They Take Drunk Driving Very Seriously... Down Under!

[Dave Hounddriver]

From your start as a Greyhound driver to your retirement.... was there a noticable change in attitudes and testing requirements for drivers as pertaining to drinking and driving?

HUGE! You wouldn't even want to know what the guys got away with prior to 1990. Since then things have got so strict its just not fun anymore. Retirement is better.

[Bruce]

As a nurse, I had to do my fair share of drug tests. No big deal for me, but the state of Florida disiplines HUNDREDS of nurses a year for stealing drugs, diverting drugs for personal use and even trying to cover their tracks by replacing injectible drugs with sterile water.

[FlyAway]

I am scared to death even having the slightest smell of alcohol on my breath when driving. A friend was hauled in for DUI because the officer smelled alcohol on his breath. He honestly took a few sips of a home brewed beer to taste it, They had him at the station in less than 20 minutes for a BAC. He was given the test and it cleared him. No measurable alcohol in his system.Okay, so he was cleared and released. Now he had to figure out how to get home. Next day he had to go back to the police station to get clearance to get his car out of the tow yard. Tow yard charged for the tow and a night in impound.

[i am bob]

A little over 20 years ago, I was getting off work and stopped for less than 2 minutes at a friend's retirement party. I couldn't stay as I had to go pick up my daughter and then pick up my ex downtown. I got my daughter at the babysitters and then, on my way downtown, got pulled over in a roadside check. "You been drinking?" "Had one draft sir"... As I had just chugged that beer down less than 5 minutes before, I blew an orange in the roadside check. Oh oh... BREATHALIZER!!! Now the roadside alert was normal because they would always show an orange 5 minutes after chugging a beer but the breathalizer will save me, right? What? .10? To the police station we go... What I didn't know at the time was they used the same machine again... .10... And they charged me with a DUI. Went to court and plead guilty (I did blow over), $2000 fine and loss of driving for 1 year. End of story, right? WRONG!!! One year later I go to get my licence back and guess what they told me? "You never lost your license sir! There was an error in the calibration of the breathalizers! 0.00 was calibrated as 0.08! So I spent a year with no license, paid a $2000 fine that was not refunded and had my insurance skyrocket!!! Just because somebody else screwed up!!!Moral of the story? Told my ex to take a taxi the next time!

[Tatoosh]

Stupidity is ubiquitous. I remember as a young guy in the Post Office, a retired navy chief that worked on a package sorter. Nice guy, fun to listen to his stories, and a good worker. But a year or two later, as I walk in to start my shift, I pass him being walked out in handcuffs. Why? Stealing small amounts of money out of the mail. Who knows how much, but there he went, his reputation ruined, the ability to hold another government job shot, all of his work toward getting a better retirement lost, and for pocket change.Sorry, not DUI related, but more to Bruce's point about foolish stuff people do.double edit: i am bob, OUCH! I'd be suing them. Really. That was lost money, ruined reputation and more than a little inconvenience due their negligence.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Tatoosh