Are passengers responsible if the driver is drunk?

[Amelia G]

Have you ever allowed someone else to drive you some place when they had too much to drink? If that situation were to occur today, would you still permit it? How likely are you to get out of the car if the person driving might be DUI or DWI? Do you feel passengers are responsible if the driver is drunk? Would you vote for a referendum law to make passengers legally responsible for anything which happened while they were riding with a drunk person?

[OliX]

Last question -> Hell yeah.
I'm pretty much hard core on this topic. I never allowed my self to get in the car with a drunk person and I did everything in my power to stop it from happening, DUI and DWI that is.

I bet will all agree with me.

[JonQ]

I bet will all agree with me.

I agree with OliX :P

How likely are you to get out of the car if the person driving might be DUI or DWI?
100%

Do you feel passengers are responsible if the driver is drunk?
Absolutely not. It's the driver's choice to be drinking and driving and the passengers choice to get in the car. However, I would like to think that friends/family would do their best to stop the driver making such a mistake in the first place. A bit of potential aggro at the time is far better than being wrapped around a tree or facing jail time.

Would you vote for a referendum law to make passengers legally responsible for anything which happened while they were riding with a drunk person?
Again, no. You can't penalise people for the stupidity of others. I would say there is a moral responsibility there to try and stop someone, and how far you are willing to go to do that (take keys etc.) is up to you...but first and foremost a driver is responsible for the roadworthiness of the vehicle and it's driver.
Apart from anything else, it may not always be obvious that someone is over the legal limit - roaring drunk is one thing but most people wouldn't get in the car with family or friends and ask if they've had a glass or wine or two. You just trust that they wouldn't put you or themselves in danger like that.

[nathanmbailey]

Before I get started, I figured I'd let everyone know that I have a DUI with a BA of .205. They stopped me because I was going through the gate to get on post and I smelled like alcohol because someone had spilled their beer on me. When they took me in, I was walking straight, my speech was slightly slirred, but hardly enough to notice, and I passed the field sobriety test. This is all according to the arresting officers.

Alcohol affects people differently, but if I've learned the hard way what kinds of things can happen to you, so now I definately keep friends from driving drunk because there were times when the guy who drove home was the one who made it to the car first. Now I've gone to the extreme that I slashed my friend's tire because he tried to fight me when I tried to take his keys away.

If a passenger is injured because the driving is drunk, then they already have to cover their own medical bills usually. But that's them being stupid and a bad friend.

[malcolm]

if you're stupid enough to get in a car with someone who is drunk or to let someone who is drunk get in a car and drive off then yes,

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I'd say it depends on how drunk the passenger is. If the passenger is pretty sober, than yes. If the passenger is also drunk, than no. I've been in situations before where I let someone drive drunk with me in the car...Not because I knew he or she was drunk, but because I was so obliterated myself, I didn't even realize how bad off they were. Usually the next morning is when they'd tell me, "I was so bombed last night". And I was always like , "Holy shit! Than why did you drive?"

[ROGIZOID]

I have let a person drive me when they have consumed 2-4 beers.
Which i still pretty stupid i admit.


But i do believe passengers are also responsible.
If you know someone is trashed, then dont get into the car with them.

EX.
A friend of mine, was absolutely wasted out of her mind. She wanted to go home. So me and my friends told her, she should sleep it off first before we left. She was angry for reason unknown, and demanded we give her, her keys.
So for the next 45 minutes of give me my fucking keys, they belong to me blahhhh blahhhh blahhhh we gave her, her keys. She said she was leaving right then and there and if we wanted a ride we would get into the car. My other friend did, I didnt. Im not fucking retarded.
Lo and behold they got into a accident that night.

The driver didnt get hurt, but the passenger did.
You cant blame anyone else but yourself.

[Mr Karl]

why not spare all the debates and say that if you get caught driving drunk it's a death sentence for you...........within a month

a few hangings later and I'm sure we'll see a lot less drunk drivers

[Mr Karl]

and no, I think the driver is the only one who should be responsible for his/her own actions................If you feel the need to stop an idiot that's totaly cool but if you don't then you shouldn't be held liable

[Amelia G]

why not spare all the debates and say that if you get caught driving drunk it's a death sentence for you...........within a month

a few hangings later and I'm sure we'll see a lot less drunk drivers

Actually, I think investing in public transport which is convenient and open past 2am would solve the problem way better than hanging. Most people have either been a passenger in a car where the driver had too much to drink or driven with too much booze in their system. And the punishments are already crazy Draconian, like ruin a person's life, put them on welfare, make it so they can never get all sorts of jobs, etc. ruined. Yet people still do it.

