Stay at Home Moms

Drinking and driving.....

I don't mean to get all heavy on a Friday afternoon but this is bugging me....

I know SO many people who drink and drive.  (not necessarily close friends and family, but lots of people I know).  One of my girlfriends split up with her DH about a year ago and is now engaged to someone else.  Her fiance had a couple DWIs in the past.  They went out the other night and she said that everyone was too drunk to drive and she had to drive home- even though she had been drinking.  She's a pretty decent person and has 2 little kids so this just shocks me.  She said it like it was funny, telling me how everyone was saying to be careful and she can't get a DWI!

A guy I went to school with was just in the paper for rolling his truck and he got a DWI.  He posted pics of his totalled truck on FB and everyone commented with "so glad you're ok!"  "so scary!"  etc.  I wanted to comment and be like, let me know then next time you're on the road so I make sure my kids and I aren't out there with people like you.

I think drinking and driving is like smoking pot- you wouldn't expect a lot of people to do it but a LOT of people do.  It really makes me furious especially now that I'm on the roads with my kids.  And where I'm from, getting DWIs isn't even that big of a deal anymore.  I know SO many people who have gotten them.  I am SO nervous if I have even had one drink, waited an hour and then drove home.  I just don't know what these people are thinking......

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Re: Drinking and driving.....

  • I completely agree.  I understand why people do it.  We frequently travel to rural areas where there literally are no cabs or public transport.  Even getting a cab in the fairly large city where I live can be hard on a Saturday night.  It is not something I have ever been comfortable doing, so we tend to stay near home if we want to drink a lot, where we can easily walk, or get a cab, or ride with a friend/neighbor.  I live next to a wedding venue.  I see it every weekend.  People get in their cars and drive away.  Judging from the screaming and yelling they are doing, I can't imagine they are sober.  
  • Based on the people I know I always thought it was something that was no longer socially acceptable (and it certainly isn't to me). My aunts and uncles (who are in their 60s and 70s) used to always do it and I suspect they still do at times, but anyone I know younger than that is really careful about having a DD, taking public transit or a cab or being walking distance from home or spending the night. It scares me to think there's anyone currently young that thinks this is okay (I understand it with my aunts and uncles since they started driving in the '50's when it was a slap on the wrist offense, but today it costs like $30K to deal with!).
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  • I'll admit that I've done it in the past (pre-baby), thinking I was "ok" to drive, and now I look back and think of how stupid I was.  And now that I have DD, I will NEVER do it again.  And where I live, it seems to be ok with so many people too...I'm from a small country town, and there is a weekly paper that comes out with all of the DWI mug shots in it and people just joke about it all the time...sad!!
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  • BFab11BFab11 member

    People always think they're fine when they're doing it; same as texting or talking on the phone while driving.  They think if they just pay attention they'll be ok, and to them the worst consequence is getting a DUI.  

    It makes me angry.  I lost my dad in a car crash when I was 8 because an 18 year old kid decided he was fine to drive high on marijuana.  It makes it that much worse that it's almost always the other driver that gets seriously injured or killed, because the person under the influence has the slowed reaction time and their bodies are slowed down so they're more relaxed upon impact. 

    It goes along with people only thinking of themselves and not what their actions could mean to a complete stranger.  If I saw a pic someone posted on fb of their totaled car while they were driving drunk, I'd comment that I'm really glad they didn't kill anyone, call them a dumbass, and  unfriend them.  I'm pretty sensitive to that kind of stuff, though.

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  • It scares me to think back to college when I sometimes thought it was okay to drink and drive.

    It is a huge issue for me now.  How hard is it to have one person not drink?  Is drinking really that worth it?  Can you really not have a fun time without drinking, because if not, that is really sad.

    My cousin went the wrong way on the freeway after a night of drinking a couple of years ago and killed someone.  That guy is dead and my cousin's life is ruined (he's still in prison).  Not even remotely worth it.

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  • DH and I have never driven if we had even 1 drink. His BFF's Dad was killed by a drunk driver. A friend of mine mentioned her new boytoy had a few DUI's, to me that means he is a loser.
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  • MrsAJLMrsAJL member

    I DON'T understand why people drink and drive. It's stupid, dangerous, and illegal. There is no excuse for doing it. I don't care if you live in BFE and can't get a taxi. If you are going to go out and you're going to drink, then you need to make arrangements for your transportation. Period. 

    There is never an acceptable excuse for driving while intoxicated or otherwise impaired. 

  • I think back to life before ds, and I'll admit it, dh and I did some really stupid sh!t.  However, having a family has put it into perspective and we haven't done anything like that since ds came along.  I know it wasn't right, but I can't take back what I did in the past.  All I can be thankful for is that we somehow managed to never hurt someone.

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  • kg_08kg_08 member

    It is absurd to me that people can even think they're capable.

    I WILL NOT drive after only 1 drink. Flat out refuse, because I can tell I'm not 100%. Even if i'm 95%, there's still that chance that something could happen.

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  • I have a really good friend who got in a major accident a few years back because he was drunk (no one else was hurt, don't worry). He was in the hospital for a while and then had physical therapy, restrictions on his activity etc for a while. He lost his license (though it took them like 6 months to actually take it away, but he was not physically very capable during that time anyway). He lost the license for a year but then with all the red tape etc it took 2 years for him to actually get it back. He was really good and did everything he was supposed to do etc and it still took forever. He was also really good and never drove without a license. 

    Seeing what a pain in the butt it was for him, even just for those 2 years, to get to and from work every day (no public transport), to be able to go grocery shopping he had to find a friend to take him, he couldn't go out and have fun without getting a ride etc. I would never drink and drive ever (I barely drink) but I really think he should be a speaker and talk about how he is that guy who likes to go out and party etc and that because he chose to drive home that night and had an accident he missed out on partying for 2+ years. Etc Etc. It might convince a few people to think twice.

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  • Getting a cab to wherever you have to go is going to be way cheaper than if you have to pay a lawyer to try and get you out of  a DUI. 
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