Its totally the same here in Colorado Springs every bar you go to is full of people drinking and driving. Your right the public transport and one taxi service is crap, on St Patricks night I was waiting over 2 hours to get a cab to go down town and I was lucky that turned up. I think the taxi problem is down to the way its run basically you make a call to yellow cab then they send an area code to the cabs computer and then if your lucky and there's a driver in your area he/she may decide to take your job.

The other thing is the state makes so much money out of the fines they would probably suffer if they did anything about the transport.

All in due time my girl, all in due time. That will come just following the lawsuit against fast food (similar to the tobacco suit a few years ago), and the soft drink tax of 10 cents/12 oz. Sometime in the next 5-7 years.

....or to shoot a President from the 6th floor of a book depository!

One of the things about this article that aroused my curiousity was the references to "undercover agents" and "sting operation". The cynic in me wondered if this meant that plain clothes cops were going into bars, buying people a few drinks, and then arresting them. Is that beyond the realms of possibility in Texas?

Of course, if they were really worried about public drunkeness they'd just go to Galveston during Mardi Gras or San Padre during Spring Break - they could cover their year's quota at either.

Personally, if I were a cop, I'd lobby to be working on "inflitrating" bars rather than trying to catch the well armed drug dealers can't blame them for trying!

Wow, I remember Texas having drive through liquor stores but not drive through bars - Colorado Springs is just asking for trouble

I have only once gone down town Dallas for a knees up the whole time I have been here (6 1/2 years)....just like you said it was a 2 hour wait for a taxi and cost us $40 to go roughly 15 miles, never again, I just drink at home now whilst grilling a steak, cheaper and safer.

Back in blighty my mates and I would share a 7 seater to go into town...10 minute wait and cost a couple of quid each.

First time I was out on the toot in Houston back in the 80's it scared me sh1tless doing a pubcrawl with a bunch of americans, all in their own cars, straight from work, driving from bar to bar till about 2am....back then I was young and green and went along with it - now I'd just make my excuses and disappear....lifes too short...

Most of the time when we go out, my wife drives cos she doesn't drink . Now I only really go on the piss in Houston once a year ( ) when a mate from the Uk comes through en route to chemicals conference in San Antonio. Last year, we hooked up with a few broker friends as well, and one of them had sorted out the transport for the night. When it turned up, it was a stretch limo - he got all sorts of grief for trying to be a flash git, but he claimed it was $40/hour, min 4 hours. There were 8 of us - having this limo sitting outside the bars waiting for us was almost cheaper than actually using the yellow cabs to get around- and a damn sight more convenient!

All down to "community standards." Meaning: stay the phluck away from anal-retentive areas where they can't decide whether Drink Is Evil or whether just to get totally wankered.

In the Netherlands there is actually a service that will haul you home free or low-cost, called BOB. You are supposed to invite BOB to all of your parties.

Here in Austin some enterprising soul has set up a business that claims to drive you home *in your own car* for the same cost as a taxi. Of course, I'm waiting for the first lawsuit after the same poor soul has a collision with a pisshead carousing home at chucking out time.

True, but if you sell someone a few tequila slammers they won't be drunk *when you sell them*.

www.DumbLaws.com

Have fun!

You're right about the drinking and driving, American's do it without thinking but here...no car = no life.....they don't have the luxury of walking pissed as a fart from pub to pub...ah those where the days ....anyway if that's the reason for the arrests then why don't the police wait until they are getting into their vehicle? Arresting somebody in a bar is ABSURD! next they be arresting us for drinking in our own homes!! :scared:

"hic"

Portland, Dorset where I used to live, was a lump of rock 8 miles long by 5 miles wide and we had 44 pubs on it

When the Navy was based there, we had a "terrace house" line of pubs one after another, you literally staggered no more than 10 feet from one door to the next.....now thats drinking

I think the law here is they have to have a good reason to pull you over in the first place and waiting outside a bar is entrapment, although they could just say you swerved across a lane and that would become irrelevant if you were dunk.

I say they need to accept the fact that Americans drink and do something about the transport system otherwise I can't see any change in the near future.

Sorry about the rant but I'm fed up of waiting for cabs all the time they just seem to take forever and it gets pretty cold at night here!

Americans drink but surely we don't get drunk! Why that's just lewd!


Americans need to actually THINK ABOUT TOUGH PROBLEMS rather than switching on American Idol or the next sports match.