[Mr Karl]

yeah, I know................but, public transport after 2 am?..........like that'll ever happen, ...............and people will still drive

I'm just saying maybe instead of draconian punishments they should try extreme ones, who knows might work, might not.

I know people who won't go to singapore cause it's kind of extreme

[OliX]

yeah, I know................but, public transport after 2 am?..........like that'll ever happen,

You ever been to Sweden? In Gothenburg there's only small gap between 4am and 5am that is without trams. Buses finish of earlier but trams go almost everywhere important.

[VoldtaEngler]

I'm surprised with the tech nowadays in cars, there isn't an OnStar like feature that can measure alcohol breath content when the driver breathes, and then auto shut down the car and call a taxi...or the cops.

Hey GM...are you listening? There's your bailout.

P.s. Woo! 3,000 posts

[malcolm]

there is but it isnt on star.

it's a breath ignition inner lock device. they give it to people out here once they've been busted with dui.

you breathe into it and if your breath comes back with alcohol it shuts down and it makes you take random tests every now and again while driving.

[inox]

No, the passenger should not be legally responsible.

It's too easy to not know someone is over a legal limit, and it then opens the door for other duties, such as passengers being responsible b/c the driver was high, or otherwise altered in a hard-to-detect way. Or, maybe just too fatigued to drive.

The driver is the one who makes the decision, the driver is the only one who should be responsible.

[Morning Glory]

should airline passengers be responsible if the pilot of the plane is drunk?

[LaurenWK]

I have definitely stopped people from driving when they seemed to be too intoxicated to do so, but (thankfully) most of my friends seem to know their limits and know when to stay put.

I think people SHOULD try to keep others from driving when intoxicated, but I don't think there should be laws to penalize them for not doing so.... Hypothetically, say 23-year-old Jill gets really wasted (legally) and John, who's had a few too many drinks, offers her a ride home. If Jill accepts and is too drunk to realize that John shouldn't be driving, either, why should she be blamed for John's bad decision? Or what if Jackie's mother has had a few too many drinks at a New Year's party and Jackie doesn't know enough to realize that she shouldn't be driving? Also, I definitely know a few people who don't show the most obvious signs, when drunk. People who get into the car with a drunk driver can't always KNOW that that driver shouldn't be behind the wheel. It just isn't fair to hold people responsible for the irresponsible actions of others.


And I wonder... what do you think, Amelia? You ask a lot of really interesting questions and I don't see your answers, a lot of the time. I'm curious.

[LaurenWK]

Actually, I think investing in public transport which is convenient and open past 2am would solve the problem way better than hanging. Most people have either been a passenger in a car where the driver had too much to drink or driven with too much booze in their system. And the punishments are already crazy Draconian, like ruin a person's life, put them on welfare, make it so they can never get all sorts of jobs, etc. ruined. Yet people still do it.

AGREED! Man, I didn't realize quite how spoiled I was, when I lived in New York! You could get from anywhere to anywhere, whenever you wanted! It was so EASY to be responsible! I definitely miss it, living in San Francisco... and it seems even worse, when I'm in LA. It kind of seems like they do it on purpose because they want to make money off of the people who drive drunk....

[Tigerlily]

I think the person who's driving should be responsible enough to say "Hey I'm drunk I shouldn't be driving" but then again it sometimes rarely happens that way. People become irresponsible for not anticipating what they have to do AFTER they drink and then when they have obligations to leave, the priority then switches to moving to the next task.
I would say that people who are riding passenger should be responsible enough to switch seats or at least speak up on the other persons behalf. Then again that can rarely be the case if everyone in the situation is intoxicated, because sometimes logic can become confusing.

I don't really know which side to go for...

[FedorasBox]

I am not a fan of drinking and driving. I have been known to "Mom" on my friends and foot the bill for a cab...or walk 3 miles home in the rain.

I don't want to be made responsible for someone else's stupid decisions. A friend once picked me up to go out and was already drunk. It took me a while to figure out what she had been doing. I thought she came to get me from work.