this is drunk driving....

RichardH

This just happened at the end of our street early this morning.. the road is closed. No one in the neighbourhood can take there car anywhere. Mountpleasant is a very fast local road.. People speed. This guy split his SUV in half on the pole at the corner.. Charged driving drunk.. one person dead.. How miserable and foolish. They were young.

Mountains

How very sad indeed.

federica

Holy cow....
this is why I hate police or traffic or news reports that say fog was the cause, or alcohol, or unforeseen traffic conditions.... the only thing i personally believe can be anything apart from 'driver error', is black sheet ice.... everything else, pretty much, is down to an idiot who believes s/he's immortal....

RichardH

The impact was southbound on a metal utility pole at a street called Blythwood.. Another road a block north is closed because of a wheel assembly blocking the intersection. It looks like a bomb went off, such is the kinetic energy of a Range Rover hitting an immovable object. A cop said they were going 150 km. The 22 year old passenger died instantly. The 19 year old driver amazingly walked away, and is charged with impaired driving causing death. It is a lousy road for speeding and racing, and a midtown choke point with heavy traffic. So there is gridlock.

youth+ booze+speed= death.

BonsaiDoug

Charged driving drunk.. one person dead.. How miserable and foolish. They were young.

Even more tragic (if that's possible?), the decision to drive drunk was made while he was still sober. Even before his first drink, he knew had had to get in that car and drive home (or wherever).

RichardH

I agree with Federica.. it is a foolishness issue, not an alcohol issue. Even if you have had a few drinks.. unless you have some kind of chemical vulnerability that make you lose your marbles.., you still know what outright danger is.

If it would have happen later in the morning a lot of people be on those sidewalks.. there is a school nearby.. kids walking to school. From the look of things there would have been shrapnel flying everywhere.

Anyway.. I feel bad for the person who was killed.. and for the driver who has blown his life.

robot

I lived on Stibbard ave for years. The family home was there. As you said, Mount Pleasant can be a fast road. It is shocking when that kind of crash happens in a residential neighborhood.

RichardH

I lived on Stibbard ave for years. The family home was there. As you said, Mount Pleasant can be a fast road. It is shocking when that kind of crash happens in a residential neighborhood.

We are at Sheldrake and Stibbard. Small world.

The road has been cleaned-up, hosed-down, and re-opened. Life keeps moving..

robot

It is a really nice neighborhood. I haven't lived there for decades but I was back last fall to have a look around. Things have not changed much. It's still beautiful.

Dakini

What some cities do to slow traffic down is put in little traffic circles, or half-circles on the edges, to stop people from using local streets as arterials. The neighbors living along one such street in my neighborhood years ago organized to petition the city for that, and the city responded. It's a safety issue not only for drivers, but for children living along that street, elderly pedestrians, etc.

ThailandTom

Wow that is sad and yes foolish. It happens so often though. I myself have driven a motorbike drunk on several occassions, but that was akways at night and by myself, still it was very silly of me to do. I crashed twice, once at 90kph. These people are lucky they did not hit a tree or maybe there have been more deaths. Trees have deep roots and they don't budge easily at all. If I had to choose hitting a metal pole or a thick tree, it would be the pole every time.

zombiegirl

Charged driving drunk.. one person dead.. How miserable and foolish. They were young.

Even more tragic (if that's possible?), the decision to drive drunk was made while he was still sober. Even before his first drink, he knew had had to get in that car and drive home (or wherever).

Exactly. I never drive drunk. I never suddenly change my mind after having a few drinks. I've never been in a situation where we couldn't wait a while, or call a cab, or crash on a couch, or whatever... If I'm driving, I stay within the one drink per hour limit that was taught in my Training and Alcohol Management classes (for people working in bars), and it's really not that big of a deal. I just wish more people felt that way.

ThailandTom

1 drink per hour and you are sound to drive? What would count as one drink though in this class? Also, how many hours could this go on for? I have never heard of this method before, so I am only curious.

zombiegirl

1 drink per hour and you are sound to drive? What would count as one drink though in this class? Also, how many hours could this go on for? I have never heard of this method before, so I am only curious.

12 oz. of a typical beer with a 4-5% alcohol content
4-5oz. of wine (about half a glass)
1-1.5oz of liquor (a standard shot)

So, not one bottle of a higher alcohol content microbrew. Not a full glass of wine. And not a mixed drink that you could call a "double".

