Why are people this stupid?

[Racket_Man]

Well here deep in the heart of Cheeseheadland that is my nightmare ie. delivering pizza on Fri. night , Sat. night, home football games or any "drinking Holidays" (such as New Years Eve, St Pat's Day, Cinco De Mayo, etc.) or for that matter any day ending with a "y". AND my delivery area has LOTS of bars big and small. NOT a fun way to spend those nights at work especially after it gets past 10pm.

There have been several fatal accidents not far from my store. One involved a car going over 80+MPH driving north on a main road and running a set of stop lights and literally anhilating a car at that intersection. GUESS how drunk the offending driver was?????? VERY VERY VERY drunk

[Moirae]

Honestly I think drunk drivers should have their licenses revoked permanently on the first offense. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

I agree. The thing is, most drunk drivers that have had their licenses revoked will still drive. Their cars need to be taken from them, and their names need to be added to a database for car salesman so they know not to sell to them. But that won't happen because too many people say it will violate their rights.

I'm vehemently against drunk driving. I used to be much more against drinking more than one drink in a night but I've gotten better about that in recent years and will accept up to three provided enough time has gone past.

My dad was an alcoholic growing up (and from what my stepsister says, that hasn't gotten any better, but I hardly talk to him anymore).

I lost two of my cousins and almost my sister in a horrific drunk driving car crash when the car spun out near a town sign in a town about 20 minutes from my city. The metal railing went through the back car and through both of my cousins. One died instantly, the other in the ambulance of blood loss. My sister lost an 8inchx4inchx2inch length of muscle in her abdomen and now has a plastic plate in her chest because they took a muscle from her chest to replace it. Yet she still had a baby and is pregnant with her second one.

My uncle was killed in a head on crash with a police car.

None of my family were the ones driving in those crashing, each one was caused by the driver of the car they were in being drunk to the gills.

The amount of suffering caused by drunk driving for my family really doesn't have words for it. Lasting repercussions.

I wish I knew why people were stupid enough to get behind the wheel while drunk, I really do. And I a supporter of harsh punishments for people that kill someone while drunk.

[Chromatix]

To answer the OP's question is actually quite simple.

Drinking alcohol makes you stupid. Usually it's temporary, but...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

There have been several fatal accidents not far from my store. One involved a car going over 80+MPH driving north on a main road and running a set of stop lights and literally anhilating a car at that intersection. GUESS how drunk the offending driver was?????? VERY VERY VERY drunk

I think I know exactly which accident you're talking about there.

Some high school girls got killed. Just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Mikkel]

I agree. The thing is, most drunk drivers that have had their licenses revoked will still drive. Their cars need to be taken from them, and their names need to be added to a database for car salesman so they know not to sell to them. But that won't happen because too many people say it will violate their rights.

Half of that solution is in place here in Denmark. That is, people who have too many DUIs can buy a car, but if they are caught driving it, the car is confiscated and sold and the money is lost. They usually see the light (or run out of money) after a few times.

[Caractacus_Potts]

Honestly I think drunk drivers should have their licenses revoked permanently on the first offense. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

IDK. When I was a teenager I made the mistake of getting behind the wheel after drinking. I was lucky in the fact that I was pulled over and arrested before I could do any harm to myself or any innocent people.

I paid a fine, did community service, had my license revoked for 90 days and had to attend mandatory classes about the dangers of driving under the influence and the tragic results that can happen.

As a result almost, thirty years later, I have never nor would I ever consider driving if I have been drinking. I won't even touch a single beer if I have my car.

Maybe I should have had my license pulled forever. I don't know. Certainly if things had turned out differently and I had hurt or killed someone I would think that was a justified if not mild result.

[ADoyle90815]

One of my aunts on my mom's side was an alcoholic, and even if she managed to get DUI's and have her license taken away, she would have found a way to drive to and from local bars where she would spend several hours. That was a constant worry in the family, that she would kill innocent people in an accident when driving home from the bar.

In the end, she was diagnosed with adrenal cancer, which was found too late for any treatment to be effective, and she was dead within a month of the diagnosis. As awful as it sounds, the cancer was a relief since nobody else was going to die as a result of her drinking. She was also a heavy smoker, so it was also likely that she could have developed lung cancer or other smoking related disease if the alcoholism didn't kill her first. It's just a sad case of how severe addiction can be.

