Glasgow Smile

iTrader: (1)

I have no tolerance for drunk driving.

Fast281

Well it seems everyone thinks the same thing. People who drive drunk are imbeciles...

Glasgow Smile

iTrader: (1)

Yea, you be a dumbass all you want when you're alone.

When you start endangering other people it's a diffferent story.

Fast281

Yea i agree.

keiffer953

I think Fast281 might need some anger management classes.
While I agree about people driving while drinking(I don't drink at all) I don't think you need to flame the guy for sharing. And it doesn't matter whether your drinking or not, when we drive at excessive speeds we are acting carelessly, But WTF that's why we bought a sports car.

Fast281

I never said anything about high speeds. Hell i hit 155 in my Z tonite. But to go 125 AND be intoxicated is just retarded. Im sorry i have no sympathy for people that drive intoxicated. I think they should have there license suspended FOREVER after the first time. None of this 3 strike bullcrap. My friend was hit by a drunk driver. This was that drivers 4th time being caught ! I mean when does it stop. Im sorry but people that drive intoxicated are scum in my book. you dont have to agree but thats my opinion. And the fact that this guy wanted SYMPATHY for it ? I mean common seriously.

longbowe

I consider myself lucky simply for not continuing what could've been a very bad direction. That is, if I hadn't taken the precautions I had, or if I'd pursued the Camaro, I wouldn't be here to type about this.

You're right, I haven't lost anyone to drunk driving; I think that was part of why I was so awed that I didn't actually get involved, even though the potentiality was definitely there.

And I most definitely didn't mean to offend or aggravate those who have had to deal with this kind of situation. So to those folks, even the ones that were moved to calling names, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. But dammit, it's Mr. Dumbass to you, Fast281!

longbowe

You don't need to believe me, but I was not intoxicated. Like I mentioned, I made sure to rest at least an hour after my 3rd beer before driving, and I downed plenty of water and caffeine (Sprite, in fact). I'm very confident that that does it for me; but having had fun at the party does tend to retain one particular effect of alcohol: less inhibitions. (So where's the line for you before you'll accept that someone is enough control of their faculties to operate a motor vehicle? Half an hour after one drink? Two hours after two? Twenty-four hours after three? Why do I get the feeling that now you'll say something like, "It's not how much time you took or how much you rested!"? That's not an answer. And you know dang well that everyone's different, so some recover faster than others. But let's have it in the open: Are you using me as a way to vent -- albeit for a good cause -- and in reality you don't give a rat's derriere about the facts? Or is the fact that I called your insult for what it is something that's ticking you off even more, so that you won't even read my explanations? Or both? Or maybe I'm wrong and you're just playing around and making me look silly for responding, on top of being dumb for having driven so fast when there was any drop of alcohol in my body?) So I took the Camaro's bait, and did what I shouldn't have, sober, buzzed, or any other way.

I don't know what else happened to you, Fast281, and I'm truly saddened about your friend, but I was looking for sympathy from your flames in particular. I have no problem with being called on having made boneheaded decisions. Also I was hoping to share the sense of awe that although things could have been worse (like if I hadn't rested before driving, or if I'd continued to drive fast), they didn't. Please don't let the ghost of what happened to your friend send things out of whack. There are much better and more effective ways of teaching lessons to a fellow enthusiast than going through your dictionary of insults.

Oh, and that's Mr. Dumbass to you!

Beamm

Some observations....

1) Why do people always insist on mixing stimulants and depressants? Why do you think Red Bull + Vodka = bad news? When I was in Austria (the home of Red Bull) they were afraid to drink that stuff because it's killed people over there.

2) Sprite has no caffeine in it (just an FYI -- nor does Root Beer)

3) You keep digging yourslef into a hole here. For me, I don't care that you were smart enough to stop racing once the situation became dangerous...there should never have been a situation at all. Period. If you're feeling uninhibited....you're too intoxicated to be driving! I mean, how many 'sober' people have gone home, woken up the next morning, looked at the person in bed next to them and gone 'uhhhh......?'