For MOST PEOPLE your body metabolizes one drink per hour. This also depends on weight, how much food you've eaten, etc.

ThailandTom

12oz of beer, I do not know how that would equate in pint form. But I get the idea of it, it seems that it would be quite effective. After doing this for say 6-8 hours, would you pass a DUI test though...

Dakini

I'm told the key to handling alcohol well is to always take it with food. What did your Training class say about that, @zombiegirl?

ThailandTom

If I drink alacohol I tend to get the munchies big time these days, more so than I ever did with weed. I can't go to sleep unless I have something to eat, unless I have drank way too much that is. But I rarely ever drink now and I am never again going to get on a motorbike after drinking whisky :dunce:

Lady_Alison

I can't do screwdrivers (OJ and vadka) after spending a whole drunk afternoon lost in the Chicago train system on vacation with cousins ...age 14.

AMH

This scares me for many reasons, one is that my kids are in this age range. There was a horrible accident in our old town that made me think about how I talked to my kids about drinking and driving long before they got licenses. This group of kids had one who was really drunk. Other kids had not been drinking so they tried to take his keys away. He wasn't cooperating at all and was a big kid so they weren't having any luck stopping him. So they thought they could help him be safe by getting in the car with him, you know help him watch his speed or be more careful. Three kids died and the car was going over 90 mph on a country road.

So I tell my kids never get in the car, if you cannot stop them (and you can punch them or hold them down) then lie to them and call 911. My kids will never get in trouble for calling me to get out of a situation like that, but if they stay they are responsible.

ThailandTom

I can't do screwdrivers (OJ and vadka) after spending a whole drunk afternoon lost in the Chicago train system on vacation with cousins ...age 14.

bahaha, sorry this did make me laugh quite a bit! LOL.

ThailandTom

This scares me for many reasons, one is that my kids are in this age range. There was a horrible accident in our old town that made me think about how I talked to my kids about drinking and driving long before they got licenses. This group of kids had one who was really drunk. Other kids had not been drinking so they tried to take his keys away. He wasn't cooperating at all and was a big kid so they weren't having any luck stopping him. So they thought they could help him be safe by getting in the car with him, you know help him watch his speed or be more careful. Three kids died and the car was going over 90 mph on a country road.

So I tell my kids never get in the car, if you cannot stop them (and you can punch them or hold them down) then lie to them and call 911. My kids will never get in trouble for calling me to get out of a situation like that, but if they stay they are responsible.

The thing is with kids is that they have these hormones racing around and add that to the fact they iften have this urge to do crazy things to impress makes it quite a bad cocktail when they get together and drink. Often drunk people will loose their inhabitions and driving seems like a good idea at the time. I think firther education about having someone sober there and the real dangers of drink driver to be adressed and hit hard. It took me a highspeed crash to shake me up. I had drank a load of whisky and randomly thought driving to a resort 110km away at 1am sounded like a good idea. It was raining hard so I put my visa down. Of course, the oncoming traffic blinded me as the droplets on the visa distorted the light, so I could not see where I was going on the unlit highway. I ended up going over to one side, luckily the grassy side but I slid out and kept sliding for a while until I came to a stop. My jeans were torn to bits and my but hurt, but I was okay luckily. Stupidity yes, doing it again, no.

robot

When I was 24 my best friend was killed while driving drunk and stoned. I was sober that night and I offered to drive for him but he refused. It was devastating. I really loved that guy. It was my first real experience with death and grief.
I was never wracked with guilt over it, but I still think about it and I know I could have stopped him if I had pushed harder.

AMH

Tom I agree with education. One thing is for kids to clearly know what will happen to them. Sometimes kids young and old are just scared that their parents will be so angry that they should do anything to not let them know.

Locally there is a law that if you are with someone who is drunk or on drugs and you feel you need to call 911 then you are immune to consequences of your own drinking or drug use as long as you give your name and stay with the person until someone arrives. This prevents the party situation where the kids realize someone is in danger and then all worry about getting in trouble and leave them. Seems horrible they would leave but then again they are affected by whatever they have been doing.

ThailandTom

Tom I agree with education. One thing is for kids to clearly know what will happen to them. Sometimes kids young and old are just scared that their parents will be so angry that they should do anything to not let them know.

