EdwardKnoxII 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_and_driving_3 Wine Industry Urges Drinking and Driving PARIS - France's wine industry wants drivers to know: It's OK to have a drink for the road. Or three. The $18 billion-a-year wine industry is fighting back against a government campaign to discourage drunken driving. It claims the government is scaring people away from ordering a glass when they go out and points to a 15 percent drop in wine sales at restaurants. "People are so afraid of the police these days that they're not drinking any wine at all," Pascal Bobillier-Monnot, director of CNAOC national wine producers' association, said Friday. Wine makers have always promoted moderate drinking to comply with the country's blood-alcohol limit of .05. But they say the government is overreacting when it tells drivers that the safest way to stay out of trouble is not to drink at all. "We believe the government has a duty of providing information which it has failed," said Pascal Rousseaux, director of Afivin, an umbrella group for wine producers, distributors and retailers. Diners should know they can enjoy "two or three glasses" with their meal and still be fit to drive, Rousseaux said. Since taking office last year, the center-right government of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has made road safety a priority. Police have stepped up checks and toughened punishment. The government says road deaths fell more than 20 percent to under 5,000 in the first ten months of 2003 from the same period last year — still among the highest rates in Europe relative to population size. Amid the tightened enforcement and government warnings, sales of wine in restaurants have also fallen by about 15 percent in just months, wine producers say. "There's no question about it. The enforcement effort and the government's rhetoric have led to a drop in wine consumption in France," Bobillier-Monnot said. Industry groups are planning their own campaign to persuade motorists that abstaining isn't necessarily the answer. Afivin plans a $350,000 initiative to distribute alcohol breath tests to restaurants across France starting next year. By doing so, it hopes to convince those motorists who have stopped drinking altogether that they don't need to be quite so worried. Transport ministry spokeswoman Emmanuelle Dormond defended the government's stance. "In case of doubt the easiest way to be sure you don't break the limit is to refrain from drinking," she said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted November 17, 2003 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_and_driving_3 Wine Industry Urges Drinking and Driving PARIS - France's wine industry wants drivers to know: It's OK to have a drink for the road. Or three. The $18 billion-a-year wine industry is fighting back against a government campaign to discourage drunken driving. It claims the government is scaring people away from ordering a glass when they go out and points to a 15 percent drop in wine sales at restaurants. "People are so afraid of the police these days that they're not drinking any wine at all," Pascal Bobillier-Monnot, director of CNAOC national wine producers' association, said Friday. Wine makers have always promoted moderate drinking to comply with the country's blood-alcohol limit of .05. But they say the government is overreacting when it tells drivers that the safest way to stay out of trouble is not to drink at all. "We believe the government has a duty of providing information which it has failed," said Pascal Rousseaux, director of Afivin, an umbrella group for wine producers, distributors and retailers. Diners should know they can enjoy "two or three glasses" with their meal and still be fit to drive, Rousseaux said. Since taking office last year, the center-right government of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has made road safety a priority. Police have stepped up checks and toughened punishment. The government says road deaths fell more than 20 percent to under 5,000 in the first ten months of 2003 from the same period last year — still among the highest rates in Europe relative to population size. Amid the tightened enforcement and government warnings, sales of wine in restaurants have also fallen by about 15 percent in just months, wine producers say. "There's no question about it. The enforcement effort and the government's rhetoric have led to a drop in wine consumption in France," Bobillier-Monnot said. Industry groups are planning their own campaign to persuade motorists that abstaining isn't necessarily the answer. Afivin plans a $350,000 initiative to distribute alcohol breath tests to restaurants across France starting next year. By doing so, it hopes to convince those motorists who have stopped drinking altogether that they don't need to be quite so worried. Transport ministry spokeswoman Emmanuelle Dormond defended the government's stance. "In case of doubt the easiest way to be sure you don't break the limit is to refrain from drinking," she said. Can ANYTHING that reduces the number of Frenchmen be a bad thing? -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Next Up: Vodka companies tell the Russian population you can still drive after 5 or 6 shots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Can ANYTHING that reduces the number of Frenchmen be a bad thing? -=Mike Bastard, I was going to say that. Oh well, while on the subject of lushes I'll just quote what Rush said today... "What's gone on here since I've been gone? So I see that Ted Kennedy called a bunch of highly respected minorities "Neanderthals." The fact that Ted Kennedy is still in the Senate and hasn't been force to resign, means that nothing's changed. It's just a good thing Senator Kennedy didn't say it on ESPN, or he might have resigned." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Just J Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I have been driving while drunk for a very long time. If you know your limits and don't get behind the wheel when you are sloppy ass drunk I see no problem in it. I am living proof. