Bluegrass Lass

Please don't think all 'Mericuns are so stupid to drive drunk. Even when I was at uni, none of us drove drunk. If we had a party at a friends' house, the first thing we did was take people's keys away as soon as they arrived. If we were all going out, we all made sure everyone had a DD. It wasn't always fun for the DD's, but it was worth knowing everyone would make it home ok.

Bob

Uni's a bit different...generally you ain't allowed to drink and parents get annoyed when one gets kicked out of college

Things are better in bigger cities for sure though, but it doesn't extend very far out into the burbs

G77

It's no different across the border here, seems to be socially acceptable and have personally seen cars weaving down the road.... Was a bit of an eye opener, I expected it to be at least as taboo as it is in the UK now....

They toughened the rules in Ontario recently, but not sure it will have much effect...

CitySimon

I've seen a large number of people who are very obviously under the influence while they are driving... Seriously, nobody could drive as badly if sober.

I've actually heard people where I work exchanging stories about their favorite method for getting away with drink driving when pulled over by the cops and some people go out to the bar for several hours straight from work and have no issue with drive home afterwards.

People don't seem to give it a second thought a lot of the time.

made of kent

thats scary, I was amazed when I got here, when you think that our perception of Americans is they don't drink and think you are an alcoholic if you have more than one drinK! how wrong I was!

chartreuse

I think it depends on time and circumstance. IME, Americans don't drink at lunchtime, and will think you an alky if you have a swift half on your lunch break. The corollary to that is that whereas we'd go out for a few jars in the evening, an American drinker (and many are not) gets as bladdered as he can as quickly as possible. It's a bit Japanese, in that respect.

Steerpike

This is one aspect of the US culture that I have yet to figure out! I associate almost 100% with local Americans. Not only do they not even consider a drink at lunchtime, they are not likely to want to go 'for a beer' at night either. They will go out for dinner and have a glass or two of wine, or a sociable beer or two with a meal, but no-one seems interested in drinking too much. This observation is primarily in the not-exactly-conservative Bay Area. But if I go to a sports-bar (not my personal favorite, but sometimes friends want to meet there), there seem to be plenty of baseball-cap wearing folks getting ripped. So - would it be fair to say this is a bit of a 'blue collar/white collar' thing?

I personally drink at home - I prefer it that way ... supposedly a sure sign of alcoholism!

Ridski

Christ, no wonder everyone out there is on meth.

Ridski

This is true. Most Americans outside the Frat Boy groups are drinking a couple with meals. Where i live there are two bars within walking distance, which is actually one of the reasons we picked our town. There are tons of places in South Jersey, though, where there's a ton of bars on strip malls on a highway nowhere any civilization. Makes no sense...

meauxna

Karma worthy!!!

orangemirror

Same here. I've spent the last year converting my basement into a British pub. I mainly drink there, either with visitors or on my tod. I live in the burbs but there are no bars or anywhere I can get a drink within about 5 miles of my front door!

Once a month I meet with some friends in a bar in the middle of us all (about 30mins from my house). I'll have 2 drinks and drive home (back in UK i wouldn't drive if I'd had more than 1 pint). I feel bad about it because I'm sure I'm over the limit.

Back home my social life revolved around pubs. There was probably a dozen pubs within a 10 minute walk from my front door. It's so different here and it's by far the thing I miss the most but you just have to adjust. I know I could just move into the city more to be near bars, but I love the area I live and just wish it had a couple of bars nearby.

Glen Ellyn Service Crew

They are called party plates.

another bloody yank

I see an opportunity here.

robin1234

Here are some comparative international statistics for road deaths. It looks like they are derived from OECD data. Apparently, in the UK there were 5.34 road accident deaths per 100,000 population in 2004, in the USA there were 14.53. I suspect that living in a rural area, the carnage is much worse than in cities... everyone complains about Boston drivers, but probably most of their collisions are at low speed and not fatal.

Ridski

I'd love to do something like that - converting my basement into a British Pub. Unfortunately I don't know enough 17 year old girls willing to get munted on Diamond White and throw up outside my backdoor to make it authentic.