictate whether you're over the limit or not, but as everyone processes alcohol differently you must have to use some sort of personal measure. How much more can you do than that, except breathalyzing yourself every morning? :?

Incidentally, one of my old school friends has a big farm on the outskirts of Bristol and every year we go up there for a massive piss-up. There's an insane amount of booze, massive fires, he has a big pool with roofs and stuff to jump from, quadbikes, motorbikes, bangers like... the works. I've driven one of his bangers around on his top field when I've been completely hammered and it's actually terrifying. I must have been around as drunk as that guy that Jordan stopped the other day, but even in a completely danger-free (with regards to hurting someone) environment it really did shock me how little control I had over the car. I guess that's been the biggest thing that's made me realise it's really REALLY stupid to go anywhere near a car when you're drunk.

So yeah, I'm sure I've done it, but never on purpose. I have no tolerance for people who do it 'actively', and what I've done is wrong (if I've been over the limit), and maybe I'll think differently about it now. Then again, when I'm at Uni this is never an issue and when I'm at home I'm nearly always picked up and dropped off (same night or morning after) so...

 

[furie]

As much as this is wrong (if you're over the limit you're over the limit, end of), I do (for some reason) see it differently. I'm struggling to think why, but I do. I suspect seeing these stats will change my opinion of driving the morning after...

I can tell you that 1 in 5 arrests for drink driving is "morning after". However, there aren't any statistics (I could find anyway) that show how many deaths/accidents are due to morning after drink driving. I'm sure that it happens, but the statistics are light.

You're right, how do you tell? Do you breathalyse yourself? I certainly couldn't tell you if at 10:00 a.m. the following morning I was half a unit over the limit or not. Part of the issue is that the alcohol in your blood is still affecting you, even if you seem on an even keel. Your reactions are still dulled, decision making is impaired and even worse, the part of your brain that makes judgements on how you feel is a wreck. You can't actually say "I'm fine to drive", because that bit is still under the influence. You will lose the "aggressive" factor though, and will likely have more control of your limbs. Does it make you safe? No, but I doubt you're much more unsafe than a lot of the stupid drivers on the road

 

[Venom2053]

I never have. Some of my friends have, but I try to get them not to. My rule of thumb is that if i'm drinking at all then I won't be driving. My friends and I try to assign a different DD every night we go out, it just doesn't always workout that way. I have however driven when I was very stoned before, though I really didn't feel impaired at all.

 

[walker1104]

Like most people on here, I've never driven home drunk on the same night as drinking, but I have done it the next morning. I never realised how much alcohol stayed in your system though! But most of the time, you feel fine to drive the day after, even though technically you're not.