Do you ever drink and ride?

[Fritz The Cat]

I got to thinking about this deadly combination after talking with a friend of mine who lives down in Fla. She lost her son several years ago. He was out bar hopping with friends and had one drink too many. The night ended tragically. He T-Boned a car that was backing out of a driveway. She's bitter because his friends left him at the bar alone to have another beer for the road. God only knows if Alcohol was the cause of the crash or if it was inevitable. I also have another friend who carries a 12 pack in a cooler in his trunk (Harley Ultra Glide). He claims he's been doing it for years and never had an accident or got pulled over.

Personally, I'd rather not take the chance so I NEVER combine drinking and riding (or driving for that fact), but I was wondering what the general consensus was on this subject. I know a lot of Harley rides bar hop on their bikes around here, heck, there's a Hooters next to the local Harley dealership and they're always packed with happy Harley riders.   

[BamaDrifter64]

I might not be one who should answer this, because I quit drinking once I got married and had a family.  However, even if I were still drinking today, I don't think I would drink and drive, especially a bike.  Not only do the safety issues come into play, but so do the legal issues.  But then again, if everyone did the right thing or the smart thing, I wouldn't have a job.   

Dave

[santa]

Never

Santa

[YoungPUP]

On the bike Never. In the car only one or two.  Too risky to drink and drive when the Drivers license pays the bills.  Plus was informed about a year ago by my employer that a new law was in affect that .04 was the legal limit for a CDL in a NON COMMERCIAL VEHICLE (ie. your own car or bike)  Its 0.00 in a Comm Veh.

[Dave Ritsema]

Never, Ever.

[Daniel Meyer]

Never.

8 hours bottle to throttle.

Same as for pilots. You need the same reactions.

 

[Dave Ritsema]

Never.

8 hours bottle to throttle.

Same as for pilots. You need the same reactions.

 

Yep...Our rule on the Fire Department is 12 hours bottle to throttle.

You already have the deck stacked against you on a bike, its just plain foolish to introduce booze into the equation. I have seen first hand many times more than I wish to remember what the effects of mixing alcohol and motorized vehicles result in.

[BF]

Not no, but hell no.  

My faculties ain't what they used to be when I was younger.  Ain't no sense in diluting them with booze any further than they are already.

 

[Titan]

Not only no, but hell no! Anybody who drinks and drives is a complete idiot and a fool. I would like to see serious laws in this country with penalties right up there with attempted murder. Why should the innocent motoring public have to worry about drunken fools being out there on the road all the time? Why have we become so complacent to our friends and relatives getting maimed and killed by fools that drink and then drive a vehicle? We have fellow members right here on this board who have lost loved ones to drunk driving. My own wife was nearly killed a year ago by a scumbag, low-life, POS drunk driver in the middle of the day on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I don't believe it will ever get any better. You'll always have fools who think they can drive when they're drunk or the fools who play the guessing game with the percentages thinking the "two beers" they had won't make them over the .04% or whatever number. Yeah. That's the way I feel. It ain't funny.

[Robert]

As with any distraction or anything that impairs good quick judgement, is it really worth even the possibility of your life or someone elses? This is also for phones, texting,driving with headphones. Dont do it and if anyone hurt someone I loved because of alcohol or texting I would really have a hard time not wanting to take matters in my own hands. To me it is a addiction otherwise the persons own good judgement would kick in. There is a time and place for it but not on the road.

[fudgie]

Yes. 

[Hoser]

Can't say I never have, can say I never will again, DUI in the past was tolerated, it no longer is.  Went from one extreme to another in my opinion.  When I was a kid, the cops would pour out your beer and follow you home. If they caught you twice, they would wake up your dad when they got you home.  One time of that and I was cured.  It's more like a felony that never goes away now days.  It can ruin a mans employment chances for a very long time, and result in a black mark that never goes away, no matter if he (or she) never get in trouble again.  Don't do it!  Hoser

[BigAl]

40% of single bike accidents involve alchohol.Rode after a few, at local bike nights.

Not that I was legally breaking any law, but one beer for some is more than they can handle and ride.

But refrain as of now.

Not too much I have not done in the saddle.

Riding when sleepy or tired is just as bad.

My Angel that has saved me death or injury has logged many frequent flyer miles due to me.

