ZeroBass.Exe Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Killing someone while drunk driving is murder. Everyone knows that your judgment and reflexes are impaired when you drink. Nobody gets drunk by accident. Anything that happens while drunk, that could have been avoided if in your right mind, is not an accident. If only more people realized this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Author Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Its not that people get the licenses too young, its that they don't get appropriate training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-n-j-i-n Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Its not that people get the licenses too young, its that they don't get appropriate training. People drink and drive and abuse their driving privileges. I doubt training itself will solve collegiate social culture when it comes down to reckless driving. Personally, I make it a point to never drink and drive. Then I decided never to drink to begin with. And I give rides to people who even had a casual drink. Annoying, maybe, but better safe than hurt or worse, dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Its not that people get the licenses too young, its that they don't get appropriate training. Regardless of drinking and driving, this is the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I have rarely felt this powerless. I've been in this same situation - almost got hit by a drunk driver who crossed several lanes of traffic to be in my lane at 60 mph driving towards me. they went on to kill four out of a family of five (only the 6-month-old baby survived). it's incredibly shaking to realize that our life on this earth is a tenuous grip on this half of reality at best, and it changes your perspective on how you approach things. i don't drink, either (props, Injin), but if i'm killed by a drunk, i'm still dead. it drives me nuts to see people on the news talk about a drunk driver and say something like 'but he was such a good person!' a good person is someone who can control their alcohol intake to make sure that something like that DOESN'T happen. i have no sympathy for drunks in any form, but those that drive while drunk are the equivalent of women who leave their babies in hot cars. my fiancee is the best thing that's ever happened to me. she's the reason that i get up in the morning and go to school and go to my job and all that. she was almost killed when she was twelve by a drunk careening into her mom's van while they were waiting to pull out of their driveway. the drunk was fine, linnea and her mom and brother had to go to the hospital on a backboard because of severe whiplash when their van rolled. it was ten in the morning, and the drunk was just going home from the local watering hole. situations like that make me really like the new apparatus that has been tested lately where you can't start your car until you breathe into a breathalyser. it'd be a real life-saver in a lot of situations. it doesn't help that so many of the people with licenses on the road are atrocious at driving. people use the time in their cars to put on makeup, talk on the phone, listen to the radio, eat food, shave, dry their hair, read...they forget that they're traveling in a two-ton vehicle going like sixty miles an hour. so frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kusabi Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 The minimal driving age in the Netherlands is 18. Still, numerous people from the age of 18-23 get killed in traffic, mostly due to alcohol. I was coming from a very US centric viewpoint, since that is my only experience, where you get a learner license at 15 in most states (some states like Iowa let you get a learner license at 14), and a full license at 16. Some states have started doing provisional licensing. Example: In Illinois, you can get a learner license at 15, if you sign up for a driver's education course, and then you now get a provisional license at 16 (I got my full license at 16 before the law changed). Basically it means that you can only have one other person under 18 in the car with you unless you have an adult 21 or over sitting in the front seat. You now get a full license at 18. Even after you get a "full" license, it still is in a vertical orientation letting people know that you are under 21. I don't drink at all if I plan to drive, and I'm more than happy to be the DD for my family. Some of the people I've seen drunk can't even handle themselves sitting in the back seat of my car, belted in. And these people think they are capable of handling a 3 ton automobile (I mean, SUV) hurtling down the road at any speed? Some people even have great difficulty controlling a car whilst sober! Driving in Atlanta is horrible. If you don't drive at least 80-85 on the freeway you will get your ass handed to you by the grill of a semi. Peope will still fly by you even at those speeds. Its crazy. This is most certainly true. Of course, it happens all over Georgia (de jure Interstate Speed Limit, 70 [110 km/h]. de facto Interstate Speed Limit, 90 [145 km/h]), but its even worse when you get inside I-285, when people drive 90 and the limit is 55 [90 km/h]. What's amazing to me is that people who hog the passing lane don't yield to faster traffic. Of course, then there are the other people who keep drifting over the lane lines. It always leads to a wreck, which then turns around and clogs the entire expressway network. Doubly irritating since there are sometimes no alternates that you can take. The US has some of the worst trained drivers, period. CNN even had a piece on driving while stupid (cnn.com) I took the test....100% score. US national average is a 77%, and Georgia is 44th worst in the nation. The test is all common sense material from driver's ed; the questions are directly off of written driver's exams in the US, so there really is no excuse for not scoring 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterSenshi Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I'm from Southern California, so I know crazy driving when I see it. I know driving can be crazy in a lot of the country, but when I went overseas it was at least as crazy as the things I saw driving in Los Angeles. For instance, if you're in China, all the drivers are pretty much new, due to the economic boom, and now streets are clogging roads with WAY too many cars, and traffic gridlock can be filled with people walking, scooters, motorbikes, and bicycles. I've seen some insane things on roads in California, but I never saw people walking on a freeway, crossing it. That was frigging insane. I agree that driving is a pretty dangerous sport, but