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Re: Drunk driving and testosterone



At 09:46 PM 4/4/99 -0700, Dan Sinclair inclined himself to state:
>>  Also, I think this example illustrates that
>>"legally drunk" doesn't necessarily mean "unimpaired" or "safe to
drive".

To which Frank J. Bauer was compelled to reply:
>sounds like this guy was driving under the influence of being an
a$$h*le.
>people like this can do as much danger whether they blow a .2 or a .002
and
>to call this a drunk driving incident because he had a beer or two
before
>he left is a joke.
>i wonder how much his testosterone level played in the decision making
>process...

DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ALCOHOL AND DRIVING.  That SHOULD be the end of
it, but because of stupidity and testosterone, it isn't.  I volunteered
for various agencies when I was in my late teens to early twenties, and
watched lots of sober and drunk drivers on roads and courses. You can
not make any predictions whatsoever about a person's drunk behavior
based on his/her sober behavior.  I saw mild-mannered engineering nerd
types (I can say that because I am one) who became fear-challenging
speed demons after only one beer (typ 0.02% BAC, legal to drive in any
state).  I have also seen macho NFL quarterbacks (I will not divulge
names) who became docile at 0.10% (illegal in any state) and probably
reasonable drivers.  The point is that you absolutely cannot predict
after-booze behavior from pre-booze behavior except that it is more
likely to be worse.  You seem to imply this guy would have had an
accident even if he'd been sober.  Statistically speaking, you're way
wrong.

Thankfully, this woman survived.  Hopefully, she will be able to share
the lesson she learned with others.  It looks like maybe you're one of
the first people who should be one of her students.  Listen.  Learn.
Live.  Your comment about the guy's testosterone level actually sounds
as if it comes from an overabundance of your own testosterone.  Could it
be that the lessons we need to learn are best found in our own
backyards?

d