Well if you were "just answering the question", you didn't do it very well. Blood testing isn't a useful test for determining how impaired someone is to drive for things other than alcohol. And this blood test you're speaking of - is that just for alcohol, or for other substances? Because at least with alcohol there is a pretty good link between blood levels and intoxication that is a) pharmacokinetically well understood, and b) legally codified. Charging someone with impaired driving for having a measurable amount of THC in their system? Doesn't hold up.
Oh Lord. This thread is full of fail and booze-hounds coming up with excuses. Look, I get fucking loaded like everyone else. I've had a 0.249 BAC (I went to the hospital and found out, I wasn't arrested). I've also dealt with pig cops and had trouble with the law (but not for DUI). Yes, in TX, you can be arrested inside a bar for drinking, even if they prove you've only had one beer. It's in the books. However, I have no sympathy for drunk drivers who get arrested. No, I don't know anyone personally who got killed. But it's just because it's fucking stupid and preventable. If you don't have a plan for getting back after you get loaded, of course you are going to attempt to drive and then get pulled over. There are only two people when it comes to drunk driving: 1. People who never do it on principle. 2. People who try to judge their ability to drive, after getting loaded of course, and think they're completely fine. Obviously we know the ending to a lot of tales of Number #2s. Hell, look at all the never-do-wells on here who can't even do basic fucking math. "Oh, hell, I was only blowing a 0.019" "I blew a 0.015" No, you blew a 0.19. 19% of your blood was pure alcohol. I'm a heavy drinker and when the hospital told me I had a 0.249 (granted this was a couple hours after my last drink, so it was in fact higher) --- holy fuck, that was the only time in my life I ever blacked out, and I was so fucked out of my mind I couldn't tell you what year it was or what my first name was. And YOU think your driving isn't significantly impaired at 0.19? Holy fuck, Mario Andretti. You're not that good of driver. You're probably a shit driver sober, in all likelihood. Literally everyone on the fucking road thinks they are a great driver. When most people suck shit sober. Including you. With 0.19 we might as well stick an 8 year old behind the wheel of a two-ton machine. He probably thinks he's great at Mario Kart, too. Hey, if you got arrested at the bar for being a little rowdy or having a few too many drinks, I'd be the first to say that's bullshit. But now we got some clown who admitted to having a BAC "only around 0.16" and driving -- and thinking he should have legitimately fought the law to get off? Why?! He DID fucking drive drunk. Probable cause? The fuck? He probably pulled you over because you were weaving back and forth or driving like a shit-head 5 under the limit (only drunks drive under the limit at that hour). I'm not a philistine but you were fucking drunk buddy. No one plans on killing someone that night but yet, it happens. As for the guy who got arrested the next morning for blowing a 0.02, that's not even remotely buzzed. Cop fucked you over. 0.08 is the limit. The only reason the TV ads say 'buzzed driving is drunk driving' because some ass clowns (the members of this thread included) feel that a 0.19 is "buzzed." No, it's fall down drunk, you are just too stupid to know the difference. I've only dealt with a drunk driver once. This girl who drives a manual drove us to a bar. She only had two beers (I counted) but I guess that was enough to knock her on her ass. Either that or she very secretly drunk from a flask or something. Since the rest of us couldn't drive manual, we chanced the (relatively short) drive with her. Holy fucking shit. It was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World, only 10x the crap-your-pants insanity. She veered in front of oncoming trucks, but thought she was "driving fine" and wouldn't pull over. Never again. There's a lot of dumbasses on the road, texters included, the last thing we need is a bunch of wasted dumbasses on the road wrapping their steel around pedestrians, other drivers, dogs, property, etc. 1st time - if 21 or over: week in jail and $500 fine, 3 month suspension 2nd time - 2 weeks in jail and $1000 fine, 1 year suspension 3rd time - felony: year in prison, driver's license suspended for 10 years. 4th time - year in prison, driver's license revoked permanently
I would like everyone to take a break from the soap box and see a much better alternative to current methods for evaluating sobriety. While I realize that this video must have been made years ago, it's still pretty relevant.
If you blow a .19, then .19% of your blood is alcohol. As in .0019 out of 1. (source) This doesn't mean that it's minor; that concentration is very dangerous for someone driving. I think that this goes the other way. Instead of saying how much alcohol is in your blood, mention that you barely need one part in five hundred to be a complete hazard on the road.
