<p>If you're under 21 (as I imagine the vast majority of people posting here are), you'd damn well better not be driving if you've had any alcohol at all. If you're over 21, you'd damn well better know exactly when you're okay to drive and stick to it. You have no idea how many accidents I've been on that have been caused by drunk drivers. I have zero tolerance and absolutely no sympathy for drunk drivers. You deserve whatever you get... and then some.</p>
<p>Also, please please please do not hesitate to call for medical attention for a friend for fear of "getting caught". If you're drining under 21, you should realize what the consequences are and be ready to accept them. But also realize that your life and the life of others is much more important than any "drunk in public" charge.
Also, EMTs aren't out to bust you. Chances are the cops won't even come out unless you give the 911 dispatcher a reason to send them. So for the love of god, if in doubt about someone's medical condition, call 911 and have them evaluated by EMT's. </p>
<p>And AUlostchick: cavalier is right. If you only wait 2 hours after having "4-5 drinks", as a female, your body still has at least 3.5 of those drinks in it, putting you well above the legal limit for driving (even if you are 21). Like I said before, alcohol and driving do not mix well at all. Bad things happen and people die, even if you "think" you're all right to drive.</p>
<p>I have to agree with Icarus, he knows what he's talking about. I may be over 21 myself but still err very much on the side of caution personally. I better be stone cold sober if I even want to think about stepping behind the wheel. It also helps to have real friends who will look out for you and have your best interests in mind when drinking (in all facets really).</p>
<p>I had a friend who, after one drink, would switch to water with a twist and tell people it was vodka. (Didn't want to look antisocial.) He looked on with amused superiority as everyone else got smashed and stupid. Felt better than they did in the morning too.</p>
<p>Re: Drunk driving. I know people who got DUIs when they thought they were being responsible. Spacing out alcohol and water; ate beforehand; only had about a drink or two an hour. One person had stopped drinking FIVE hours before she got in the car - had fallen asleep then woke up, thought she was sober, and got in. (Note that these people were driving fine, but the cops are anal.) Problem is, it doesn't take very much to be over the legal limit. Another problem is that you really don't metabolise much alcohol when you are asleep or drinking a lot. </p>
<p>Please, please don't drive if there is any conceivable way that you could be over the limit. For a 110-lb woman, two drinks in your system puts you at the legal limit in most states. 140 lbs, less than three drinks. If the shots are poured with a heavy hand, if the glasses of wine are big, or if you threw a bunch of vodka and punch into a glass, you could be over the legal limit and not know how much is in you.</p>
<p>ive never personally found much truth to the "beef before liqour..." statement. ive done both ways several times and how "sick" i get varies and depends on how much and what i drink, not the order i drink it in. i did liqour before beer one and ended up vomiting blood at 8am the next day. suffice to say i stayed away from hard stuff for a while.</p>
<p>If you drink yourself stupid and something happens to you you deserve it. Whether it's just a killer hangover or you losing both your legs in a horiffic car accident and getting charged with vehicular manslaughter for killing your mother.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean other people out there on the road/general public deserve it though. Remember it's not always you that you have to worry about, it's the other dummy out there who doesn't know better. I personally agree, a hangover is fair enough personal punishment for drinking too much, but hurting other people out there while drunk, whether its physically, emotionally, or whatever, is just not cool.</p>
<p>It's different for different people. I'm not a small person, I weigh almost 160 pounds, so it takes a good bit for me to feel it. And I sober up ridiculously quick. If I'm not steadily drinking, I don't even feel it. Even if I am, I lose the buzz completely when I stop drinking after like, an hour. Doesn't mean I pull out my keys to go home right then, I always wait at least 2 hours and usually more (normally 3). I also make sure I don't give the cops any reason to pull me over on the way home, too. I drive under the speed limit, etc. </p>
<p>With hangovers, what I've found is that if you go to bed sober, there's no hangover the next day. I do this everytime I drink, and it has worked for me thus far.</p>
<p>If it works for you, you should know that just because of that, doesn't mean that it works for others, so it would probably be smart not to be giving advice to others. Sorry to say this, but naivete just flows off of your typing AUlostchick.....</p>
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I'm not a small person, I weigh almost 160 pounds, so it takes a good bit for me to feel it.
