Drinking and driving on American TV

[OnYourTogs]

Just watching a US series, and the protagonists have gone straight from drinking to getting into their cars and driving home. There is no indication that they are drunk, but they were shown having more than one. I would not even have one and drink. I know it's not the same as real life, but I do notice it more on US tv. What do others think? Does it reflect different drink driving laws, or different culture, or is it the same on UK telly and I just haven't noticed?

It always puts me off, I'm shouting at the telly, hang on, you've been drinking, you can't drive

They do that a lot, it bugs me too.

They do it on many tv shows, the US drink drive limit is the same as the U.K. (or was at least) so you can drink a normal strength beer or glass of wine and not be over. Plenty of people do this, I'm not commenting on right or wrong just that's it's legal. Also low alcohol beer is widely available in the USA (and alcohol free here and there)

American here, I actually find people I know drink drive a lot more in reality here in the UK than in the US. I think because there is more of a drinking culture here.

That said, public transportation is not as ubiquitous in the US, everyone drives everywhere except in big cities. Uber is more of a thing now. But back in the day, getting a taxi outside of a major city just wouldn’t have been a thing. So having a designated driver definitely would have been a lot more the norm.

Amongst my friends and family in the UK, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t have a drink or two at the pub just because they had to drive home after, but in the US, it wouldn’t be at all unusual to go out to dinner and not have anyone order alcohol. Americans drink a lot more sugary drinks instead of booze.

The law is the same in terms of allowable limit, stricter in some parts of the US (legal limit can vary by state). Depending on body weight, size of drinks and speed of drinking an adult could be well below the legal limit after 2 drinks, though.

i will say I saw far more enforcement of drunk driving laws in the us than I see here - random roadside breathalyser screening is not uncommon on holidays or if there is a big sporting event. In the US there is also generally more traffic enforcement out so people are more likely to get pulled over for erratic driving. On the flip side a lack of public transit in many places probably means people more likely to chance it when they really shouldn’t.

I see this a lot in US films and have always wondered if they have more relaxed laws or are the film makers ignorant.

You know, now that you say this I do think drinking is less of a thing in the US. So maybe just having one is more common.

So, the film makers are clueless?

OP mentioned the character having ‘more than one’ and then driving - that is plausibly completely legal in both the us and the uk

but. its just a film

I know, but it's so common, they're drinking, hours go by, they hop in their cars. It annoys me even though I know it's just a film!

I don't know about the differences across the US, but there is no uniform UK drink driving limit. The alcohol level permitted in Scotland is lower than that permitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

I personally don’t drink at all if I am going to drive. Most people I know if they are driving will have one unit, maybe two. They make sure to drink at the beginning of the evening and then switch to non-alcoholic. It’s almost always something like a beer or a glass of wine with a meal.

losing your license typically means losing your job where I live so people are careful.

Also driving whilst using a mobile phone.

No, I have seen it multiple times on us films/shows where the character falls out of a bar and drives home, as quite normal. That would never be shown on a uk series/film unless in a bad way.

I've often thought this too. It's really common in US films and TV shows to see someone who's had several drinks then drive off somewhere. I think on UK TV if a character behaved in the same way, the fact that they had done that would be part of the drama.
The other thing you see on US TV / films is people getting DUIs (so yes they do sometimes show them getting caught). It's doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. But, again if someone was shown caught drunk driving in the UK it would be a BIG thing. Because we know that it wrecks so many areas of your life and is so morally frowned upon.
It sounds like, from the posters on this thread, that it is just as big a deal and frowned upon in the US, but that does not come across in US drama!

Yes you see that all the time on American films.

While the legal alcohol limits may be similar, I think (stand to be corrected) different States in the USA have different laws, and random breath testing is not the norm. They seem to need "probable cause" and a reason for a traffic stop in the first place. Then the driver is invited to do a "Field Sobriety Test" such as walking the line and standing on one foot. Then the officer can offer a breath test, which if refused results in an automatic driving ban for a year.

The sobriety tests are crazy though, and take up so much police time, that I cannot figure out why they don't just breathalyze and arrest them if over the limit. I tried to do the sobriety test (I don't drink alcohol) and I couldn't do it. I think it's an excuse to fail you.

But anyway, back to the subject, a PP said it - public transport and taxis are not (or weren't) freely available, so many just drink and drive.

So if someone is shown visibly drunk getting into a car that is a shorthand way of communicating something about the character- they are a train wreck, selfish, not in control of their lives. It is probably a bit of a trope, which is why it appears with some frequency in film. It isn’t indicative of acceptance of that behaviour, rather the opposite - for most Americans the quickest way you can show somebody is a hot mess is through drunk driving.

what op described, though, was someone not visibly tipsy at all driving home, which is different.

Aren't the charges much more lenient in the US for drink driving?

Where are you getting this from? Not saying it isn’t true, as every state can have there own laws and practices, but I have lived in a dozen states and none were like what you describe.

yes you need probable cause to randomly pull someone over, but any sort of erratic driving (too fast, too slow, etc.) would meet that standard. I have also seen several breathylizer checkpoints in the us - that is allowed without need for probable cause as you are targeting everyone, not singling out an individual. I’ve never seen a field sobriety test performed outside of film, but even if required it wouldn’t be a barrier for police. There are far more police out patrolling traffic in the US than in the UK - probably because it is a source of revenue for local municipalities. They don’t rely on automated cameras like they would in the uk but rather on cops making stops - having stopped the person they are more likely to identify signs of drinking. The US also has pretty strict open container laws in the us - it is illegal to have an open bottle of alcohol in the car (or on the street) in most places even if not being consumed by the driver.

@Labraradabrador I confess that what I have seen are clips of traffic stops with police body worn cameras. Wisconsin features a lot! I take your point about breathalyzer checkpoints, but that doesn't appear to be Federal, otherwise why the need for a sobriety test in certain States prior to offering a breath test?

Either way, while the traffic stops are not generally random (reasons needed), it seems that drinking and driving is dare I say it "accepted" a bit more in the US due to its car centric society.

The lack of federal law doesn’t mean anything - in the us system the vast majority of criminal law is devolved to the states, including most cases of murder or other serious crimes.

as others have mentioned I find greater acceptance of drinking and driving in the uk actually. The vast majority of US people I know would not drive after any amount of drinking and a designated driver is expected to abstain completely. I’ve lived in all parts of the US as well - including Midwest and Deep South- and haven’t see much variance in that attitude. It is a big country, though, so I am sure there are subsections of society that take a more lenient view, thus the need to make and enforce drunk driving laws. In the rural part of the UK where I live now I see more people planning to drive home from the pub or after a meal that included alcohol. They are probably mostly under the limit, but from my perspective are still likely to be impaired. I’ve also never been in a car that was pulled over in the UK, nor have I ever seen breathylisers in use, though I know it does happen. That wasn’t the case in the US - more than once I have been pulled over and have been a passenger in cars that were pulled over where alcohol was queried (in all cases the driver was not drinking at all).

I lived in rural Missouri in the early 2000s, nevermind having a drink and then driving, they'd be literally drinking and driving!