Locally there is a law that if you are with someone who is drunk or on drugs and you feel you need to call 911 then you are immune to consequences of your own drinking or drug use as long as you give your name and stay with the person until someone arrives. This prevents the party situation where the kids realize someone is in danger and then all worry about getting in trouble and leave them. Seems horrible they would leave but then again they are affected by whatever they have been doing.

That is a great law, I give that person a lot of respect whoever happened to come up with it. We all know how difficult it can be haggling with a drunk or getting them to do something they don't want to do, but it can be done.

I remember my grandmother who is still alive now at the age of 83, she use to drink gin every day. She was not some stay at home, sad alcoholic who was filthy, she was of the upper classes and she actually use to drive around after drinking a load of gin daily. The thing is, she would drive totally fine, if she did not have a drink, she would not be able to drive or do much to be honest lol. I have been with her when I visited on drives whilst she was under the influence, but she never came across as being drunk.

vinlyn

My family had a bad situation, too. This was long ago...back in the 1950s. High school graduation night and one of my cousins rode to the graduation party with another graduate who had been drinking. Horrible car accident. My cousin was permanently paralyzed from the waste down. She eventually became the village's tax collector, but in reality her life was shattered, she never married, her mother had a permanent nervous breakdown, and her father eventually committed suicide.

ThailandTom

My family had a bad situation, too. This was long ago...back in the 1950s. High school graduation night and one of my cousins rode to the graduation party with another graduate who had been drinking. Horrible car accident. My cousin was permanently paralyzed from the waste down. She eventually became the village's tax collector, but in reality her life was shattered, she never married, her mother had a permanent nervous breakdown, and her father eventually committed suicide.

Wow that is very tragic indeed I have never had to experience such a thing as a family member going through that, but it seems ti had a huge affect on the parents. Is that quite normal for parents to be so heavily afected by a kid getting paralyzed?

When my gran was younger she use to tell me how there was no drink driving laws in the UK and she and her husband would drive around in the snow 'blotto'.

zombiegirl

I'm told the key to handling alcohol well is to always take it with food. What did your Training class say about that, @zombiegirl?

Yes, that's what I always do. The reason that servers/bartenders have to take these state mandated classes are to know how to keep people relatively sober and therefore lessen the liability of the bar/server. We were taught to offer food to drunk people, lol. We were always told that if we over-served someone and they went out and got into an accident, we could be considered liable, although I have never heard of anyone that this actually happened to... even though people are over-served all the time... *shrugs*

12oz of beer, I do not know how that would equate in pint form. But I get the idea of it, it seems that it would be quite effective. After doing this for say 6-8 hours, would you pass a DUI test though...

A pint is 16oz. Theoretically, that is what they say. Of course, it depends on your size and it depends on how much you've eaten and what the legal limit is... but I was taught in my class that your body will metabolize around a drink an hour. In Michigan where I live, we have a very strict limit and 2 drinks would make most "blow" over, or so I have been told. Having never been pulled over or given a sobriety test, I don't have any first hand experience with that.

ThailandTom

I don't own a car or ever have done. I prefer public transport or a motorbike, the latter is less of a choice to me these days. I do love how with public transport you can just relax and view the outside without a care in the world, ahhh

etherea

You've obviously never been on a bus in Spain Some of the drivers are fucking lunatics!

ThailandTom

lol the mini bus drivers in thailand are deadly. They have pressure deadlines and race frm Bangkok to hua hin and back at all hours. There are crashes and deaths weekly. Thai roads are very dangerous, but not as bad as India. There is a video of a train ride in india i found, it is a must see...
http://aff.ringtonepartner.com/redirect/action/2dzM1bHYxLnI3IT81KXp7aHN4ag_eQ__eQ_Uyi

Tosh

1 drink per hour and you are sound to drive?

A nice cold pint of whisky doesn't qualify, Tom!

:rolleyes:

Personally, I don't think ANY alcohol in any driver's system is a good thing.

In some countries, there is a zero limit, and in other countries, if you're involved in an accident and have alcohol in your blood stream (any amount and even if it's below the limit), you are automatically classed as being at fault.

etherea

Hahaha, Tom, you just reminded me of the minibuses in Kenya that run round Mombasa and the surrounding areas! The stuff of nightmares, but unfortunately the only real option to get from A to B.