I was watching some Hospital drama tonight and there was a plot about a couple (woman was pregnant) who where in a car and the guy was driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. He ran over a woman who ended up paralyzed and then she died. And also, the woman lost her baby. The bloke was gutted obviously. Great, spirit lifting programme it was too

Anyway, I don't think there's going be many people who post in this thread that will say drink driving is a good thing...but can they be forgiven? If they feel remorse and regret for what they did...should they be forgiven?

I heard a news article that said there was a state in America (Can't actually remember which one. Might be Texas) where drinking whilst driving was still legal to a degree. You could drive along whilst drinking a beer.
Is this moraly right and is it safe?

yeah, i saw holby city as well...

drink driving is pure evil, nothing else you can say about it. i know people who have got wasted, tried to drive, and ended up killing people. no matter how much someone resents something they've done, it doesn't make it any better. i'm sorry, but driving under the influence is not forgiveable...

i agree completely. driving under the influence of ANYTHING is inexcusible and stupid. you can say 'ah i've only had 5 beers. and besides, i passed my driver's test right? and those accidents only happen to dumb*sses'. unfortunatelly, everyone ALWAYS thinks that this stuff happens to 'someone else' which means that they'll be fine........ and then they run someone over.........

agree that you shouldn't drive underthe influence is just stupid.. here in Maine you can drink as long as your blood achole level is under .8 or something like that.. pretty dumb..

i don't really know. I've had some kind of experience in the matter long ago. If I met the person, I don't think I could forgive them...but I've never met them.

just seeing this crappy programme tonight made me realise that some people who have drunk some alcohol and then driven are not the bane of the Earth. They're just regular people like you and me who made a mistake. Obviously, you do have idiots who don't care if they're drunk or not when they go behind a wheel. They need locking up.

I think that drinking while driving, or driving while under the influence, is very dangerous. Unfortunately, I have had many friends and family members who have done both of those... and it makes me sick with worry. I do, however, think that people should be forgiven. That is assuming that the individual is sincerely sorry and will not do it again....



BTW: Texas is TEA-21 compliant, which means Texas has laws that prohibit the possession of any open alcoholic containers in the vehicle... and the consumption of alcohol in the vehicle (which would be hard to do without an opened container anyways...).

I did this once. I am so not proud of that fact... I'm not even gonna excuse it, I was stupid, end o story... It was that one time only, an since then I've been so conscious of it that even if I'm extremely drunk I'd never even consider drivin. In fact, if I'm goin out of a night an I'm drivin, I dun drink alcohol at all.

The laws need to be tighter, that's fer sure.

I agree. People who drink and drive are just being careless and not thinking. When they drive under the influence they endanger the lives of innocent people. If you are going to drink then you should make arrangements to either ,stay where you are,get a cab, have a designated driver or not drink at all. Killing an innocent person is not something you want to have hanging over your head for the rest of your life, I know I wouldn't.

i'm not really sure whether or not someone who drives under the influence deserves a 'forgive and forget (eventually)' policy. cause, while yes, when they made the decision to drive, they WERE under the influence and not able to think normally, they DEFINITELLY should've made some kind of arrangements so that they wouldn't be drinking if they were gonna drive, or make the option of driving unavailible to them (i.e. NOT drive there)

Its a tricky subject. I doubt there's many people who mean to kill people when they get behind the wheel of a car after a beer or two...it's an accident that they have to live with with. I like the fact that some bar's take away your keys if they think you're drunk.

Well, anyone who has read the Official Spam Thread the past couple weeks probably already knows my opinion on this subject.

Driving under the influence of anything is inexcusable. As for forgiveness...well, that depends on the person. If they truly only do it once (and once only), and no one was hurt, and they seem truly sorry (and don't just offer up flimsy excuses and tell people to get off their back about it), then yes, I believe in time they can be forgiven. Everyone makes mistakes. But anyone who doesn't feel bad enough about what they've done to even admit the fact that someone could have possibly been hurt or killed and accept a lecture about it when they deserve much worse....I lose all respect for them completely.

Like I said in the spam thread, I went to school w/ a kid who in 7th grade was killed by a woman who was driving under the influence of marijuana. He was standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the school bus. The woman of course walked away without a scratch. She was the one who deserved to die in that accident, not him.

