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Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct
I don't think it's right to set the limit so low that you have to wait an hour after a glass of wine with dinner before you can drive home. The almost universal .08 limit, and the more restrictive .06 limit worked fine for years, and drunk drivers would always be over that limit when caught. It's fairly obvious to me that if offenders are always over the current limit, that a more restrictive limit is not the answer. I'd hardly consider .02 drunk. At .08, I'd say you're intoxicated, but still not really drunk. I think the answer is to step up the punishment for DUI. I'm not a big fan of mandatory sentencing limits, but I think that anyone found to be drinking and driving should be punished by a 30-day license revocation and mandatory AA meetings in that time. I'm not saying that anyone who drinks and drives is an alcoholic, but it's the same idea as taking delinquent kids to visit a prison to give them a dose of reality and show them why they have to shape up.
I also have issues with field sobriety tests. I can pass a field sobriety test (did it just for fun, didn't go anywhere near a car,) after over 15 drinks. I have a high natural alcohol tolerance. I don't register on a breathylizer (once again, just for fun, didn't go near a car,) until my third or fourth drink. I don't drive for at least 6 horus after drinking, even if I've only had a few, just in case something happens.
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I have to say something here. And everything I say will be based on a .01% limit sine that’s the basis for my education. .008 is only 20% less, so multiply everything I say with .8 and you will be close.
I tip the scales at 220. Based on that and the fact that I am a male and the math works out to 6 drinks in a 2 hour time period for me to be at .01%. That’s using a 4 oz. Glass of wine, a 12 oz. Regular beer or a 1.5 oz. Shot of 80 proof liquor. Dark beer, 100 proof liquor, etc. change the math. And women have a lower thresh hold due to their body fat composition.
I’ve seen the tests. A group of people learns a test track for an entire day, practicing over and over. The next day they drink until they are at .01% and then drive the track. They suck. Part of the reason is that they feel so confident but don’t understand their level of impairment. It is amazing how this works. .008% is very close to .01%, close enough that the impairment and false confidence is apparent. And yes, there are exceptions and some people can handle more, but not the majority. And remember when you get behind the wheel of an average car, you are operating a 3-ton missile that can travel in excess of 100 mph. The terrorists figured that out with planes and 9/11. We were too naive to think you could use a commercial jet as a weapon of mass destruction!
Your body processes alcohol two ways – through the lungs and through the kidneys. It does so at the relative rate of a drink per hour. It would take a few drinks to register on a Breathalyzer test because you have to get enough in your system and your system has to begin processing. Field sobriety tests are pretty lame and used only to determine if someone should be held for a legal test. These include a Breathalyzer or a blood test, your choice.
All that said, I strongly agree with you that we need to step up the consequences of drunk driving. Most states suspend your license for a short period of time, hit you with a hefty fine and send you to an educational program, a whole weekend in Michigan. That works for many. For the second offenders I say toss the book at them. They have obviously not learned or forgotten that driving is a privilege.
So you don't have to limit yourself to one drink unless the math works out. And then, well, you just have to face the facts!