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</p>
<p>Thats a bad attitude for anyone to have. First, 160 pounds isn't that big. And yes, while everyone's metabolism is different, you'd be foolish to think you're not impaired just because "you don't feel it anymore". Alcohol is a CNS depressant, making the test of "not feeling it" worthless. And I'm sorry, but if you've been drinking steadily for a few hours with friends, even if you "lose the buzz completely" when you stop, you have a lot of alcohol in your system! - losing the buzz doesn't mean that your body magically instantly metabolized all that alcohol. And driving under the speed limit IS a ready to pull you over.
There are so many problems with your rationale. Please try to find a DD who hasn't been drinking at all.</p>
<p>Exactly. If she were a 275 pound linebacker, then maybe an hour or two would be a reasonable time to wait. She may "think" she's sober, but she probably isn't.</p>
<p>Just because I still have some alcohol in my system doesn't mean I'm still impaired. My friends are very responsible and would not let me leave the house if I was. I would not drive myself anywhere if I still was. My friends always test me before I try to leave: can I walk a straight line? can I say my ABCs backwards? Can I close my eyes and touch my nose with my pointer finger and turn around, without falling over/stumbling? If I can't do one of those (or other) things, they won't let me leave. This is after I stopped drinking 2-3 hours before. </p>
<p>And now I'm finished arguing. I know how my body reacts to alcohol. You don't know me, you've never seen me drink or get drunk or how long it takes me to sober up. I have been in a car with someone who was drunk before (and before you reprimand me for this too, I was 8 and didn't know any better, it was my mother) and I know how drunk people drive. It's scary and I would never ever do that to myself or someone else. If I'm too impaired to drive, I ALWAYS give my keys to someone else. I never drink so much that I'm completely plastered either. I've never thrown up or had a hangover. I drink alot of water after I stop drinking (and some in-between drinks too). I'm very responsible in my alcohol consumption.</p>
<p>AUlostchick, unless you have your own breathalizer and have made a chart of your BA level at intervals after various numbers of drinks, you DO NOT know how your body reacts to alcohol. How you think you're reacting and how your body actually is reacting are NOT the same. </p>
<p>"Just because I still have some alcohol in my system doesn't mean I'm still impaired."
I don't think I even need to say anything about this.</p>
<p>Although this is something I generally do not pass judgement on, one might also argue that "responsible" people follow laws, like not drinking before you're 21.</p>
<p>Remember Lucifer, the CC poster/Cornell freshman who died a few months ago? Your last few posts remind me of his so much it's eerie.</p>
<p>Oh, and driving under the speed limit in no way compensates for driving with alcohol in your system. "Oh, well, I ran that last stop sign, so I'll wait a few seconds to go after the light turns green." And driving slowly is actually one of the signs that may indicate to a cop that someone is DUI.</p>
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[quote]
Just because I still have some alcohol in my system doesn't mean I'm still impaired.
[/quote]
sheetmusic is right - statements like this prove that you really don't know what you are talking about. Any amount of alcohol in your blood will impair you to some degree!! Alcohol passes through the blood-brain barrier without any hindrances whatsoever, so any amount will damage the synapses.</p>
<p>You're right that none of us know you, but we do know what you're posting on an internet forum is poor form and bad advice to be spreading around. I seriously doubt that your friends give you a FST (field sobriety test) everytime you're about to drive after having alcohol. Do they also give the nystagmus test? lol please...</p>
<p>I have no problem with you drinking alcohol. I do have a problem with you (or anyone else) rationalizing their decision to drive with too much alcohol in their system.</p>
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I also make sure I don't give the cops any reason to pull me over on the way home, too. I drive under the speed limit, etc.
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Again, those who drive UNDER the speed limit are prime targets for DUIs, even if they haven't had much. I once dated a guy who weighed 220 and was driving 15 in a 25 after having two glasses of wine. He was frightfully worried about being pulled over until I pointed out that driving normally is a better route. </p>
<p>Not advocating speeding when you are drunk; just pointing out that if you feel the need to modify your driving, for whatever reason (inability or fear of being over the limit), you shouldn't be behind the wheel.</p>
<p>Finally, the law student here:being under the legal limit does NOT mean that you can't get a DUI if pulled over. Alcohol on your breath (which persists long after you've ingested the booze) or anything above a 0.00 on the BAC meter can be reason to arrest you for DUI - it's not per se DUI, but, combined with any traffic error (and a cop can usually find a reason to pull a good driver over in under a block), is an arrest.</p>
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