Avery Brooks Arrested for DUI!

[DanCPA]

I know you were limiting those that you were speaking ill of... this just isn't the place to speak ill of any poster... Now in misc, we can have a blast making fun of shameless

And I'm glad we agree on not jumping to a conclusion.

...they simply won't accept there could possibly be another answer different than their own

To get back on topic and to stop speaking ill of other posters, I would like to know if it was "had 3 beers, blew a .08 but was fine" or "had a bottle of vodka, blew a .15 and was drunk as a skunk"

The fact that he swerved is irrelevant without all the facts. I see people playing on their iphones all the time.

I didn't name names, nor did I even say I was speaking of any posters (or specific Posters) in this thread. In fact, I almost mentioned that because I was afraid someone would twist what I said, because my intention was to defend the bulk of the posters here at this board, rather than point fingers at any, which you conveniently left out of the quote. Other folks have said far worse in this thread, so I wonder why you truncated what I said and took it out of context?

I also hapen to agree with your position, that we shouldn't jump to conclusions that he was skunk drunk (or even guilty at all of drinking and driving) with knowing the actual facts.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

It's .05 in Australia where we also say "drink driving".

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ .05? That seems a bit low. Doesn't just one or two glasses of wine (or one beer) put a person over that?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

^ .05? That seems a bit low. Doesn't just one or two glasses of wine (or one beer) put a person over that?

Yep. 2 standard drinks in the first hour for men and one drink an hour after that. 1 standard drink in the first hour for women and one drink each hour after that. And as we know it's not an exact science, body weight and other factors play into it.

This country has a huge drinking culture. Zero tolerance for drinking with driving would do a lot of good IMHO. Designated driver, taxi.. it's within our power to change the perception of "I'm fine, I know my limits" to something akin to what we expect from pilots, bus drivers, taxi drivers, train drivers.. you know everyone else who operates a fast moving vehicle. If someone is paid to transport people they have to have zero alcohol content but you can transport people for free and be compromised by drinking. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[WarpCore]

Wow, we just have breathalyzers here. Making people walk straight?! Guess you would need some kind of doctor's note if you have any kind of balance or walking issues.

You'll probably be relieved to read that very often a field sobriety test is not enough to reach a conviction. A breathalyzer is almost always required as evidence if the defendant decides to hire a lawyer and fight the charge.

They should just make the legal limit 0. We already have that here for beginner drivers, just make it for everyone. Enough with this "how much can you drink and be safe" "body weight" "food" discussion that goes on, make it as unacceptable as a pilot having a beer before a flight.

I have to disagree with that. For starters, you cannot have a 0.00 limit because 1) the human body can naturally create trace amounts of alcohol. 2) Detection levels just aren't that accurate. 3) As another poster said, non-beverage products that have alcohol in them such as cough syrup or mouth wash. In the US, the limit for minors under 21 is .02 because that's considered the minimum accurately detectable level.

As for throwing out body weight, food, etc. Going by BAC levels does that. Then setting the limit as low as .05 or .08 does away with any further subjective "how much". Whether you or I like it or not, alcohol affects different people differently, and while some are completely normal to drive at a .10 level others shouldn't be behind the wheel at .03.

If you're going to impose a 0 or 0.02 limit across the board, that does away with wine or anything else at dinner. Next would just be outlawing alcohol at restaurants and eventually just outlawing it completely. Obviously that doesn't work well in many societies and can end up being more dangerous and killing even more people.

After the alcohol is banned, next up will be banning AM driving. Driving less than an hour or two after waking has an extremely detrimental affect on motor control and alertness. So much so that it's like driving near or sometimes well over the legal intoxication limits with none in their system, yet millions upon millions do it daily.

Oh, and pilots in the US can fly (unless their company imposes a stricter policy) as long as their BAC is lower than .04 and it's been 8 hours since their last drink. And about 1 in 1000 are caught violating that annually.

^ .05? That seems a bit low. Doesn't just one or two glasses of wine (or one beer) put a person over that?

One? No. Two? Maybe depending on the person's size, but they would have to be fairly petite.

 

[StarMan]

Erratic driving? Damn.

It would have been far more appropriate and funnier if it had been Marina Sirtis.

 

[Frontier]

You know, I'll be curious to learn the details. Was this just a screw up on his part? Or was it something else, like perhaps a prescription medication or illness causing such?

Either way, it's one mistake and I don't think anyone should hold it against him. He's a good guy, IMHO, and we're all human.

And believe me, I have very strong feelings on drunk driving - my dad was more or less crippled when I was 4 because of a drunk driver, who got away with it because it took the cops too long to give the fucker a breathalyzer test. So... yeah.

 

[MacLeod]

^^^That's why we have a term called desiginated driver, they refrain from an alcoholic drink even if it's with a meal. Next time somebody else is the designated driver you don't need an alcoholic drink to have a good time.

I'm also in favour of cutting the limit to almost Nil, it sends a clear message that no not even one drink is ok.