4) Nobody has said this yet...but what about the guy in the Camero? You don' t know how drunk he was or was not. If you get into a street race with someone, and the other dude (not you) hits and injures someone, YOU are jointly liable for that (i.e. it takes two to race). If he has no $$$ the court can make YOU pay for him. If you're going to have to race someone for whatever 'legitimate' reason you may think you have, always remember that...if he hits someone you can be responsible.

5) Take a friggin cab or mass transit. I almost never drive my Z on Friday nites, and if I do I make sure I park somewhere that I can leave my car overnight, even if I'm not planning on drinking (unless, of course, I'm the DD for the nite) just in case. I mean, you got a $30k sports car, you can afford the $5-10 cab ride...and drunk cab rides can be fun...(well not for the cabbie)

zand02max

iTrader: (22)

Its been a while since I got my certification for HGN (using a pen making your eyes going side to side to determine blood/alcohol content).

Anyway while taking the course, I believe after 2 am, 6 out of 10 drivers, are drunk.

Don't quote me, trying to find my old study sheets.

Pretty scarey if you ask me.

Love those twins though! (Coors commercials)

I, myself do not drink, and I cannot stand people that drink and drive,

I personnaly have arrested over 20 drunks in my career as a law enforcement officer. GUESS WHAT, all of them thought they were only buzzing!!!!!!!!!!

And the sad part, is most of them had sober passengers!

DUMB, just plain stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

longbowe

I don't mix them. I try to add the caffeine after the water, which leads to your next point:

Doh! Bad on me!

Absolutely (about me digging myself into a deeper hole). I'm just too stubborn and prideful, and I'm making an issue out of being insulted when I was the one who made the bad. Why? Because who really wants others to point out their bads? People generally want to be the only one to admit it. Not an excuse, just reflecting over why I keep digging my hole.

So while I'm digging ... ...! When you say that if "you're feeling uninhibited, you're too intoxicated" ... what if you just came back from a day at work where everything went well? What about a social occasion where you met a lot of friends and things went your way? Assume not an drop of alcohol was involved in either scenario. Some might call such situations as being naturally uninhibited. Should such people then be barred from driving? Where should I draw the line, for the safety of my fellow drivers?

Good point that I didn't even think about (the possibility the other guy was drunk)! Will keep in mind!

BTW, I never said it was a legitimate reason to race anyone. I clearly stated that he raced me and I "took the bait". It's to explain what happened. It's part of the story-telling. It's not an excuse, and never was claimed to be!

Unfortunately there is no mass transit or cabs in the area where I was. I did what I thought was reasonable, took what precautions I thought was reasonable. Clearly they are not enough for every member of the board.

The silver lining I see from this post is that it brings up more awareness of the whole "yes you are" "no I'm not" facet of driving (including influence, emotions, talking on the cell phone -- like the girl that rear-eneded me -- and even speeding). It's always easier for the driver in question to deny potential danger and say that they're in 100% control. And it's always easier for those who weren't there to make their statements about how much control there was. But the important thing remains that, no matter what activities we do that involve a motor vehicle, there are risks involved. The results can be eyebrow-raising, hair-raising, or even deadly. It's up to each of us to take as many reasonable steps to prevent such occurances as possible. That's not going to guarantee 100% prevention, but in incidents involving motor vehicles, an ounce of prevention is worth a whole lot more than a pound of cure.

longbowe

The bumper still seems to be okay. I drove it around noon this morning to a friend's place, and I found no hint of any trauma to her.

corsair

iTrader: (12)

don't drink and drive period. not even one beer. i was out once with a group of friends. our designated driver had 1 beer. he was stopped, arrested, went to court, lost, wound up spending 30 days in jail, and lost his job.

corsair

iTrader: (12)

oh yeah, he also lost his license for one year and paid over 3k in legal fees and fines.