Beer and Drunk Driving

One last thought and I'm done: be wary of inexpensive breathalyzers as determinative. In my state the police use, for breath tests, gas chromatography, and of course blood tests are analyzed by certified labs or the CDPHE (Colorado Dept of Public Health & Environment) using state of the art equipment, low uncertainty, high confidence factor, etc. Inexpensive instruments can give widely varying results; even the officially sanctioned PBT (preliminary breath test) the cops give you if you consent (don't consent BTW) which costs a bunch more than what you and I can buy anywhere, is inadmissible for any purpose other than in a motions hearing determining whether he had probable cause to arrest you, because of its acknowledged unreliability. The results cannot be revealed to the jury determining guilt or innocence.

 

My DWI was expensive in Texas in 2000. Two years of probation. I was a good boy. When I met my wife she was always willing to drink and drive but not me. 18 years later I'm called a beer snob. Now I keep it local and 3 is my limit of 'regular' beers like Maine Beer Company's "Lunch" . But when Mary's driving...??? Seriously though, 3 Lunches is enough in any situation. I'm thankful for all the Advocates who took the time to get me some of that great beer down here in Texas all the way from Maine.

 

Isn't the unofficial state motto of Texas "Come on vacation, leave on probation"?

Have heard many stories.....

 

I'm with you, sir. I do not drink and drive at all. My wife doesn't drink so I do have a DD in most instances. If she isn't there to drive I'm not drinking.

 

@LarryV Question for the two of you. Just out of curiosity, are you saying that you never go someplace, have a single blue moon or AAL or some ~ 5-6% beer, have a meal, and 2-3 hours later drive home?

I’ve been more restrictive than most anyone in my life, and for years, even when I was alone, the rule was if I had to drive I never had 1 drop of Alcohol. At some point that seemed like it became excessive. Now, again, let’s say I am out of town for work, I go to a Long Horn, I have a blue moon, have a meal, 2 hours later I want to go back to my hotel. My body has obviously processed that single beer completely, and I am stone sober.

Are you both saying that even in that instance you won’t drive, or are you saying something else?

 

Thanks to my Japanese genes, I get drunk quicker and stay that way longer. Face flush, restricted airways: the whole sha-bang. Thanks to this, my limit is typically a single beer if it’s lighter or half a heavy beer. I’ll drink a couple of glasses of water with it, eat food, and sit around for hours after. It’s a whole affair. This is why I opt to have my girlfriend DD for me. I’ve also taken Lyft to Bottle Logic once while in the LA area, but generally I’m cheap enough to skip beer entirely if it means not paying for it.

 

Since I live outside of town, and my favorite breweries are in downtown, I moderate.

• I really like breweries that do half pours, not tasters
• I don't drink anything over 6.5, seems to hit harder
• I don't drink fast

When everyone has left me at home, I will usually drive downtown (Houston) to a brewery. I tend to go for the more quiet breweries where I can read my kindle, or watch a show on my tablet. I know this sounds like a blast to some of you, but to me it is nice to just have some time to myself. When downtown with the wife I drive almost 98% of the time so it is usually 2 beers, low abv pale or pilsner and one IPA at 6.5 or less stretched over 2 or 3 hours.

When I travel, I tend to say within walking distance of where I will be going and drinking, that is why I love Tulsa so much, several great breweries and all within walking distance. We tend to plan our vacations and weekend trips where we will be in walking distance of most things, and the walking helps burn off some of those calories .

 

If I'm driving I don't drink. I can get by with a sweet tea now and then. If I ain't driving, game on.

 

Fair enough. I guess what I was getting at is whether or not there is a timeframe you have to get past. What if you’re at a business event, but you know you won’t be leaving dor 4 hours. Will you have a beer then?

I’m curious for my own reference as someone that used to be the exact person you are describing, but over time I have softened to something that still makes perfect sense, and still fits my determination that I don’t feel like I have had any alcohol, and I know that I have metabolized anything I consumed.

 

Usually try to uber/lift or have someone else drive but if I'm driving (usually it's just to pick up beer) I only have one beer and keep it to something 4-6% or a 5oz taster of something high abv. If I'm going to be somewhere 3+ hours MAYBE I'll have a second

 

My buddy got a dui and he said he felt fine. Had drinks many hours before picking up his wife from the airport. On the way home he got busted. What he learned was that our tolerance is high. As you said would blow above the legal limit but feel fine. This always concerns me.

