• silverwhisper said on Jul 15, 2008....

  i don't recall what the limit is where i live, but i believe it amounts to 1 drink in your system is safe, more than that yields a ticket.
  
  and honestly, i think that's a good thing. there's a lot of underage drinking in the states, and it's dangerous to other people.
  
  we do a lot of driving here in the US: moreso probably than most nations, truth be told. so something going in with driving has a disproportionately large impact.
  
  ed

• Lucytorial said on Jul 15, 2008....

  Absolutely, my mistake was thinking that a three course meal four champagnes over 8 hours was okay, they say here for females its one drink in the first hour and one every hour after that, now I was stupid enough to do it in the first place but really! ... I've seen too many accidents, I don't understand why the limit is so high!

• silverwhisper said on Jul 15, 2008....

  OK, what you described sounds to me like it should be OK, i have to say! WTF?!
  
  ed

• wombat said on Jul 15, 2008....

  I don't know the legal limits here, or from back home where I met hubby, but he sure did cure me of drinking and driving.  He would get up out of bed to go get me something if I wanted it, just to keep me from going after it.  He doesn't drink, and I do occasionally.  He used to, so he knows....
   
  He told me when we got together, one rule is--no drinking and driving!
   
  I don't do it to this day.

• Lucytorial said on Jul 16, 2008....

  Soulcast ate my comment!

  Ed ~ You have completely misunderstood me, I am trying to express the opposite.  I'd like to see the levels at zero not just here but elsewhere as well, its not okay at all, when I got done I was over ten years younger than I am now, young stupid and naive enough to take a chance with not just my lfie but others as well.

  Wombat ~ I haven't done it since, if hubby and I are in a situation where we are both having a drink we cab it or stay in town.

• silverwhisper said on Jul 16, 2008....

  whoa---WTF? OK, i'm obviously not understanding you correctly. ?
  
  ed

• quietone said on Jul 16, 2008....

  I think it is .08 here in VT, but the law is too lax about letting people off the hook.  I also agree that .zero would be a good number!  That will never happen though, unfortunately.  Alcohol is a pretty sore subject with me, as I concider it a "drug" of choice and should be out lawed just as any other drug like meth, pot etc.  It ruins lives, and takes lives.  I also will not be one to hide the fact that I I was a big offender of this myself in my younger years.  To think back and realize that I could have killed someone with my driving so drunk.. Thank God I do not drink any more.  I mean, some people are caught DUI for the 3rd time and still get their lisence privilage back!!!

• woman said on Jul 16, 2008....

  I'm not sure what the limit is here but it is low. More than one drink and you would be ticketed, I'm quite sure. I was pleased to see you all feeling so strongly about not drinking and driving. I think people, on the whole, are more aware of the dangers but there are plenty of people who still don't think it applies to them.

• uniquely-ironic said on Jul 16, 2008....

  The level in CA is 0.08% for a DUI arrest.  I've seen large numbers of people with excess of that drive better than when sober, but I've also seen many under that limit drive like shit.
   
  My personal rule is one drink the entire evening with food.  When possible I like to have a designated driver.  I have been guilty of driving drunk when I was much younger.  I look back now and think of just how lucky I was not to have been caught and certainly lucky never to have been injured or injured someone else.

• vacantmind said on Jul 16, 2008....

  I don't drink outside of my house. On the rare occasion that I do and I do mean rare..I won't drive. I don't drink much anyway. Usually just holidays with family...maybe a glass of wine. Nothing more.

  The legal limit is .08 here. I'm not sure lowering it would do that much good. I think the majority of drinking adults don't drink and drive. I think the majority of the offenders are either really young or those struggling with alcoholism. Either way if it is was .05 or .08 they would still exceed that limit.

• cuppajava said on Jul 16, 2008....

  Hi,
  I know that i live in SA but the legal limit over here is 0.8.But you would be surprised how many people ignore it.That amounts to 3 beers in this country.The guys that have been caught DUI have been tapped at over 3 times the limit.Especially long distance truck drivers - figure that out ?
  

• Eilan said on Jul 16, 2008....

  I was doing a little digging, and it looks like .08 is the legal limit in pretty much all 50 states.  As I said in that other blog entry, a lot of states have lowered their legal limits (Ohio's used to be .10) in the past few years.  It's connected to the federal highway dollars they receive, much like seat-belt laws.
  
  I do think that some people might be okay to drive at .08, whereas others would be impaired after one drink and still be under the limit.  I rarely drink outside my home, and when I do, I'm never the driver.  My husband will drive after one beer, but that's it.
  
  It drives me crazy to read newspaper articles about people who have been arrested for their 10th DUI.  Why are they even on the road in the first place?
  
  The worst fatal crash my husband ever investigated involved a three-year-old boy who was decapitated in front of his family by a drunken 19-year-old going 90+ mph.
  

• Lucytorial said on Jul 16, 2008....

  This has been great guys, thanks everyone for the comments.  Eilan ~ I would never want to see that happen.

  Here with any learning driver even P platers its zero so that the young ones learn early not to drink and drive. I see a problem though in society where people still think its okay even after one drink.... mostly its the young ones like myself years ago who flouted the laws and idea.

• RollingC said on Jul 16, 2008....

  Gosh, I don't know what to say.   I used to have a drinking problem that I developed in Paraguay when I worked for a distributor of alcoholic beverages.  Sorta like a work hazard you know? Down there drinking and driving was never really a problem (until lately with all the youngsters doing it) and I sadly admit that I drove for a good couple of years (at least) absolutely drunk more than half the time and I only had two fender-benders. 
  One was not my fault and it happened while I was completely sober. And the other while doing a U-turn completely drunk and without a seat belt in which I got disoriented and climbed the curb of the median...did not hit the tree....and something clicked in my mind and I went from drunk to sober in the snap of your fingers.  The curb damaged the tire rim but didn't give me a flat although I could later touch the inner tube with my finger.
  I think my Guardian Angel has a wall full of medals somewhere in Heaven for keeping me out of serious trouble in my life up until now.
  I really don't know what the alcohol level is exactly but I can tell you proudly that now I can walk into any bar...have one drink....then stop and walk away whereas before I couldn't stop until I got wasted.
  The only zero tolerance that I know of is for the truck drivers....they get caught with even one drop of alcohol in their system and they lose their license....on top of whatever fines or consequences there might be.
  I don't know about other States but here in Florida that's how it is for truckers.
  Rc

• Lucytorial said on Jul 17, 2008....

  RC thanks for commenting, its the same for commercial drivers here as well, they also do regular drug tests and truck stops for things that keep them awake.

  It seems t be a younger age group to me, like myself RC I snapped, I just felt stupid and realised it just wasn't worth it.  now more often than not I'm the driver which I enjoy, its far nicer to sit on my balcony with a wine good friends and conversation than sit in a bar and get blotto!

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