But a few facts

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

 

[StCoop]

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

I've met a lot of Americans in my life who think that seat belts and speed limits (and helmet laws for bikers) are infringments on their God-given Freedoms.

 

[Balrog]

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

Far more pubs are walking distance in the UK.

 

[Gary7]

I've met a lot of Americans in my life who think that seat belts and speed limits (and helmet laws for bikers) are infringments on their God-given Freedoms.

It's one thing for you to have the right to screw up your own life, but that doesn't give you the right to screw up the lives of others.

The helmet law is kind of a Darwinian thing. People are too stupid to realize the dangers, so make a law to force them to heed it. Well, if there was no law, you'd have many more people without helmets... they'd be very short sighted. The spirit of the law is more like "these people don't realize the dangers, but one day they will... best to keep them alive until that time."

As for speed limits, this is for EVERYONE's safety. Yes, there are talented drivers out there who can exceed those limits without a care in the world; they have the skill. But, they don't always have the judgement. I've seen @ssholes driving above the speed limit in wet and icy conditions, weaving in and out of traffic, because they just don't give a damned about other people and that they might cause a serious accident. You also have an epidemic of tailgating going on. The illusion of "safety" due to what the eye sees lets all kinds of people drive way too close than they should. So when there's an accident, you see a bunch of vehicles involved rather than just two.


Anyway... we all make mistakes. We have so little information on this incident, and it's all hearsay at this point. It's possible he combined medication and alcohol. It's also possible that he was dealing with an unruly passenger, weaved a bit, then someone got freaked out and called the cops on him.

 

[MacLeod]

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

Far more pubs are walking distance in the UK.

Perhaps, but the UK also has a lower age for alcohol of 18.

But then again perhaps other factors are involved, selt belt use is very high in the UK so perhaps that is another factor. There is a stigma attacthed to being caught drink driving.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

[BillJ]

^^^That's why we have a term called desiginated driver, they refrain from an alcoholic drink even if it's with a meal. Next time somebody else is the designated driver you don't need an alcoholic drink to have a good time.

I'm also in favour of cutting the limit to almost Nil, it sends a clear message that no not even one drink is ok.

But a few facts

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

Because we Americans have been idiots for a very, very long time.

 

[RAMA]

^^^That's why we have a term called desiginated driver, they refrain from an alcoholic drink even if it's with a meal. Next time somebody else is the designated driver you don't need an alcoholic drink to have a good time.

I'm also in favour of cutting the limit to almost Nil, it sends a clear message that no not even one drink is ok.

But a few facts

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

Because we Americans have been idiots for a very, very long time.

Lots more cars, lots more people, a lot more cowboy attitude.

 

[MacLeod]

^Don't buy the cars more people argument. I think other factors are at work

Cultural differences

Seat Belt Use

Type of car. Perhaps an automatic vs a manual makes a slight difference. After all if you are drunk enough you might have trouble getting into 1st gear never mind second.

Closeness of drinking establishment to home.

Road conditions

Road type, could it in part be down to the fact that US roads tend to be straighter than European Roads who tend to be more twisty.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I tried.

 

[WarpCore]

UK Drink Driving Deaths 2010 = 250 (380 in 2009)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14399312

US Drink Driving Deaths 2009 = 10 839

When factoring into population differenes that's in the region of 8-10x more than the UK. So why is this.

Far more pubs are walking distance in the UK.

Far more everything is within walking distance. Much of the US simply drives everywhere.

^Don't buy the cars more people argument. I think other factors are at work

Cultural differences

Seat Belt Use

Type of car. Perhaps an automatic vs a manual makes a slight difference. After all if you are drunk enough you might have trouble getting into 1st gear never mind second.

Closeness of drinking establishment to home.

Road conditions

Road type, could it in part be down to the fact that US roads tend to be straighter than European Roads who tend to be more twisty.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I tried.

How do you buy Americans drive 40% more miles annually than British drivers?

Road conditions and type probably has a lot to do with it along with cultural differences. Longer straight roads, higher speeds, larger vehicles, all adding up. Perhaps the hospitals and EMT (or whatever you call first responders in the UK) are closer enough to make a considerable difference? Plus, it looks like the UK is having a downtrend of alcohol related accident deaths. It was 460 in 2007.

The US seems to be on a similar trend.

http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

has a nice chart.

I wouldn't assume the numbers are even remotely comparable. If you look at alcohol related deaths in general, in 2006 it was 13.4 per 100k in the UK and 7 per 100k in the US. And those numbers aren't really comparable either since different standards are in place. In any case, both countries are killing themselves through stupidity, bad judgements, and bad habits. The US just likes to combine cars and alcohol more.

 

[Sandoval]

"Everywhere is walking distance if you have time" - Steven Wright.

 

[MacLeod]

^^Usually Paramedics in the UK.

As for downwards trends in overall deaths that might be because cars are becoming safer overall so if you were in accident you are more likelt to survive. Not sure how much of this is down to legislation being passed in the US or Europe. As I know Europe has been passing tougher legilsation regarding cars for many years.

 

[Phily B]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzm6pvHPSGo

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Imagine DUI with flying cars.