Maybe, maybe not. Like db said, a guy might plausible be skittish because he's had an amphetamine...or because cops are fucking terrifying. Also, even if they could tell the difference, given the history of police enforcement in this country, I don't remotely trust their integrity re: applying this standard. If you can't see this turning into "Hey, there's a black guy, let's see if he is high," you are a shitload more trusting of police discretion that I am.
Okay, but what if the person used drugs outside of the United States? What if a guy spent 2 weeks in Amsterdam baked out of his gourd, and three weeks after he gets back he gets pulled over? Okay this is just and arguement in semantics, but when you say that you have a "hard-on" for something, it means you really like it. If you are hard on something, it means you don't like it. Yup, those never-do-wells are everywhere. You do realize that you will die of alcohol poisoning long before you could even get to 1% of your blood being alcohol, right? Blood alcohol content is usually expressed as a percentage of alcohol in the blood. For instance, a BAC of 0.10 means that 0.10% (one tenth of one percent) of a person's blood, by volume, is alcohol. Do your homework before you start shooting your mouth off and calling people names.
Since I was the only person with a .19 BAC, its pretty obvious a lot of this is directed towards me (for some reason) and it was already shown that I accidentally typed ".019" instead of ".19" It had nothing to do with basic fucking math, which you failed at, by the way. Never said I was "buzzed" at .19, I said I didn't think I was that bad. I knew I was over the limit, but I was far from "fall down drunk" And go fuck yourself pal, you have no idea who I am and what my driving ability is. Let's put it this way, you don't become a bad driver racing 650+hp cars and racing liter bikes.
I'm also not the one with the DUI. Yes, I got a little overzealous in my Wikipedia research. When I sees numbers like .02 and .08 and .50, those usually could represent percentages, instead of hundredths of a percentage. I was trying to refer to several idiots on here, not just you alone. Look, I've been in jail myself. I don't fault you for driving with a 0.19% BAC - we all have lapses in judgment - but you and the other clowns on here seem to be completely unashamed and unrepentant about it. Like the cops were out to get you... I've had cops bust my balls for nothing before. Pulling you over for --- what was it? RACING around 85 mph down the highway with your 0.19 BAC was not a 'money-making scheme to keep the citizenry in bonds.' It was a fucking public service both to your stupid ass and the entire community. Yes, I know a lot of yokels like you who 'drag race' all the time. These guys don't even drink. They think they are invulnerable and fucking expert drivers (aren't we all?). In fact, they get into accidents and near-misses all the time. It's inevitable when a nasty one will finally occur. They all over-measure their driving abilities, by a long shot. It's not coincidence that absolute speed of the vehicle is one of the largest predictors both for accidents occurring in general and chance of fatality for a crash. You will not beat the pure statistics. The average man thinks he isn't but he is. I'm not a moralizer and I know you likely don't live in my state so you go do whatever it is you fucking do. Go drag racing home from the bar, you got a high tolerance, right, I know a bunch of high schoolers that can also drink anyone under the table, or so they say.... It's just laughable when a bunch of DUI mongrels on here don't look back on those occurrences wiser for the lesson but blame pig cops out to get them. Yes, the cops in this country are often assholes but they do well when they pull your shitty ass off the road. If you weren't driving like a jackass on the highway you wouldn't have been pulled over by the state patrol. This isn't an overstep in police authority or some gestapo state. You are driving recklessly like a jackass. Dumbasses just like you, thought EXACTLY like you, oh I'm a great driver, oh I race shit, oh I'm the liquor king, and then they cause a big fucking accident. You're right I don't know you. You claim you are a great driver, yet your insurance company, who makes billions on its actuarial predictions, seems to disagree, I imagine. Funny that. Load up on booze then go for a spin for all I give a shit. You'll be in front of judge or being peeled off the road soon enough.
I think the point is that, while some of your arguments may have a degree of validity, how you argue is just as important as what you're saying. You said "holy fuck" three different times, swore in virtually every sentence, screwed up/did not understand the math and biology of your own argument, misquoted a member and in general tried to come off as a loudmouth swinging dick. Sorry if we don't take you seriously, buddy. Or ass-hat; you seem to use both interchangeably. There is wonderful irony that dixiebandit, who announced in his first post that he has been arrested for this offense no less than eight times (but only convicted three!), has been more well-reasoned and coherent than you. Carry on, buddy/asshat.