it's fun when you're speeding so fast, you're basically praying not to crash.... not that I would know about any of that. Driving is part of the American character. You can choose to drive safely, or in an entertaining way. I don't advocate drunk or reckless driving, but driving is far too much fun to see it as just transportation, it's a form of exhiliration. Oh well, Cali bias rules... drive fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamoh Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Ghost Ride the Whip. but seriously, people are fucking nuts. I'm going to get the San Jose Sharks goal horn installed into my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzumebachi Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Sorry to hear that Jon. My stepmother was killed by a drunk driver several years ago. As were a couple of friends of mine in high school. New Mexico has an awful history of drunk driving. Until only a few years ago, liqour stores all over the state had drive-up windows. That's right, alcohol fucking drive-throughs. I used to live right across the street from one of these liqour stores, and in the short time I lived there, upwards of 10 people were killed by drunk drivers within a mile of my house. It's really, really fucking sad. I have no respect for anyone who does it. People should fucking know better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterSenshi Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 wow, you went/go to a Cal State? Awesome. As a sidenote.. my last post might sound like I'm advocating psycho driving. I'm not. I'm advocating responsible driving......... ........ .... with some venues for more enjoyable driving. I don't want anymore school buses run off the road by psychos anymore than anyone else, but I don't want driving relegated to nothing more interesting than getting from point A to B at 55 MPH. That also would be the loss of a great outlet for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
about:blank Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 The worst thing about drunk drivers, at least in my experience, is that most of the time, they want to drive. In fact, most of them think that "having a couple in them" makes them even better at driving. I've been in a few situations where I had to get in a car with someone who was drunk [or stoned], and I always offer to drive the vehicle for them. However, this just seems to piss them off, and then they try to "prove themselves" by showing me how capable they are of driving whilst intoxicated. If I continue to offer to drive, they start to become violent. So it's a scary situation either way you look at it. That being said, I know that not everyone is an "angry drunk" and that most people would probably let someone else drive if they were intoxicated. Still, It's just absolutely horrifying that some people seem to have no problem with driving under the influence. Also, situations like that make me really like the new apparatus that has been tested lately where you can't start your car until you breathe into a breathalyser. it'd be a real life-saver in a lot of situations. I agree with this wholeheartedly, and if this is implemented, I sure hope that it's a secure system. Because chances are, some crazy bastard is going to try to find a way to bypass it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkspast Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 like have some one else breathe in to it. Or use an inhaler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
about:blank Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 like have some one else breathe in to it. Or use an inhaler exactly . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Samus Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 That was very brave of you JJT to call 911. The situation could have been much MUCH worse. Glad to see you are ok so I can continue to listen to your awesome F-Zero piano mixes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 This thread reminded me of something that happened to my dad a couple years ago. He was going back through Atlanta on the way home from a fishing trip and he traffic was horrible. He passed some ambulances, but he didn't bother to look and see what the trouble was. Turns out some guy committed suicide by driving his motorcycle off of the highway above the one my dad was on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeleagueredandBeset Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 While the stories on this thread are unnerving, I'm glad to know that most of us are intelligent enough to realize how easily life can end when on the road. What really baffles me is how people can sit and watch horrid things like this go on, and then continue drinking as though it doesn't really cause any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Author Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 While the stories on this thread are unnerving, I'm glad to know that most of us are intelligent enough to realize how easily life can end when on the road. What really baffles me is how people can sit and watch horrid things like this go on, and then continue drinking as though it doesn't really cause any problems. "It's not gonna happen to me, I'm a better driver than this..." Happens to the best of us. I drove drunk, I drove stoned. Then someone I knew died. It kinda puts things in perspective if you are ready to listen. (No I was not the driver I wasn't even in the car, I never got into an accident stoned or drunk, at this point I know it was pure luck.) I'm not proud of these days. Every time there is one of these accidents, I feel as if it could have been me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterSenshi Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 There should be stiffer people who endanger others on the road, period. I know drunk drivers have gone to prison for like 3 months for crashing, gotten out, killed someone, etc. The sad thing is so many college parties, people never discuss this, and then everyone could be drunk, or the 'regular' driver isn't the one who's been sipping water, or whatever. 50,000 + people dead on the road each year, and the fact that some people literally get away with murder is appalling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenthian Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 It is a very sad thing indeed. Tragic that any life was lost. I have to say though, I am glad that YOU JJT and your friends are alive, and well. That is something I am sure you can be thankful about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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