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Can ANYTHING that reduces the number of Frenchmen be a bad thing? -=Mike Bastard, I was going to say that. Oh well, while on the subject of lushes I'll just quote what Rush said today... "What's gone on here since I've been gone? So I see that Ted Kennedy called a bunch of highly respected minorities "Neanderthals." The fact that Ted Kennedy is still in the Senate and hasn't been force to resign, means that nothing's changed. It's just a good thing Senator Kennedy didn't say it on ESPN, or he might have resigned." Of course, I'd KILL to hear Irvin say "He has a point!" -=Mike ...No, minorities are not neanderthals. ESPN's GameDay crew are neanderthals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Of course, I'd KILL to hear Irvin say "He has a point!" -=Mike ...No, minorities are not neanderthals. ESPN's GameDay crew are neanderthals. OMG YOU RACIST! Too bad once Irvin would say that it would get edited out every time the segment was aired, thus causing Poo-Face to drop out of his presidential bid and threaten to boycott whoever and whatever is within reach... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Of course, I'd KILL to hear Irvin say "He has a point!" -=Mike ...No, minorities are not neanderthals. ESPN's GameDay crew are neanderthals. OMG YOU RACIST! Too bad once Irvin would say that it would get edited out every time the segment was aired, thus causing Poo-Face to drop out of his presidential bid and threaten to boycott whoever and whatever is within reach... (shot of the crew) Berman: Now, when I look at that guy, I don't see a "neanderthal". At all. Ever. I've never viewed him as a "neanderthal". TJ: Most of us here didn't even want that guy here. And let me tell you a story. Some young kid walked up to me and asked if it was still OK to be a "neanderthal"... -=Mike ...Hmm, let the ESPN crew host a debate! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Uncle Tom Jackson, it's not OK to be a Neanderthal. But it's OK to be a Democrat Neanderthal... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I have been driving while drunk for a very long time. If you know your limits and don't get behind the wheel when you are sloppy ass drunk I see no problem in it. I am living proof. Has everyone else decided to just ignore this gem? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I have been driving while drunk for a very long time. If you know your limits and don't get behind the wheel when you are sloppy ass drunk I see no problem in it. I am living proof. Has everyone else decided to just ignore this gem? Yup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I have been driving while drunk for a very long time. If you know your limits and don't get behind the wheel when you are sloppy ass drunk I see no problem in it. I am living proof. Has everyone else decided to just ignore this gem? Yup. Why? Too easy? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 I have been driving while drunk for a very long time. If you know your limits and don't get behind the wheel when you are sloppy ass drunk I see no problem in it. I am living proof. *punches Mr. J in the face* Sooner or later you'll put yourself over that "limit" and end up killing somebody or yourself Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoCalMike 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Wow, a huge corporate industry giving irresponsible advice to the general public, what a suprise.....is it any different then the way tobacco companies acted 50 years ago? This seems like another cheap shot at the french just as ANOTHER excuse to say, "gee I hate the french" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 18, 2003 (edited) This seems like another cheap shot at the french just as ANOTHER excuse to say, "gee I hate the french" Yeah come on guys...Lord knows we already have enough excuses to say "Gee, I hate the French." Yuk yuk... Edited November 18, 2003 by cerebus316 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 This seems like another cheap shot at the french just as ANOTHER excuse to say, "gee I hate the french" Yeah come on guys...Lord knows we already have enough excuses to say "Gee, I hate the French." Yuk yuk... Only the smell and the hairy women. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted November 18, 2003 .05 is a ridiculously low number. That's NOT drunk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 18, 2003 .05 is a ridiculously low number. That's NOT drunk. Yeah, after all the girl who crashed into me only had a BAL of .07...she wasn't drunk at all I'll be fair though, she was 17 and the friend she was driving was much drunker than she was...didn't help her when the alcohol in her was effecting...well everything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted November 18, 2003 that's not even the American legal limit. Different people react to booze differently, though, obviously. A teenage girl at .07 is going to be WAY more impaired than say, Boris Yeltsin, at .07 BAL. I'm not saying it's a good idea to drink and drive or anything like that, just that someone could get nailed being .05, and not be impaired at all. I don't drink anymore myself, so I can't do this experiment personally, but someone should find out how much one needs to drink to get to the legal limit. At .05, it can't be much. I'll say 2 drinks in an hour's time, for your average person. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Firestarter 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 I don't drink anymore myself "You've just opened your eyes to find yourself crumbled into a collapsed mess, hopefully in a bed, hopefully in somewhat familiar surroundings, but, worst of all, awake. Your mind gradually manages to reconstruct some sort of memory of some portion of the previous night's activities. You feel like the worst part of hell (this is the cue for the proverbial 'I'll-never-drink-again' declaration, one of the most pitiful demonstrations of bull$#!+ in all of human behavior). You need help. Quick." - Dr. I. M. Bibe's Anti-Hangover Tips There ya go, Agent. Hope you feel better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Nah, been sober(alcohol) since the 2nd of the year, actually. I decided a while ago to not do anything intoxicating unless it's an organism or a laboratory chemical that makes me see things, that's neither here nor there, though. Anyone here got a case of beer and know a cop, or feel like taking one for the team? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anorak 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_and_driving_3 Wine Industry Urges Drinking and Driving PARIS - France's wine industry wants drivers to know: It's OK to have a drink for the road. Or three. The $18 billion-a-year wine industry is fighting back against a government campaign to discourage drunken driving. It claims the government is scaring people away from ordering a glass when they go out and points to a 15 percent drop in wine sales at restaurants. "People are so afraid of the police these days that they're not drinking any wine at all," Pascal Bobillier-Monnot, director of CNAOC national wine producers' association, said Friday. Wine makers have always promoted moderate drinking to comply with the country's blood-alcohol limit of .05. But they say the government is overreacting when it tells drivers that the safest way to stay out of trouble is not to drink at all. "We believe the government has a duty of providing information which it has failed," said Pascal Rousseaux, director of Afivin, an umbrella group for wine producers, distributors and retailers. Diners should know they can enjoy "two or three glasses" with their meal and still be fit to drive, Rousseaux said. Since taking office last year, the center-right government of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has made road safety a priority. Police have stepped up checks and toughened punishment. The government says road deaths fell more than 20 percent to under 5,000 in the first ten months of 2003 from the same period last year — still among the highest rates in Europe relative to population size. Amid the tightened enforcement and government warnings, sales of wine in restaurants have also fallen by about 15 percent in just months, wine producers say. "There's no question about it. The enforcement effort and the government's rhetoric have led to a drop in wine consumption in France," Bobillier-Monnot said. Industry groups are planning their own campaign to persuade motorists that abstaining isn't necessarily the answer. Afivin plans a $350,000 initiative to distribute alcohol breath tests to restaurants across France starting next year. By doing so, it hopes to convince those motorists who have stopped drinking altogether that they don't need to be quite so worried. Transport ministry spokeswoman Emmanuelle Dormond defended the government's stance. "In case of doubt the easiest way to be sure you don't break the limit is to refrain from drinking," she said. Can ANYTHING that reduces the number of Frenchmen be a bad thing? -=Mike Even by the standards around here that is appalling Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Satanico Report post Posted November 18, 2003 I don't drink anymore myself, so I can't do this experiment personally, but someone should find out how much one needs to drink to get to the legal limit. The Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters" did that experiment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 18, 2003 I don't drink anymore myself, so I can't do this experiment personally, but someone should find out how much one needs to drink to get to the legal limit. http://www.factsontap.org/yourbody/BALtable.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Highland 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Anyone remember that old WKRP episode where Jonny gets more focused and coordinated the more he drinks? Not entirely on topic I know, but this thread reminded me of that episode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lando Griffin 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 In France you can drink and drive only if you have anti-Semitic material on your car. /facetious...or was it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshjerichomark 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_and_driving_3 Wine Industry Urges Drinking and Driving PARIS - France's wine industry wants drivers to know: It's OK to have a drink for the road. Or three. The $18 billion-a-year wine industry is fighting back against a government campaign to discourage drunken driving. It claims the government is scaring people away from ordering a glass when they go out and points to a 15 percent drop in wine sales at restaurants. "People are so afraid of the police these days that they're not drinking any wine at all," Pascal Bobillier-Monnot, director of CNAOC national wine producers' association, said Friday. Wine makers have always promoted moderate drinking to comply with the country's blood-alcohol limit of .05. But they say the government is overreacting when it tells drivers that the safest way to stay out of trouble is not to drink at all. "We believe the government has a duty of providing information which it has failed," said Pascal Rousseaux, director of Afivin, an umbrella group for wine producers, distributors and retailers. Diners should know they can enjoy "two or three glasses" with their meal and still be fit to drive, Rousseaux said. Since taking office last year, the center-right government of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has made road safety a priority. Police have stepped up checks and toughened punishment. The government says road deaths fell more than 20 percent to under 5,000 in the first ten months of 2003 from the same period last year — still among the highest rates in Europe relative to population size. Amid the tightened enforcement and government warnings, sales of wine in restaurants have also fallen by about 15 percent in just months, wine producers say. "There's no question about it. The enforcement effort and the government's rhetoric have led to a drop in wine consumption in France," Bobillier-Monnot said. Industry groups are planning their own campaign to persuade motorists that abstaining isn't necessarily the answer. Afivin plans a $350,000 initiative to distribute alcohol breath tests to restaurants across France starting next year. By doing so, it hopes to convince those motorists who have stopped drinking altogether that they don't need to be quite so worried. Transport ministry spokeswoman Emmanuelle Dormond defended the government's stance. "In case of doubt the easiest way to be sure you don't break the limit is to refrain from drinking," she said. Can ANYTHING that reduces the number of Frenchmen be a bad thing? -=Mike Dude thats really original. Isn't it odd that if made that remark about say....someone of a different race you'd be banned in a heartbeat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Wow, now I'm GLAD you said it before me, Mike. Nah, not really... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted November 18, 2003 So anyway, I take a look at this chart, right, and it's telling me that if I have a little over two drinks in the span of an hour, that I'm too trashed to be driving. Please. No 200 lb guy is going to get drunk on 2 and a half beers, unless he's never drank before. Anyone who has ever gotten drunk knows this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Even by the standards around here that is appalling Oh, we could get MUCH more offensive about the French. Think about this: WE wouldn't allow 10,000 of OUR elderly to die in a heat wave over one summer. But, hey, WE are the jerks. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