Girls, you're ALL beautiful. Don't go biting people's balls off for making life mistakes, Guy Who Lives Up To His Name To Perfection. Getting a DUI is dumb, people know that, but people still get them and life goes on. You're an angel? You've never drove impaired? Or pissed your pants passed out? Or beat a hooker to death when you couldn't get it up? E-Tough is so 1997. Is it Hawaiian shirt Thursdays yet?
A little overzealous? You busted in here calling people stupid and saying they don't understand math while missing the mark on how BAC works by a factor of 100. Here's a few things we can infer from your original post. 1.) After a rough night of drinking your blood can be considerably more potent than wine. 2.) When you had the .249 BAC your bloodstream was one quarter alcohol. How the fuck do you think a human could survive if their blood was one quarter alcohol? Like Dixie said, you'd be dead before you hit 1% 3.) Assuming one ounce of pure alcohol raises your BAC by .02 the average body only contains roughly 50 ounces (a little over three pints) of blood. This is great. It's like someone screaming into a shooting range loudly calling everyone a fucking moron for not knowing about gun safety, and then shooting themselves.
You bring up a good point. Minorities (especially African Americans) are held to a different standard, especially where drugs are concerned (hence longer prison sentences for crack vs powder). I've only had one encounter with police relevant to this topic, and I wasn't even asked to step out of my car, so I was speaking from a white guy's experience, circa 1985 before the states really started cracking down. And I would imagine young males, regardless of race, are probably higher targets as well. Still, profiling aside, I think a cop knows stoned when he sees it. I take an amphetamine for ADHD and I it doesn't make me skittish in stressful situations. Maybe it would be different if I was being pulled over, but if I were, it would be for a minor traffic violation like not coming to a complete stop before making a right on red or doing 10 over the limit. If I amped up over my dosage though, I could see getting skittish in that situation, but I would also be guilty of drug abuse. DB I was being facetious with the hard-on comment. You've made your feelings for law enforcement quite clear over the years! And so many what ifs. What if your hypothetical dude flew back to your local airport and killed a loved one of yours on the drive home? Witnesses saw him weaving on the road, and he failed the FST but not the breathalyzer, and blood test showed presence of THC. He says hechadn't smoked in days and that he was jet lagged. Would you let him walk?
Ok, taking an extra tablet or two over what your prescription vial says isn't actually a crime. The way you phrased that sentence makes it sound like you wish it were. This ostentatious upstanding citizen bullshit - "if I did get pulled over, it would be for a minor traffic violation" - sounds almost exactly the same to me as when some public figure makes some ignorant statement about gays. A tiny clock in my head starts ticking, counting down to the day when you are found having committed exactly the thing you rail against.
Sorry, I didn't get your joke. I thought you were misusing the term. If he failed the field sobriety test, he wouldn't be on the road, would he? Many people have asked me if I would hold the same sentiments that I've expressed if a drunk killed Li'l Bandit. To them I say: I'd feel just as mad if a drunk ran over him as I would if someone was texting, changing the radio station, had defective equipment on their car, or if they were just a bad driver. I live in the United States of America, where you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not guilty until proven innocent.
Taking Rx meds in a manner other than how they are prescribed is defined as drub abuse in the US. I quit drinking and drugging almost 4 years ago and cleaned up my whole act, and that includes my driving behaviors. I don't tear up the interstate at 80 anymore, weave, etc. normally that would sound smug, but given its proximity to your post, it looks down right humble.
I didn't say it wasn't drug abuse, I said it wasn't a crime. You're not "guilty" of anything. If you could be arrested and charged for taking prescription drugs in a manner other than how they were prescribed, there'd be nobody left on the streets. Double-doctoring, stealing, pilfering, selling, or diverting meds? Sure, illegal. Taking an extra dose one day? Come on. Nonsense.
Since some folks seem to be such big fans of math: -Roadway fatalities are the largest controllable death. This excludes diseases, cancer, and arguably suicide and 'unintended accidents' -Of those deaths (about 1.5% to 2% of all deaths every year) 30-40% of those are alcohol related. -Driving at .10 increases your risk of a fatal crash by 5 times your sober rate -Driving past .10 exponentially increases your risk of a fatal crash -Accidents are the cause of 38% of deaths in people under 24 -Accidents are the cause of 25% of deaths in people 24-44 I don't understand with these numbers how people rationalize drunk driving. You may be good at driving but you're not going to beat the numbers forever. If things go well, you'll probably be alright. But the chances of everything going well are not 100% - people running in front of you, bad weather, flat tires, deer, another drunk driver, freak accident, etc.