Methodwriter85's Blog

 

Currently, more than 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits set at 0.05 or lower, the safety board said.

 

 

You know, if you want to have four drinks, have four drinks. Just don't get behind the wheel of a car. In fact, if you have one drink, don't drive. That would be perfectly responsible behavior.

I'm not against lowering the BAC limit in theory, but I think in practice it won't solve anything. People are still going to get behind a wheel and drive impaired, regardless of whether its .08 or .05. It will absolutely lead to more arrests, but will it stop drunk driving? I doubt it. And its another form of control by the government that does no measurable good to solve a serious problem. 

I'm against a single drink and driving! I was almost killed by a drunk driver, and ended up with bad enough injuries that I'm in pain every single day. For once, the drunk paid the ultimate price during the accident and he died instead of me or my husband, but there is never, ever, any excuse to drink and drive. I enjoy alcohol, so it's not that I'm against drinking in general; I just don't think people need to put others at risk when they make poor decisions and that's exactly what driving while impaired, even 'just a little buzzed', does.

 

That being said, while I agree it won't stop people from driving impaired, maybe it will make those who think it's okay to drink a little and drive lose their licenses just that much faster. Though, in an ideal situation, anyone that blew any measurable alcohol after being pulled over would lose their licenses completely. I know that seems a bit extreme, but it only takes being trapped in a car for over an hour while being cut out, worrying the whole time and moving your toes just to make sure you can even with a broken hip and shattered femur, to make me a pretty firm advocate for sobriety while operating machinery that has such potential for tragedy.

That being said, while I agree it won't stop people from driving impaired, maybe it will make those who think it's okay to drink a little and drive lose their licenses just that much faster. Though, in an ideal situation, anyone that blew any measurable alcohol after being pulled over would lose their licenses completely. I know that seems a bit extreme, but it only takes being trapped in a car for over an hour while being cut out, worrying the whole time and moving your toes just to make sure you can even with a broken hip and shattered femur, to make me a pretty firm advocate for sobriety while operating machinery that has such potential for tragedy.

 

Its funny, because my mom said literally almost the same exact thing when we saw it on ABC World News. Are you sure all women don't think alike?

Laws can change social attitudes. Which in turn changes social behaviour - which is the desired outcome. Take seat belt laws - people resisted like crazy and resented being made to wear them. But everyone now knows they save lives and everyone wears them without complaint.
Same with drink drive. It used to be a macho thing to get legless before getting behind the wheel - friends would encourage you to "have one more for the road" - but now the only people who do that are those with a serious drink problem. So it's not the principle of drink driving law that people have issues with it's where is it reasonable to set the limit. And that's a can of worms because everyone metabolises booze differently - some people get buzzed on a bag of wine gums