Drink, Drink, Drink, Deuce...

I know, I know, the old game is actually duck, duck, duck, goose.  But there's a method to my title and madness.  "Deuce" is cop-speak for a drunk driver.  I saw one tonight on my way home from trivia and hesitated before deciding not to call 911.  I immediately changed my mind but by then the deuce had gotten off the freeway and I wasn't willing to make an illegal lane change to follow them down the off-ramp.

I'm not angry with myself for hesitating.  Given the day I've had, I might well have been pulled over for using my cell phone while driving and gotten ticketed.  I'm angry because people get behind the wheel when they've had too much to drink and often ruin lives.  Mostly their own which is fine, but often they also ruin the lives of others.

I have no problem with people who like to drink and have a good time.  By all means, celebrate life, tip back as many as you like.  Just don't try to rationalize that when your BAC is above 0.08, you are unlike everyone else and able to drive without any increased risk to others.  Now if your BAC is 0.10 that means that one-tenth of one percent of your blood's contents is alcohol.  Not a huge amount.  But enough to impair almost anyone.

Now the BAC level that makes one eligible to be charged with DUI in almost every U.S. state is 0.08 and that's a very abitrary level.  So when technology improves and they can measure BAC out to the fifth decimal point, will someone who is .079994 be considered not DUI while someone who is 0.08003 is DUI?  Should the standard be revised so that it is more about one's ability to drive while impaired (which does vary widely, although no one with a BAC above .010 isn't at least minimally impaired)? 

Ever take a field sobriety test?  Ever given one?  I've given more than a few.  Some of them would have been highly amusing if it wasn't frightening to think that these people were behind the wheel while others were on the roads with them.  Others were very borderline.  Some people are clumsy.  Some just can't balance on one foot.  FSTs are also arbitrary.

The idea of taking a taxi home when you go to a bar alone seems unnecessary and expensive.  I'm sure that this is why some choose not to do that.  I just saw an estimate that the billboards are wrong in saying $10,000 is what the average DUI will cost the offender.  It's actually closer to $16,000.  That would pay for a lot of taxi rides, wouldn't it?

I don't want to come off preachy.  I'm not worried about myself behind the wheel.  I'm a very attentive and careful driver.  If a drunk gets close I'll change lanes, get off the freeway, do whatever I need to do if I feel at risk.  I'm worried about less attentive drivers, about pedestrians, and about their passengers.

Now that I'm done talking about DUIs, let's talk about those who are just too drunk to be out in public.  I saw one of those tonight for a few minutes, before the guy who owns the joint where I was tossed him out on his ear.  He was stumbling around.  He knocked a chair into my chair.  It was embarrassing to watch.  It was annoying.  The sad part is that this guy just didn't grasp how drunk he really was. 

Okay, okay, I'm off the soapbox.  Thanks for listening.  We now return you to your regular blogging programming.