Comments on: Will the “21″ Years Soon Be History?

By: beeractivist

beeractivist — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:59:49 +0000

satjiwan – I meant rate per capita not per mile. I think that answers your question but I’ve also had a couple beers and I’m watching Colbert as I type so maybe I’m missing your logic.

Thought about you a lot today and yesterday – we had an office clean up day and I knew if you’d been around you would have made a herculean effort to eliminate stuff from getting chucked out. We did a pretty good job of it and I personally reclaimed a number of things that were headed for landfill but I’m no Sat Jiwan when it comes to reusing and recycling.

Cheers
Chris

By: satjiwan

satjiwan — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:45:12 +0000

well, if the drunk driving “rate” is calculated logically, it should be something about fewer drunk driving accidents per mile/km. (or maybe something else) i wouldn’t be surprised if there is a lower number of accidents per capita with less driving/drivers. however, given a lower total distance driven AND a lower rate, are they doubly safe drivers? if they had the same number of trips and accidents, but driving shorter distances, they’d have skewed higher accidents per mile, but maybe they overcome that with super safe driving. (also they don’t have as much “experience” driving less than we do, yet still drive safer??)

it’s too late for me to be fully understanding my own logic… so many variables i wonder what the “science” about this issue really shows???

maybe a comparison of insurance rates (based on professional actuarial logic) would reveal something (but then we might be measuring litigiousness of different societies or health care systems…)

oh, time for bed…

By: Where Is Underage Drinking Legal « Beer Activist

Where Is Underage Drinking Legal « Beer Activist — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:49:15 +0000

[...] prohibit drinking under the age of 21, except for those that prohibit alcohol altogether. However, I recently learned that underage drinking is legal in 30 states under certain circumstances. But I couldn’t find [...]

By: beeractivist

beeractivist — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:49:03 +0000

satjiwan – very interesting stuff. Thanks for this. Europeans seem to have a more sophisticated approach to alcohol in general, more of an appreciation and respect for both the good and bad potential in drinking. They also have a lower rate of drunk driving accidents which I understand to be mainly due to the fact that they drive less.

Cheers,
Chris

By: satjiwan

satjiwan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:27:51 +0000

the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age

By: satjiwan

satjiwan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:27:16 +0000

When I was visiting Norway recently, two astounding traffic safety policies surprised and impressed me.

1. it takes a significant investment over about 2 years of driving lessons to obtain a driver’s license. (including tire and spark plug changing, if i remember right…)
2. if you get caught drunk driving (even the tiniest amount) it’s an automatic loss of license for 5 years.

The legal alcohol purchase age is 18 for =22% ABV (no minimum for consuming) and there are tons of late night taxi services to get you home when you can’t drive.

ps. the wikipedia page on this is interesting, with links to info about state by state purchase/consumption exceptions. eg “Notes: Maryland’s exception allows possession or consumption of alcohol by minors if an adult member of their immediate family allows it.”

By: When Is Underage Drinking Legal? « Beer Activist

When Is Underage Drinking Legal? « Beer Activist — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:26:58 +0000

[...] Is Underage Drinking Legal? At the end of my last post I pondered the predicament of having to choose whether or not to illegally serve my own children [...]