4 ms·

I don't get your point. Are you defending people driving drunk in the USA because they are more likely to be caught? In my country it's also common to get caug

by msm_ 3y ago

I don't get your point. Are you defending people driving drunk in the USA because they are more likely to be caught? In my country it's also common to get caught after being stopped for speeding or car malfunction (like missing headlight), after a minor crash, by driving in a suspicious way, or just during a random check (that police is allowed to do). In total, around 450 drivers out of 1000 are tested for drunk-driving every year. It's one of the higher numbers in EU, so drunk drivers here are also (hopefully) likely to be caught. And the US DUI limit is insane - 0.08% BAC. In my country it's 0.02% BAC and if you get caught you lose a driving license for at least 6 months (with progressively more severe consequences for higher violations, up to a prison sentence, lifetime driving ban and losing your car permanently).

Scoundreller 3y ago
Generally, the more likely you are to get away with an offence, the steeper the penalty. I can't speak for all EU countries, but I get the feeling that traffic enforcement is a lower priority by EU police than US/Canada. Several hypothesized factors for this in EU: more competency-based licensing, more regular technical inspections of vehicles (so fewer missing headlights), more automated enforcement (so fewer in-person controls), less focus on revenue generation by police (again, fewer in-person speed/mechanical controls), and most collisions just being a matter of submitting paperwork to insurance without police involvement. In Ontario Canada, police interaction is mandatory if any injury, >$2k damage or public property damage, so 99% of collisions, which is far different than France at least. So unless you have mobile alcohol checkpoints, even if drink-driving happens at the same rate as elsewhere, you're less likely to be caught in EU. And those that are caught probably did something more significant at the same time to warrant police attention. But sounds like your country, testing 45% of drivers per year, makes up for those several factors I brought up. Doesn't seem to be the norm in my EU experience - I do ~25% of my driving there. 20 year old EU data on this on p. 21 here: https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-07/02-alcohol_en.pdf https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021...
s1artibartfast 3y ago
0.02 seems absolutely insanely low. Being awake for 17 hours (working late) is similar to having a BAC of 0.05%. [1] Being awake for 24 hours (working a double shift) is similar to having a BAC of 0.10% Simply talking on a phone while driving has been shown to be similar to a BAC of 0.08%. Texting while driving is equivalent to a BAC of 0.19%! [2] It seems like 0.02% BAC would be similar to listening to the radio. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/longhours/mod3/08.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/long... https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2016/07/26/texting-and-driving#:~:text=Texting%20while%20driving%20is%20like,blood%20alcohol%20content%20while%20driving https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2016/07/26/texting-and-....
- fomine3 3y ago
  Average people can't estimate how much I can drink below the BAC limit. It's basically to ban drunk driving completely.
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    rather, you mean it is a ban on drinking anything and driving, right?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - fomine3 3y ago
      Yeah I guess that. If it's 0.00%, it may cause false positives with whiskey chocolate cake or mouthwash with alcohol.
AlgorithmicTime 3y ago
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by msm_ 3y ago

Scoundreller 3y ago

Generally, the more likely you are to get away with an offence, the steeper the penalty. I can't speak for all EU countries, but I get the feeling that traffic enforcement is a lower priority by EU police than US/Canada. Several hypothesized factors for this in EU: more competency-based licensing, more regular technical inspections of vehicles (so fewer missing headlights), more automated enforcement (so fewer in-person controls), less focus on revenue generation by police (again, fewer in-person speed/mechanical controls), and most collisions just being a matter of submitting paperwork to insurance without police involvement. In Ontario Canada, police interaction is mandatory if any injury, >$2k damage or public property damage, so 99% of collisions, which is far different than France at least. So unless you have mobile alcohol checkpoints, even if drink-driving happens at the same rate as elsewhere, you're less likely to be caught in EU. And those that are caught probably did something more significant at the same time to warrant police attention. But sounds like your country, testing 45% of drivers per year, makes up for those several factors I brought up. Doesn't seem to be the norm in my EU experience - I do ~25% of my driving there. 20 year old EU data on this on p. 21 here: https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-07/02-alcohol_en.pdf https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021...

s1artibartfast 3y ago

0.02 seems absolutely insanely low. Being awake for 17 hours (working late) is similar to having a BAC of 0.05%. [1] Being awake for 24 hours (working a double shift) is similar to having a BAC of 0.10% Simply talking on a phone while driving has been shown to be similar to a BAC of 0.08%. Texting while driving is equivalent to a BAC of 0.19%! [2] It seems like 0.02% BAC would be similar to listening to the radio. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/longhours/mod3/08.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/long... https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2016/07/26/texting-and-driving#:~:text=Texting%20while%20driving%20is%20like,blood%20alcohol%20content%20while%20driving https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2016/07/26/texting-and-....

fomine3 3y ago
Average people can't estimate how much I can drink below the BAC limit. It's basically to ban drunk driving completely.
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  rather, you mean it is a ban on drinking anything and driving, right?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - fomine3 3y ago
    Yeah I guess that. If it's 0.00%, it may cause false positives with whiskey chocolate cake or mouthwash with alcohol.

AlgorithmicTime 3y ago

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