This sort of thing honestly scares me. I walk home a lot at night when school is in session (on the evenings when my husband has to work, at least), and I have to go past the row of bars here on Main Street to get home. The idea of some of the people who stumble out of the bars driving home is honestly very frightening.

see cand, while i agree (in varying amounts) with everything you just said, there's another factor to consider. the same substance that impairs your driving skills also f*cks up the rest of your mind. including decision making skills. i'm not sayin that these ppl deserve a 'oh it's ok, your mind wasn't right then just never do it again and all is forgiven' policy, but..... well....... i dunno actually.......it just isn't like the ppl who drive drunk/high realize that they could quite easily kill someone (and if they do, then no forgiveness for them. ever. but i doubt that they realize, accept, and UNDERSTAND the risk that they're takin)

Well - I hope I stand up for the voice of reason and clear thinking...

NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE - with the state our roads are in, and with the number of lunatics out there - you might spill some.

_________________

Ok - that was a cheap joke...

Personally, I think that there needs to be tighter laws governing road usage... the vast majority of road traffic accidents are not caused by alcohol or drugs - but by a host of other issues - mistakes, bad weather. reckless driving (not even the excuse of alcohol abuse - these ppl should loose their licenses and their cars) or just plain old bad luck.

Slowing down the speed limit in built up areas will help.

Not to mention the fact that road safety has gone the way of the dodo. Roads are busier than ever, an pedestrians an cyclists abuse the roads terribly! If they got killed on a railway track or a runway, nobody would think of blamin the driver / pilot. So why is a road any different?

Yes, I appreciate they can use roads as well as cars. But I think everyone who uses the road should know the highway code!

So very, very true...

pedestrians who seem to think that the cars will just swerve out of the way while they blithley cross dual carriageways...

cyclists in built up areas (eg London) - many of whom beleive that the whole concept of traffic lights is just to stop cars and lorries - but not them...

I don't drink much myself. I'll drink maybe half a glass of wine or champagne over a couple of hours, that's it. Er, of course, I'm underage so even that's illeagal really...nevermind.

People who do drink that much, and then drive, even worse, annoy and scare me. It's just so stupid--but I guess I can forgive just about anybody, that's the kind of person I am, but oh, I don't know, maybe people who do that don't deserve forgiveness...and they most likely don't deserve to be president of the United States...i'm pretty sure I heard that about Bush, didn't I? Oh, probably, what haven't I heard...

I know that I for one, never drink and drive. If I party I'm either crashin at the location, or I don't drink heavy at all and stop at least two hours before I plan on leaving. Depending how I am at that point ( being sober isn't even the question it's a fatigue issue) I decide if it's wise to travel on home. Usually parties are an hour away from my home.

I can't possibly see the reasoning in someones mind to drive after punding back drinks. Simple train of thought, geez I can barely stand, wow I almost fell on my face, time to drive home. What could make you think that if you can't walk straight you can drive? I've been pretty far gone, and not once after I reached the point of chemical balance (50% each blood alcohol) that anyone I party with or I thought we could drive. At your parties no ones allowed to leave if they've had anything to drink with the hour. If you've been drinkin heavy, you not going anywhere. There's really no reason why someone shoul be behind the wheel in that state.

why drink and drive when you can smoke and fly? (joke! its just a joke people! )

seriously though, i think that drinking and driving is totally irasponsible(sp). just as irasponsible as having a loaded gun "hidden in the closet, out of reach" in a house full of children.

Honestly, Gerb...I've been so drunk that I ended up puking in my cat's food bowl (her room is right next to the bathroom, and it was too late by the time I stumbled in there). Even then, I never would have gotten behind the wheel (I can't drive anyway, lol...but even if I could, I can't see myself doing that). No matter how drunk/high you are, you should still have enough sense not to do that. If you are that out of it, you'll be laying in a pool of your own vomit, unable to get up and go to the car.

Sorry, but I don't think that the person's state of mind is an excuse at all. You do realize what you're doing when you are drunk, and like I said..if you are drunk enough to not realize, you'll be too sick to move.

i know you can't see yourself doing that cand, but y'never know (that was NOT an insult, btw, i was ONLY sayin that it happens to the best of us that's all)

No, Gerb. I do know. I know that, like I said, if I was that drunk I would be laying down, unable to even go to the car. I have experienced this and know it for a fact. Until I get to that point, I completely know what I am doing, and that is something I'd never do.

Going by my own experience, I can only assume it is the same for others. I believe that people who drive drunk do know what they are doing, because if they were to the point of forgetting things...they would be too sick to drive. That's why I find it inexcusable and, in cases where they make excuses for what they did, unforgiveable.

well, i have NO experience in this, so maybe you're right. i have no idea. what i DO know is that if someone tries to defend drunk driving/makes excuses/blames someone else, then i say no forgiveness, at least for a loooooong time