slices

Explains the attitude perhaps, justifies it no. Although to them it probably does. The closest I've gotten to discussing this with them is asking if there is a bar that they can walk to, the casual response probably said more than the actual words.

Mrs Danvers

No it doesn't. But I have often wondered if folks in the UK had to go at least three or four miles to find a drinking hole if more of them would find drunk driving acceptable.

The practice does need to be stigmatized.

retzie

Part of the problem with the lack of stigma is that people take it very badly if you either refuse to ride with them, or try to stop them driving themselves on the grounds that you think they've had a few too many. I mean, that's never an easy conversation to have back home, but I found it significantly more difficult here. It's starts as jokey-jokey, not understanding any possible objection, to taking grave personal offense. I learnt to keep my mouth shut, but jeebus, if anything had happened...

Yorkieabroad

I don't know about folk in general, but I do know that where we grew up, our regular watering holes out of town country pubs 10+ miles away, and that didn't force us into drinking and driving - it forced us into that old Pre-K skill - "sharing" the responsibility of being a designated driver....

retzie

This is 'Murka. We don' share here.

sir_eccles

Confirmation bias plays a part. They were fine last time. Besides, they weren't really drinking not like those other guys, those are the ones you really need to watch out for...

Bluegrass Lass

Exactly. We always had a designated driver when we went out. I don't know anyone who takes drinking/driving as a joke. Which does surprise me that you all have run in to so many peeps who do...then again, I suppose it really shouldn't surprise me, sadly.

TopSec

I wonder if it is a State thing? Here in Texas it seems 'the norm' to do it from my observations, maybe it's different in the other states?

Going slightly O/T here, but the phone/texting thing drives me crazy here. Everybody seems to be either texting or talking which IMHO is just as bad, if not worse than drink driving. They keep trying to stop it but Rick Perry vetoed thefts attempt saying more or less on the lines of "it's within your rights to be able to communicate whilst driving"

Nutek

Agreed on texting... Not understanding the issue with talking.

kodokan

We have friends who live about 3/4 of a mile from us, who throw excellent, semi-regular parties. They start about 3pm, end some time the early hours of the next day, and we all drink steadily throughout until we get to the downing shots and singing very loudly along to Paradise By The Dashboard Light stage of the evening.

Every time, the others comment how cute and 'good' we are, to have walked there, for 10-15 minutes, in our ideal Arizona climate. Every time, they fall into their cars and drive home - only a couple of miles through dead quiet neighborhood streets, but still...

A bar/restaurant opened up about 3 miles from our dull Stepford suburb. I think we're keeping it going single-handed - we've been there pretty much weekly on our bikes, ecstatic with having a non-driving place to drink at. There are gratifyingly a lot of other bikes too; it's almost European-feeling!

TopSec

I believe that concentration is lost whilst talking on the phone, even if it is handsfree. I have to admit that I don't know the difference between talking to someone sat next to you and talking on the phone?? but I know that I have done it myself whilst driving on the motorway (before the UK banned it) - I just sailed past the junction.

Yorkieabroad

I can't remember where I saw it, but it was just in the last couple of days. There had been a study (AAA maybe?) on teenage drivers and distractions while driving (not just cellphones). They all had videocams in the cars, watching the drivers. There were various sequences showing how the kids were "switching off" while they were talking, but and there was one stunning sequence where a 17 year old had a phone to his ear. Pulled up to an intersection. Stopped. Looked Left. Looked Right. Looked Left. Looked Right. Appeared to be doing everything right, but he still had the phone at his ear as he pulled out and got t-boned by an 18-wheeler he hadn't seen.

ETA - it was AAA - and the incident I was referring to was very similar to the one at 1:00 in this video clip
https://vimeo.com/aaapublicaffairs/r...614/989d09b15b

Interesting lack of emotion on a lot (not all) of their faces when they realized what was going on.

Yorkieabroad

I like the sound of that - when's the next one!

Yorkieabroad

There was a segment on this a while back, again, can't remember where, but the psychologist or safety guy or whoever was claiming that talking to a passenger in the car rather than on a phone had 2 main effects - 1) the driver is more likely to suspend talking to a passenger to concentrate on the road, and 2) the passenger was more likely to be appreciative of the driver getting "busy", at an intersection, or overtaking for example, hence would be more likely to "pause" the conversation, or even act as "copilot".

TopSec

Could be right there

Who else also turns off the radio when you are concentrating trying to find a street or are lost in town?