Not just because of drunk night(BIKE NIGHT AT QUAKER STEAK AND LUBE) but a frequent pusher of luck and safety.

I ride with the wild bunch, but not lately due to back problems that are getting better.

It is never a good idea to ride after imbibbing or too soon after the day after, hungover.

Time is the only way to sober up.

[Serk]

Of course not!


...you might spill your drink!!


(Seriously though, I'm definitely in the "No way" category... I don't always do the full 8 hours, but I do wait a good long time from bottle to throttle.)

[Toledo Mark]

Never on the bike.  Maybe one if I am in the car, but never two.

[the.welder]

I will stick with 1 drink per hour 3 drinks per night when it comes to driving in a car. Now when it comes to the motorcycle I will not drink. This worked to my advantage when it came to house parties because it made a great excuse to be able to stay.

[Jess Tolbirt]

nope not me,,,

[Buda]

Had one DUI in a car probably 10 years ago  drink maybe 2 beers a year now and never on the bike

[R J]

Used to be a bar in Grass Valley that had some hellish Parties through out the year.   New Year's eve was a hoot and a holler, that was the only night you didn't get a chance to retrieve your keys.    You needed a designated driver to get them back.   And the DD better blow a .00.

They had a big empty fish bowl.

You walk in the door and want to drink, toss your keys in the bowl.

You get ready to leave, walk over by the fish bowl and holler at the Security Guard for the keys bowl.   You had to blow less than a DUI citation would get ya.

If you could blow legal, & find your keys in 20 seconds or less, you could have them.

No find, they call a cab for ya, with instructions to take you straight home.

Come back the next day and retrieve your keys and your ride.

Saved me a lot of paperwork over the years.

[R J]

Oh in answer to your question.

Drink, no, couldn't cause if I got caught it cost me my job, no questions asked.

I got by without a drink for 32 years, so I never started again.    Since I retired in 1986, I can count the # of drinks I've had on ONE hand.    Mainly a small glass of wine to celebrate with my boss lady on New Year's..   She is a wine lover.

PS:    We were classified as on the job 24/7.     Been several times during the tenure that I'd just get home and want a drink, to be called and sent to the farthest corner of our territory for an accident.    So when I wanted a drink, I just set down, bite the bullet and took a short nap.

[MarkT]

I'm gonna be in the minority in this thread.  I have never had a drinking problem - have always used alcohol in moderation.  OK, maybe not always, had some wilder nights back in college days.  That's many years ago - not today's behavior for me.  I drink only sometimes now, about 4 drinks a week.  And right this minute I'm having some egg nog. My self-imposed limit is 2 if I have to drive home.  Car or bike.  I don't have tolerence with those who don't limit themselves, and risk hurting themselves and others.  But I don't buy the tee-totaler argument if others were to try to apply it to me.  I do apply limits to myself - and I don't allow others to impose their rule on me, if they say "no drinking".  That's not the law here.  Though I understand where they are coming from - they probably have a personal issue about it.  But they are getting into my rights if they push it on me, so that's not happening.

[RP#62]

Definitely not.  Its all I can do to maintain control of the bike when I'm sober.
-RP

[Grumpy]

When I was younger, got so drunk some times, I woke up holding on to the grass it the front yard to keep from falling off. And the worst part I had drove home that way.  No more, driving or riding, no alcohol. If I drink, minimum 8 hrs before riding.

[John Schmidt]

Nope, never have, never will.....it's an exercise in absolute foolishness to do so. If I'm driving the car and we go out for dinner and happen to have some wine with it, I seldom even drink half a glass. Most of the time I simply don't order it with my meal. I don't need alcohol dulling my thinking process in order to be sociable.

[tank_post142]

i'll be honest: all the time.

[x]

Never more than 3 pints of Kilkenney.

[pBrain]

I have a hard enough time trying to focus on the road and shifting and keeping track of all the cagers around me to try and do it buzzed.

I have 6 beautiful daughters that I promised that I would come home to every day and I will never knowingly break that promise.

Besides, I think riding is a big enough high.

Mind you, I'll have a beer at a rally or something like that, but usually at the beginning of the event and with enough time and food to let my body process it before I hit the throttle again.

Ride safe...

