Damnit! Don't Drink and Drive!

[Gatekeeper]

Why? I'll tell you why: One of my sister's friends — all of 17 years old — was killed early Saturday morning because she was in a vehicle being driven by a drunken driver. All three had been drinking. The jeep flipped; none of them were wearing seat belts, and all three were thrown from the vehicle.

She's dead. Her 16-year-old boyfriend is in a coma, and the driver, an 18-year-old, screwed up his back and might be paralyzed.

To reiterate: Damnit! Don't drink and drive! All it does is create a lifetime of sorrow and what-might-have-beens.

Gatekeeper

[KrazyHorse]

Drinking and driving

Yesterday I knew I was going to be drinking, so I walked 40 minutes to a friend's house and 40 minutes back.

All it takes is a little bit of planning and a willingness to endure a little bit of inconvenience to avoid the chance of ruining somebody's life due to a selfish, dangerous decision.

[KrazyHorse]

****. Speaking of which, I just noticed that I have a half-empty pack of cigarettes on my bookshelf. I must have smoked last night

[Gatekeeper]

Yeah, my sister's taking it pretty hard. She's going to go to the funeral ...

[Bill3000]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
****. Speaking of which, I just noticed that I have a half-empty pack of cigarettes on my bookshelf. I must have smoked last night

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
****. Speaking of which, I just noticed that I have a half-empty pack of cigarettes on my bookshelf. I must have smoked last night

That's not a good habit to pick up.

JM

[Agathon]

The moral of this story is never get in a car with a drunk driver. I never did.

[DaShi]

Did you ever let someone you knew was drunk drive?

[Jon Miller]

I have ridden with drunk drivers before. (pretty often in fact)

And have been buzzed while driving once or twice. Which isn't a good thing, and I intend to never happen again. (any time that you can feel the effects of alcohol you shouldn't be driving)

Jon Miller

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
****. Speaking of which, I just noticed that I have a half-empty pack of cigarettes on my bookshelf. I must have smoked last night

It's okay to smoke when you drink. Just don't do it when you're sober.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
I have ridden with drunk drivers before. (pretty often in fact)

And have been buzzed while driving once or twice. Which isn't a good thing, and I intend to never happen again. (any time that you can feel the effects of alcohol you shouldn't be driving)

Jon Miller

When I was growing up people were still having bush parties. Some farmer's field with a bon fire and a lot of beer. Everyone had good times and then when the sun was coming up we'd all drive home. There was a time when drinking and driving were not universally thought of as a bad combination.

I think most people from my generation have had their day.

My day was when I was listening to Peter Warren and he replayed an interview with a man who had killed a child while driving home after a company Christmas party.

There was something about listening to the man describe his feelings as he continually watches the boy's face as the body came up over the hood and into the windshield, and then the devestation it had on the life of the driver.

Warren plays that every year coming near Christmas. The driver committed suicide some years ago.

I've never driven after drinking since hearing it the first time.

[Frozzy]

A few friends of mine were getting trashed in a park a couple of months ago. I hadn't seen them for a few months so I drove up there and had a chat...

They were completely ****ed off their face. The sad thing happened as I was driving away I noticed in my rear view mirror they were all getting into a car...

Another driving related thing is simply lack of sleep. Apparantly going without sleep for 18 hours puts your concentration at the same level as someone who is at the drink driving limit. Without sleep for 24 hours is the same as drinking half a bottle of scotch. I see it on the motorway time and time again at 2am or whenever... luckily there's very few people on the roads then.

[Jon Miller]

At least one of the times I drove buzzed, I didn't realise I was buzzed until after I had finished driving. I think the only completely safe thing is to not drink at all before hand, because alcohol tolerance changes depending on food intake, recent alcohol intake, time involved, etc.

I drive exhausted all the time. Did tonight in fact.

I put tons of space in front of me.. and try to do things to keep me up. I was up to the blinking all the time stage tonight. Some person, who I think was trying to be an *******, helped me tonight, by driving really close behind me and flashing brights a couple of times. Woke me up a bit (I still have ~18 miles to go). I think he was annoyed that I was in the left line and driving sub70. But when I get tired, I try to make it so that I have plenty of room in front of me, and don't change lanes.

It isn't very safe though.

Jon Miller

[Agathon]

Originally posted by DaShi
Did you ever let someone you knew was drunk drive?

No. Not that I drink much any more – I did take my Plato class out for beers last week and they got hammered though.

I have two rules:

(1) Never let anyone drive drunk if I can stop them.

(2) Protect drunk girls from guys who might do something that everyone would regret.

The second one has got me close to being beaten up on a number of occasions in the past.

[Jon Miller]

The things I do to keep me up are sing, listen to music, drink (stuff with surgar in it), eat, drink (stuff with caffiene in it), and cause pain to myself (bite my lip, press a bottle cap hard into my skin, etc).

Jon Miller