Um Drink No Inferno Drive

[Curtis Cassel]

Onething has puzzled me more than anything else after joining this forum. It is the drinking and driving subject. Starting and processing on my planning for a Kentucky visit have really increased it to a real inferno. Reading the forum I get the impression that everybody how is going around on distillery visits are travelling in their cars (I guess partly because it in some cases it is the only possibility). The same goes for tasting events like the ones the study group on the west coast have for instance. As the limit of alcohol that is allowed in the blood when driving in Kentucky and as I understand in must other parts of USA as well is 0.08 parts per 1000 this mean as I see it that you cant drink anything at all shortly before you are going to drive. My question is the following. How do you manage this? Do you spit, have friends that drive you or do you simply do the visits/tasting events without drinking?

Leif, in the visits I've done, we usually don't sample whiskey during the tours. First, it is not always possible to taste whiskey on a tour. When I toured Trace, I did it myself, just walked around, asked questions. I wasn't part of a tour, there was no tasting.

There are so many opportunities to sample during KBF when in Bardstown (i.e., when not driving) that it is not really necessary to do it during distillery tours. Of course if tasting is made available and you are driving, one should either pass or take very little to ensure compliance with the DUI rules. I try as far as possible not to take anything when driving there. It is a good discipline and best to leave it for the KBF events at night and Gazebo affairs when one is safely off the road.

If those events take you outside Bardstown (e.g., Gala and some other KBF events) it is usually possible by prior arrangement to go with a group in which there is a "designated driver". Or, arrange for a taxi.

Thanks for your correction. However I have got answers from several directions in this matter. Are you really sure about this? If you lock at the search function and go back to me original thread you will see that I have had different answers on this problem. However I did get stuck with the answer that the limit is 0.08 parts per 1000. If it is parts per 100 it is a completely different thing.

Of course, it's also why many of us take rooms at the General Nelson -- not just to be near the Gazebo (which is a plenty good-enough excuse), but to avoid driving after tasting there. It's also an easy walk to downtown Bardstown and the Festival lawn.

In adding to Tim's mention of the Gen. Nelson, Troyce and I have gone to the Bourbon, Jazz, and Cigar function the last couple of years. Bobbie at the Gen. Nelson has set us up with a free shuttle service to the venue (which is not within walking distance). I'm not sure, but this shuttle service may be available for other events as well?

I just wouldn't take the advice, (which I don't know if it has really been given the way you state it), that you can drink moderate amounts and still drive. Maybe my definition of moderate is different than yours. Like someone else said, you can still get thrown in the pokey for the night for blowing under .08. Which will quickly ruin your trip. You probably won't get convicted of DUI, but you can still get arrested.

Since you have already posted regarding your driving/navigation skills; I would be very cautious of drinking and driving. One thing cops look for is people that are driving really slow and don't appear to know where they are going, and I think you might fit into that catagory without anything to drink.

Like someone else said, you can still get thrown in the pokey for the night for blowing under .08. Which will quickly ruin your trip. You probably won't get convicted of DUI, but you can still get arrested.

Not long ago a Kentucky State Trooper pulled me over because I didn't dim my headlights...The first question I asked him (in a very upleasant tone) what have I done wrong for you to make a U-turn in the middle of the road to pull me over?...He told me that the first signal of a drunk driver was the "lights dim" issue...He could smell the bourbon reeking from my clothes. He asked if I had been drinking? All the while he was shinning a flashlight in my face!...Very, very close to my face!

I told him exactly what I thought. I vented my opinion about driving that road all these years and some of the stuff I have witnessed, with no law in sight late night!...Mind you, I was so pissed off that I wanted to smack that young man!

Although I am not familiar with the law in Kentucky, I can tell you for certain that in California and Arizona it doesn't work that way. Testing at 0.08% BAC or above is legally defined as conclusive proof of driving while impaired. However, a result lower than 0.08% is not legally defined as proof that the drive is not impaired.

I've never looked at the law itself, but the driver's license booklet in California says specifically that some drivers may be impaired a a level less than 0.08%. Presumably evidence of any level of BAC plus testimony by the arresting officer that the driver was not adequately controlling the vehicle would be sufficient to prove the charge of driving under the influence.

Dave answered your "on what grounds" question pretty well. If you did blow under .08 and got arrested, you would probably get the charge downgraded to wreckless driving when you went to court; however I don't think you want to deal with that.

Actually driving well under the speed limit combined with someone driving like they don't know where they are going is one of the best hints to a cop that someone is driving drunk. And yes you can get fined for driving well under the speed limit. I'm just telling you that certain cops look for the slightest thing to pull someone over. Just giving you my advice.

You have to keep in mind that there are other drugs that you can get a DUI for being on, and you can't blow into a machine to detect them. Thus, the police have the option of arresting someone for DUI even if they don't blow a .08. That is just one reason you can get arrested blowing below .08.

I do actually think I understand both the facts and rationale by now. However I think this give the polis officer that pull you over far too big responsibility and power. It would be better to lower the limit a bit and just go for that as I see it. But as things are as they are I will try to adjust my driving after the existing rules as well as I can.

Six people have been confirmed dead in the blazes that tore apart areas in Hawaii. Terrifying footage shows panicked families fleeing through an inferno surrounded by flames on all sides as the beautiful island of Maui in Hawaii burns today.

Dozens if not hundreds of heartbreaking clips and images have poured out from the paradise island today amid fears the historically popular tropical holiday getaway of Lahaina in Maui County has been completely destroyed.

It's a perfect storm. Deadly powerful winds from Hurricane Dora have lashed the island and whipped up the flames from the wildfires. Tired firefighters have seen massive blazes they had thought contained re-erupt and spread as the winds lap them up.

In one clip, the driver can be heard breathing very heavily and his friends in the car try to convince him to keep going, and that they are nearing a safe point, as flames rise all around the vehicle. "You can't see, bro", utters the driver, as he tries to drive him and his pals to safety despite being unable to see more than a few feet in front.

Lahaina resident Tiare Lawrence spoke to local media and said everyone she knew had seen their homes burn down. She said the scenes were like the apocalypse as people ran for their lives from the flames.

And Hawaiian Twitter user @jesadreamer told her followers: "What was known as a popular tourist destination is currently turning to ash. My family, my friends and my small island community in turmoil, heartbreak and danger as the rest of us helplessly watch.

"Also, not to diminish the rest of Maui, but this is like a day in hell. Lahaina is completely awful and still spreading but the other areas of the island have also been hit. Please let there be a miracle and have the winds stop and rain break through."

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