[MoonCat]

There was a case here where a young woman was drunk at 9:00 IN THE MORNING. She hit a car, injured a young mother, and killed the woman's baby. Luckily the woman's older daughter was not in the car, had been dropped off at daycare right before the accident. Who the hell drinks at 9:00 AM??

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Who the hell drinks at 9:00 AM??

Ever been to Wisconsin?

[EricKei]

Ever been to Wisconsin?

...Or New Orleans, where some bars don't *open* til after midnight

Wait, wait, no, scratch that. There is no such place as Wisconsin. Trying to fool us with your ten-dollar words, there. I'm on to you, man...

[AccountingDrone]

There was a case here where a young woman was drunk at 9:00 IN THE MORNING. She hit a car, injured a young mother, and killed the woman's baby. Luckily the woman's older daughter was not in the car, had been dropped off at daycare right before the accident. Who the hell drinks at 9:00 AM??

Back when my friend Matthew and I worked third shift we would hit some place for breakfast, grab a rented movie [this was mid 90s] and head home and drink for a few hours then crash out for our 'night' a few times a month.

When I work third shift, I get off work at about 8 am, drive home, putz around until at least 2 pm, then go to bed for my 8 hours, then get up and go to work. I never had issues getting the sleepies at 3 am because I treated my schedule like day workers did. You do not get up at 1 am and mess around until 8 am, work until 5 pm and immediately go to sleep, that would leave you with the sleepies at 2pm. You wake up just before going to work, and do recreational stuff for a few hours until bedtime.

[Racket_Man]

. Who the hell drinks at 9:00 AM??

Ever been to Wisconsin?

EVer see a line of factory workers coming off of 3d shift and the bars (quite a few in the area) open at 6 or 7am???

[eltf177]

Had an accident in the town where I work around 9:30am, the clown somehow did a 180 and ended up with his ass end sitting on top of a low retaining wall. It was absolutely mind-boggling just _how_ he'd managed this in a 25mph zone.

He told the cops he'd been drinking but was on his way to work. Could he call his boss and tell him he'd be late?

Cop told him, "Don't worry about it, _we'll_ call him."


Had another one around 10am, guy somehow missed the fact that all four lanes (one left, two through and one right) were all stopped at the red, he took out the car in front of him which took out the next two.

Guy was drunker than hell, I vividly remember his huge stack of business cards (I think he was a sales rep or something and these were from clients) blowing around the road and this guy crawling on his hands and knees picking them up.


Not to mention our lovely non-residents; you will frequently see them drunk well before noon. I liked the one who just fell asleep on the grass by the bus shelter, the cop who had to take him in told him "don't you even _think_ about throwing up in my car!"

[Geek King]

. You do not get up at 1 am and mess around until 8 am, work until 5 pm and immediately go to sleep, that would leave you with the sleepies at 2pm. You wake up just before going to work, and do recreational stuff for a few hours until bedtime.

Yeah, that's how I did my three-year stint of 8PM-8AM night shifts. In bed by 10AM to get up around 6PM for shower, food, and drive to work. Worked well on days off, because I could hit the 24-hour groceries at 3AM, and play video games online with the Brits and Aussies.

[Sundassa]

*bites back hard on the urge to go deep into fratching territory regarding drunk driving equaling premeditated murder/attempted murder*

I hope he and all other drunk drivers get the book thrown at them.

Oh, Evil, I fully agree. Although I made the mistake of sending my opinion onto my family, who had a couple drunk drivers by marriage, AND a teenage drunk driver (who told me it wasn't my business if she drank and drove, and that she's family so she should get more credit from me) at the time... Got reamed by everyone except my father and uncle (cop) who agreed with me.

But, I refuse to get in the car if the driver of the car has had any alcohol in the last few hours, even if it's just 1 glass of wine. And I do give my family credit, I hold them to a higher standard than society because I think more of them, of course if they fail and do something that stupid and reckless, I will be the first person telling the prosecutor to throw the book at them.