I will be the first to admit that I probably drive when I shouldn’t. Not wasted or even drunk but going to a brewery and having a few ipas before driving home. The good news is I rarely go to bars or breweries. When going out for dinner my wife is the DD, she doesn’t drink. Any time I know or plan on have too many I always Uber.

the challenge is those times, let’s say I am im LA for work and find myself near Highland park. The only reason I am in the area is for work. So I try to just have a couple and get some stuff to bring home. I am married with kids so most of my drinking is at home or with friends at their house. But it’s definitely something I always try to keep top of mind.

 

I seldom find myself in those situations, I will usually plan things out based on the availability of someone else to drive. I hear what you're saying, but having a beer in a restaurant isn't something I need to do, besides, being diabetic I rarely go to restaurants. For me I don't find it excessively restrictive, though I can understand how you could feel that way.

 

Have (unfortunately) driven blasted many times in my youth (late teens/early 20s), now I have less of a tolerance for anyone that does it.... like the anger I feel when someone is on their phone while driving and not paying attention and being careless. I limit myself to a beer at a restaurant on date night nowadays... one and done.

It helps if you have a couple in-laws who are detectives/traffic cops and have various breathalyzer gadgets that can stop people if they're going overboard as well.

 

I Uber/Lyft everywhere, cost is more or less irrelevant to me. Although it's honestly not too bad. Maybe $20-50 for a night overall depending on how far, and how many Ubers I'm taking.

I also walk more than most normal human beings. Just last week I walked nearly six miles (12 round trip) to the Trillium Beer Garden in downtown Boston.

I frequently run/take the bus 5 miles away to the Notch brewery too. On weekends I just walk the whole thing.

Great way to sober up between breweries too...oh and burn off those craft beer calories I just consumed.

 

I find myself in a lot of situations for work where everyone has a beer, and it's always in the 5-6% general range, so just a normal pour. And then a couple hours later, everyone leaves. I'm stuck in the unenviable position of making the choice of clearly being the outsider, and looking like one, and getting excommunicated, shall we say, if I either say I won't drink since I have to drive in 2 hours, or getting an uber. When I say work, I don't mean coworkers either, I mean clients.

So, while my position used to be 'never a drop,' it's now become, 'what makes sense, what is 100% safe?'

I've never met another person (face to face) that has the same paranoia that I do when it comes to having a drink and then driving.

When I am out of town for a conference, I always try to plan my hotel around where I expect we'll have drinks rather than what is necessarily the most convenient for the conference. If I am out for a training instead, I try to plan my stay around someplace I would like to have a drink. Usually for those trips I choose whiskey, but that's because I'm never in a beer city, so instead I try to find a unicorn I otherwise will never sample (but only if at a reasonable price).

 

My rule of thumb has been to either keep it to one beer while out or two if it's the lightest stuff. If there's heavier stuff I want to try, I get it to go if possible,

Another great way to make sure you don't drink enough at a brewery to get impaired is to have a two-year-old! She's entertained enough for us to have a beer, but that's about it.

 

You are correct on all points. Nothing you can buy will be admissible in court.
My suggestion was so a person can get a ballpark idea of how they are affected by alcohol. Have a few beers at home then test yourself. Most people are surprised to discover that they don't feel drunk even though they are over the legal limit.

I did STOP-DWI enforcement both before and after the change.
There is a lot of money involved in stopping drunk driving and lowering the BAC threshold from .10 to .08 was due as much to the success of .10 enforcement and the resulting DWI awareness as it was to highway safety.
Most police officers weren't in favor of dropping it from .10 to .08.
Unless you stop a professional drunk a person at .10 or above is obviously too intoxicated to be driving, that driver likely knows he shouldn't be behind the wheel, he is a hazard to other drivers, has probably been stopped for a dangerous violation, and the penalties are justified. A DWI arrest at that level is an easy call to make.
At .08 it becomes much more of a judgment call. There is a good chance the driver honestly thought he was below the limit and he may have been stopped because the license plate light was out or he didn't signal a right hand turn. DWI arrests were no longer so clean cut. Drivers who once would have been issued a ticket and allowed to call for a ride were now arrested.

 

Along those lines, I heard from a NY State Trooper "back in the old days if a guy hit a deer,
we called a tow truck and the driver was on his merry way, now if we have the same incident and have reason to suspect alcohol we test and arrest, if above the legal limit. No breaks given, even if you wrecked your car hitting a deer you couldn't avoid."

 

It seems like many of you are fine with taking chances. But I've had great experience with Uber over the last several years. The only time I'll drive is if my main priority is dinner (most likely a heavy one), knowing I'll probably have a couple drinks (in the <6% range) with it.

If my intent is to hit a brewery with minimal or no food, it's Uber or bust. No debate.