Juan

[~ Timbrwolf]

....never...and I usually wont ride with someone who has more then one drink/beer.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I won't stop for mixed a drink or a beer while I'm riding or driving. But, I'll have a drink or a beer, and with a long sit, maybe two with dinner while riding but not if I'm driving a cage.

It's hard enough to stay alert while being bored in a cage. Alcohol would only make it worse. When I have to drive a cage then I don't drink anything which doesn't contain caffeine, the more the better. For me, the only way to stay alert when mailing myself somewhere in a cage is to have someone interesting to talk to or to have a good audio book. I suppose some would call either one distracted driving, but they probably have a higher boredom threshold than I do.

[Skinhead]

I have been lucky in the past, I realize this.  IF you drink and drive, it is only a matter of time before your luck runs out.  It just isn't worth it.  I do know this, I think I could drive better at 0.08 than my wife can sober.  Not willing to put it to the test however.

[Jess from VA]

Almost never.  

I have had a (one) beer with a big lunch while riding, but in my older age that beer makes me even more sleepy than the big lunch.  Now I prefer sweet tea or lemonade.

And I have had a (one) shot of irish, before lunch, on a very cold ride.

But I haven't done either in several years.

In groups, I won't do it at all, because I don't want anyone else to do it either.  They say a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and it will be that one rider who cannot ride very well anyway that takes out one or two other riders when they screw up from drinking.  AND, many many people are on some type of medication or another, and many meds do not go well with alcohol at all.  

I have been on group rides where the drinkers were kicked off the second half of the ride.  If they didn't leave, I would.

SCRC officially banns ANY alcohol on group rides, but I have seen the rule broken on occasion (but it has been one beer, no more).

I do burn cigars while I ride.
 

[Thulsa Doom]

No.

[olddog1946]

Was at one time "stupid enough" to do that...the good news is (For me) that I lived through it. Been 23 yrs since I quit drinking altogether.

[PhredValk]

One beer only, car or bike.
Fred.

[Mr. Nuts]

Gave it up over 13 years ago...but did it quite a bit when I was sure I didn't have a problem.

Glad I don't have to do that anymore.

I can't drink like a normal drinker. If I could drink like a normal drinker, I'd drink all the time.

[Titan]

Here's another case where somebody didn't allow anybody to impose their rule on him or get into his rights to drink and drive. And a family lost their little 6 year old child. Isn't in wonderful to know that people have a "right" to drink and drive?



Posted: Jan 01, 2012 12:52 PM EST
Updated: Jan 01, 2012 7:33 PM EST

LEXINGTON, SC (WIS) - A 6-year-old was killed in a felony DUI accident Sunday morning, according to the Lexington Police Department.

Authorities say Emma Longstreet was a passenger in a vehicle that was hit by a vehicle traveling west on Sunset Boulevard around 10:40am.

Police say 26-year-old Billy Patrick Hutto Jr. has been charged with felony driving under the influence causing death and felony driving under the influence causing great bodily injury.

Hutto is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center and scheduled to appear in bond court Monday at 10:00am.

Officials say traffic on Sunset Boulevard was detoured while police investigated the scene. Traffic was reopened a little later in the afternoon.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol's MAIT unit helped investigate the accident.

http://www.wistv.com/story/16425726/child-killed-in-felony-dui-accident

[8Track]

If I'm on the bike, its limited to one light beer with a meal.

In the car its 2 or three with a meal, provided I know I won't be driving for a few hours.

Cheers,

Mark

[sugerbear]

i sometimes have too much  tea or diet coke before riding. but the only thing that does is make me stop sooner

and no not ever, i don't drink. grew up with an alcoholic father. turned me off real early.

[Davet261]

I (we) usually have 2 beers per ride.  The bars we stop at are biker bars, where there are bikers there is good food.  We drink one beer waiting on food which normally takes about 20 min to 1/2 hour and one with our meal. We then sit for about an hour before we leave.  To be honest I think I sweat most of the beer out in the heat, I have never felt affected by only drinking 2 beers in 1 1/2 hours down time, but I am sure most will disagree

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

I have a time or two had 1 beer on a ride, but normally I don't and never more then one. May change that to never the more I think about it. I have the right, but the people on the road have rights also.