Thanks to some pervasive media campaigns (most significantly that of Mothers Against Drunk Driving) our generation has done a pretty good job of stigmatizing drunk driving. You’ll still encounter a few nuts and jackasses that insist they’re “<drunkspeak>ok to drive</drunkspeak>” but in general it’s understood that driving drunk is really stupid.
Having grown up with tag-lines like ‘Friends don’t let friends drink and drive’ burned into my subconscious I find it very odd to hear an oldie-olson1 talk about how drunk driving was common when they were growing up. This is the same generation that claims they didn’t know smoking was bad for you2.
This got me thinking: Old people are stupid and I am smart.
Upon further thinking, this premise seemed somewhat unlikely. Then it dawned on me: What do I do that that is so stupid it will make my kids wonder how we even managed to reproduce? The answer: Sleep deprived driving.
Having just gotten back from an all night drive to Halifax and back to deliver a “friend a co-worker” to the airport on his trip to New Zealand (the bastard), I can attest to the stupidity of driving while over-tired. Fortunately I had a fellow aov author to share the driving duties.
Bottom line is, driving while over tired is really stupid3.
- an individual over the age of 40
- this is stupid
- footnotes rule!
It’s a shame these message boards weren’t up earlier…
Anyhow, I got to thinking about this post last Tuesday. Matt calls, on his way home from seeing Radiohead in Montreal, and needs a lift from the Confederation Bridge at 2:00AM. On my way out to pick him up I was so tired, even after a large double double, that I had to remind myself to stay awake every few minutes. A bad sign. I feel stupid enough about it now let alone 20 years from now when my kids will ridicule me as an ignorant oldie olson who drove when he knew was too tired to drive…
Matt, no post about the concert yet? I’m sure the throngs of aov readers are refreshing incessantly.
thanks for the drive, nick. if you ever need a drive in the middle of the night, give me a ring.
anyone ever try getting a ride across the bridge (from nb to pe) when the shuttle service stops running? it really sucked for the ten minutes matt and i tried to hitchhike across.
matt’s probably not posting about the concert because he’s too busy trying to think of a way to contribute to the conversation about mazdas.
Hey your pretty…um…neive. Yeah just to let you know you will be old some day and this is not a sixty year old speaking i’m sixteen and by the way i do agree elders shouldnt drive if there impared of anything but yep you’ll be old and my generation will say the same thing and i’ll laugh at you. so feel special. 🙂
Hey, how does it feel to be neive? At least you’re not naive.
just wrote about this myself. falling asleep at the wheel is incredibly scary.
http://www.hubsville.com/blog/archives/000156.php#000156
Acually the original slogan was “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk… Then after a while it got switched to “Friends don’t let friends drink and drive” Now I am against people drinking and driving but as long as it is legal I’m not going to debate the topic that the BAC level should be lowered to .02.
Oh yea, by the way, I’m no longer focusing my efforts on my breathalyzer
site. Instead I turned my company into a nice informative non-profit site. You
can get all kinds of stats and resources on drunk
driving and learn some interesting things about alcohol.
One thing that I thought was hilarious was this quote from Abraham Lincoln, 16th
President of the U.S., observed that “It has long been recognized that the problems
with alcohol elate not to the use of a bad thing, but to the abuse of a good thing.”
I agree that driving sleepy is just as dangerous as driving drunk… it’s just a heck of a lot harder to prove.
I would like to say that it is not ok to drive while tired. On March 14, 2004 I lost my husband of 20 years and my 15 year old son because a young man who was 19 fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line hitting them head on. My husband and son were killed instantly, and the young man lived. I am outraged that people think it is not an epidemic…..Just put yourself in my shoes. Mt son was only 15 and never got a chance to drive, and my husband was only 39. Now I am left tp live with this horrible tragedy because someone else chose to be irresponsible and negligent. IT IS NOT OK!!!!!!!!!!