The “Fred Theory”
Here in Oregon, we have improved our traffic safety record regarding alcohol-related traffic fatalities by 25.7 percent over a five-year period from 1997 to 2002, one of the best records in the country. I have a “Fred Theory” here: this may very well be due to the fact that more and more drinkers are switching to craft beer. You can’t just drink too much craft beer without noticing what is happening. I can go to a party, find only industrial yellow, and consume four cans before I even notice I’m drinking. That’s not possible with craft beer. Even one bottle tells you that you are consuming.
Ms. Schuman continued, “(L)awmakers (in New Mexico) approved a measure requiring ignition interlocks, devices that force drivers to pass a breatholyzer test to start a car. They’ll be required in every new vehicle sold in (that) state by 2008. A driver who blows .08 can’t turn over the engine.” She’d like to make that .00 to .02 percent!
That’s a classic in dumb ideas, if only because (as I have done on numerous demonstrations to homebrew groups) drinking even a small 8-ounce glass of fairly weak beer (Michelob Ultra), while stone-cold sober, will bring your breatholyzer reading instantly to 0.2, this even if you weigh 190 pounds, as I do.
That’s right: a reading of 0.2, not 0.02. Your actual Blood Alcohol (BA) will still be around .02, but you won’t be able to start that car, and women will go even higher with that test. What if you need to take your spouse to a hospital now? Zero tolerance is a dumb, dumb, dumb idea.
