In most localities with real taxi service, they absolutely have to pick you up, and they have to take you where you’re going within a certain distance.
Oh, yeah, anyone who drives a car under the influence of any of these substances should lose their license immediately.
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What about prescription medicine? And I’m not just talking about painkillers or stimulants; I mean anything that may have a warning of “May cause drowsiness; do not operate machinery.”
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm417426.htm
That’s a helpful detail. Point has been taken on taxi availability.
From the times I’ve been in a car with a stoned driver, they have been way more focused on the road and traffic than when not stoned. Not only would I get in a car with a stoned driver over a drunk driver, for some people I’d rather them lightly stoned than stone cold sober.
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I don’t know what the regulations are with regards to operating a car on prescription or over-the-counter medications (e.g. benadryl) like that, but I know that the FAA frowns on it and operating a plane, even as a private, not-commercial, operator while on any of those medications can result in loss of license.
I’ll get in the high car with no hesitation given that choice.
It is obvious you’ve never used or been around people who use cannabis.
I have… They are all way too goofy for me to want to be anywhere near them while operating any sort of heavy machinery. How that goofiness manifests itself is the issue here. They won’t be aggressive, sure, but they may be so silly that they become more lackadaisical when it comes to various safe behaviors.
Also, one thing you (and a bunch of other people) are missing out on is the fact that cannabis slows down one’s reaction time, among other sensory alterations. So let’s assume that the vast majority of people operating a car while stoned will do things like slow down, be more careful with respect to traffic laws, etc., relatively to how they would be when sober or drunk. Okay, so fine, so long as you’re on a completely empty road without any sudden hazards, you’re fine. But what happens when you’re driving down a road when all of a sudden some wacko comes barreling around a curve in your lane at a high speed? Or a large animal, such as a deer or moose, starts running across the road right in front of you? Or some other unexpected event takes place. The reduced reaction time means that the likelihood of the driver maneuvering around the sudden hazard has significantly decreased, even if you take into account the driver’s slower speed. It’s entirely possible that even ignoring the reduced reaction time, the other sensory effects of being stoned could also delay the point at which the hazard is even detected by the driver.
So no thanks. Drunk or stoned either way, as far as I’m concerned, the risk is way too high for me to get into the car with you if you’re driving.
I mean, I won’t even get in the car with someone who looks like a bad driver regardless of their substance use. I also consider most people to be pretty bad drivers, and I’m leery of getting into most people’s cars…
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Says the guy whose driving habits sounds nightmarish according to what I’ve heard on the show.
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Not an unreasonable assumption to make.
Pretty much everyone I know hits the brakes way way way way too late and follows cars way way way way too close. If I see a red light off way in the distance I at least coast, but usually just start braking. I always make the car decelerate and accelerate with maximum smoothness. There should be no lurching or feeling of g-forces at any time. I bike the same way.
Meanwhile you got people like Rym who have a red light in front of them with their foot still on the gas! Then they hit the brakes at the last possible second. Not good.
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Your’s is the correct way.
You complain that I brake too early and too late simultaneously.
Meanwhile, who hit a parked car while doing laundry? 
I never said you brake too early. It is not possible to brake too early. Only too late.You also hit it too hard. If you hit it earlier you could hit it less hard.
The parking lot was an extremely tiny parking lot from hell. I was in the laundromat for like two minutes. I don’t know how that person managed to get their car into that previously empty spot in such a short amount of time.
I try my best to drive like this, but I admit I’m not perfect. One thing I do that somewhat helps is driving a car with a manual (or automatic with sequential/manual override) transmission. If I see a red or yellow light in the distance, I’ll usually downshift to let engine braking start kicking in even before I hit the brake pedal. Even when driving a pure automatic, I try to brake ASAP. Sometimes I’m a bit too gentle with this, based on what others have told me.
Again, I try my best, but I’m not perfect. Especially when fatigued, but I guess this applies to most people when fatigued.
Driving while sleepy is just as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk/high.
Can confirm…
Well, I’ve never driven drunk or high so I have no basis for comparison but I’ve driven tired many times. You try having a 1.5 hour car commute to long island (with rush hour traffic adding a tidy 35 minutes to that)
Long story short, I’m glad I’m over 25 now, those premiums were killing me when I drove tired.
I only hit the brakes hard if something happens downstream on a highway.
If traffic is just slowing naturally, I coast or lightly brake. But if I see the cars further down the road suddenly tip forward, there’s a chance (however small) that traffic is about to come to a screeching halt.
The safest thing to do is brake sharply immediately just long enough to shed some speed while the situation plays out. If there’s trouble, I can then proceed to brake/coast more gently depending on the situation. But, if it turns out those cars all braked because a tractor trailor fell sideways across the highway just over the crest of the hill…
The sharp brake at the moment downstream traffic exhibited a warning sign (multiple cars tipping forward near-simultaneously while braking) ensures that I’ve shed enough speed to safely come to a complete stop before I encounter the blocked road.
If someone is behind me and hits me because I shed 20MPH in a couple seconds, that person is a fucking moron and the damage they do to my rear bumper is 100% their fault.
Funnily enough I rented a car that had radar not too long ago. It would give me a warning if the cars ahead of the car in front of me slowed down quickly. That alarm happened at the exact moment I would brake sharply of my own accord from watching the cars.
The alarm went off a few times driving around Virginia on the highway. Every time, it was a situation where cars further down the road started braking for no obvious reason.
It had a different alarm if the car actually in front of me braked.
You shouldn’t unnecessarily sharply break because it is and uncomfortable for everyone in the car. If you have a large following distance you will be able to gradually slow down in any situation. Sharp breaking will only ever be necessary if you were following too closely, not paying attention, or something crazy happens.
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