No Stupid Questions

When I was a kid it was 0.10%. And I think it was pretty well attested by a lot of different studies that that was too high, so MADD succeeded in lobbying to get it dropped lower.

And you think 4 beers is "small" for the purposes of driving? I know some people have pretty strong tolerances, but there are definitely people I know who shouldn't be driving after two. Maybe even one. Remember, you don't have to be completely sloshed to be a danger to others. You just have to be a little bit slower, a little bit less observant, a little bit less in control of your muscles, a little bit more inclined to take unnecessary risks. Your body just has to respond a little bit differently than you're used to. You just need to be a little bit more likely to nod off.

2 reasons, remembered from a lawyers lecture on the subject at uni, years ago, in the UK.

1. Some people produce small amounts of alcohol in their gut. It's generally not much (more becomes auto brewery syndrome) but not zero. This can blip the test up slightly, even when they haven't drunk.

2. The awkward fact that a small amount of alcohol actually improves driving. It's somewhere between 1/4 and 3/4 pint of beer. It's also the reason alcohol is considered a performance enhancing drug in some olympic sports.

The limit is set high enough that there is no arguing these points in a court. It also covers the residual alcohol in people's systems the morning after. It's well into the point where all but the heaviest alcoholic will definitely be impaired. That lets them use blood alcohol as a proxy for impaired driving due to alcohol.

On a side note. I know someone who blew red on the breathalyser. He knew something was wrong, since he has been teetotal for 20 years. He got arrested, only for the blood test to show 0.0. The police were quite confused, but let him go. It turned out, he had (unthinkingly) eaten a liqueur chocolate before being pulled over. It was enough to mess up the breathalyser.

It shouldn't be 0.0%, but 0.08% is quite generous. At 0.02%, it is clearly detectable with equipment but you aren't likely to notice. Some people also naturally have a constant BAC in the 0.01% range. At 0.05%, you definitely feel it and are twice as likely to cause an accident than sober.

4 beers in an hour is a significant amount. People who drink that much and drive are not hardasses. They are murderers.

Get off the road.

Mother Against Drunk Driving decided all of it.

Nobody can defend drunk driving, but the fact you give up your rights during a stop should make you angry.

If you get charged with any other crime you are allowed to talk to a lawyer except in drunk driving. You are tried and convicted on the side of the road and the evidence they use to convict you (your breath) isn't preserved.. it just blows away in the wind.

Nobody should be drunk driving but we still need to change the way we handle suspected drunk driver's

In Australia it's 0.05

In many states, like NY anything above 0 is illegal. Above 0.08 is criminal.

4 12oz beers is NOT small, be responsible.

IIRC, it used to be 0.10, but was lowered to 0.08 because some studies (and maybe some advocacy groups) found out that there was significant impairment at 0.08 BAC.

The number really shouldn't be round. It should be the number where 99.999% of people are not too impaired to drive a car.

Why does even-ness matter? Just because our number system is decimal doesn't mean nature fits into that pattern nicely.

at 0.08 you can be measurably tested to have worse reaction capability, so that's where they set the limit.

4 beers at 12 oz isn't exactly 0.08, that's just approximately what it takes in the average person. Some people will be more, some less. Time and other factors affect it too.

The safe amount of alcohol science recommend for an adult is zero.

Alcohol is one of the few substances for which these is proven evidence that any quantity is bad and will cause progressive and irreversible damage to you.

I do drink albeit not much, like a few times a year, so I am not against alcohol at all, it's your body your choice.

But given the above, I am only happy if the tolerance on driving under any alcohol influence at all is punished

I'd rather it be zero. Walk, public transit, or taxi your way to drinks. Stay in a hotel.

I say this as someone who grew up driving home from the club and such when I most likely should not have been. I know a lot of people who got OMVI/DUI/DWI/whateverYourJurisdictionCallsIt and nearly lost my bandmate.