Drinking and Driving? (apartment, insurance, credit card)

[Nivekyom]

I just moved to LA from an East Coast city so I am very used to walking to bars/clubs and then either walking home or taking a cab (with a less than $20 fee) back to my place. However, now that I'm in LA, everything is much farther from my apartment and I guess people drive everywhere.

So my question is, do people always have a designated driver or spend huge amounts on cabs when they go out at night? Obviously driving drunk is out of the question.

[greggd1]

Its difficult isnt it?

Definitely dont drink and drive. The laws here are very tough.

I try and go to places where I know I can walk to a cluster of bars in one night so i limit the cost of taxi fares.

The other thing that works great is to take a cab with other people.
That way a $30 fair is like $10.

The other night we were waiting for a cab outside my g.f.'s place and there was another couple of people waiting as well. We asked "were ya goin"? and we all rode together. Worked out nice since we were all going to santa monica.

Designated drivers never really last that long. At least with my friends. They either un-designate themselves or they do it one or two times at most.

I tried the bus but it can be a big hassle and long waits sometimes.

[disgruntled la native]

Plenty of people drink and drive. I can't recommend it at all. I used to do it all the time, got a DUI and it ended up costing me 10,000. How many cab rides could I have taken with that amount (and I'm not even getting into the emotional stress, the other factors, the insurance spike)

If you must drink and drive, don't drink too much and don't give them a reason to pull you over (i.e. don't speed, make weird turns, have a broken taillight). Also, don't drink and drive at "bar hour" i.e. midnight to 4 am. People who go out to a fancy dinner or happy hour and are out by 8-9 pm drinking and driving almost never encounter problems, since there's so many cars out.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Just think, with all the money you can save from ordering soda water instead of booze, you can actually afford housing costs without having to max out your credit cards!

[SUPERCHIC]

there is a great company called YDRIVE LA they are on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...277896&sk=info

[greggd1]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Plenty of people drink and drive. I can't recommend it at all. I used to do it all the time, got a DUI and it ended up costing me 10,000. How many cab rides could I have taken with that amount (and I'm not even getting into the emotional stress, the other factors, the insurance spike)

If you must drink and drive, don't drink too much and don't give them a reason to pull you over (i.e. don't speed, make weird turns, have a broken taillight). Also, don't drink and drive at "bar hour" i.e. midnight to 4 am. People who go out to a fancy dinner or happy hour and are out by 8-9 pm drinking and driving almost never encounter problems, since there's so many cars out.

To add to the reason list:

Tinted windows, no turn signal on lane change, speeding, driving too slow, windows down, music loud etc. And most importantly dont make eye contact with them.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by greggd1

To add to the reason list:

Tinted windows, no turn signal on lane change, speeding, driving too slow, windows down, music loud etc. And most importantly dont make eye contact with them.

Another:

Drinking + Driving + Texting = wrapped around telephone pole (or equivalent)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Plenty of people drink and drive. I can't recommend it at all. I used to do it all the time, got a DUI and it ended up costing me 10,000. How many cab rides could I have taken with that amount (and I'm not even getting into the emotional stress, the other factors, the insurance spike)

Drinking and driving in L.A. is out of hand. To say "plenty of people drink and drive" is an understatement. While there is no exact number on the percentage of the intoxicated amongst the total number of drivers on the road it appears to be close to a majority often.

One can compare drinking and driving in L.A. with gang activity in L.A. It's dangerous especially for those who partake in it and there are serious laws against it but the scope of the problem is impossible for law enforcement to control. And like gang activity, enforcement-only approaches don't reduce it, to reduce it there needs to be alternatives - such as more public transport. LA has made progress in this regard but needs to make considerably more progress to get people, especially intoxicated people, out of their cars.

[disgruntled la native]

^Because the vast majority of people who drink and drive are doing it safely. Having 2-3 glasses of wine at dinner and driving is what most people do. There's a difference between driving buzzed (or in many cases, just about entirely sober) and coming back from a bar at 2 am with 5 shots and 5 beers in you.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

^Because the vast majority of people who drink and drive are doing it safely. Having 2-3 glasses of wine at dinner and driving is what most people do. There's a difference between driving buzzed (or in many cases, just about entirely sober) and coming back from a bar at 2 am with 5 shots and 5 beers in you.

I was not talking about people who drink 2-3 glasses of wine at dinner which is something that few people should object to. Unfortunately, the lowered standard of intoxication puts some people in the DUI category who really should not be. Another case of the laws being widened in order to boost government revenues at the cost of the private citizen.

I was referring to people being massively buzzed. And while there is no exact number on the percentage of L.A. drivers who are intoxicated to the point that their driving is affected, the percentage and actual number are very, very high.