Not true. They did away with that rule about 10 years ago... the only exception being that you can drink if you meet the age requirement of the host country- and, yes, other countries have them. And the base CO can also require you to be 21 regardless of the host countries req. The rule was originally in effect for bases that are within a certain distance of international borders (ie, San Diego, CA) as an attempt to keep their military members from partying down in TJ.

 

willd i like his idea. 3 strikes and your out. i could handle that. the first one would be a reminder and the second one means it better never happen again. i would know 1 fingerless person and 1 dead one.

 

I agree that you should be able to drink if you're 18. If you can go to war and get a limb blown off, you should be able to have a drink (although not while you're still bleeding, that would kill you). I also think that drinking underage is ok, to a point (you should be at least 17, IMO) but only if you are where you're spending the night (home, friends house, etc.) and NOT GOING ANYWHERE! NOT EVEN WALKING, because if you wander into the middle of the road, well, goodbye.

I've seen a lot of drunk driving (not from my family or people i know) One was a Miata weaving across all 4 lanes of the highway, an E150 van loaded with a church youth group going 60-90 MPH (going between each end, depending upon how much the driver was awake) and weaving all around the road, and also a sports car accident where the road turned and he went straight, hit a pretty big curb, flipped, and just runied the car. It looked like he set off a bome that was inside it. You couldn't even tell whatkind it was. The rear axle broke off and actually did a fair amount of damage to the house in front of the scene. He was OK, but i think he blew a 0.17. I'm only 16 years old. I won't drink for a few years because it really screws up your athletic ablity, and I would rather have that than a few beers.

 

Well here is my 2 bits worth. I have seen more of life than most (Am 71, 11 yrs military and several years working foriegn, Africa, Asia, So America to name a few.) I have driven over 6 million miles so far and never had anything more than a few fender benders, always sober! I was married to an alcoholic for 5 yrs, and she wrecked 6 vehicles in that time. Thank God she was always alone! I have seen many BAD accedents involving drunk drivers, one NEVER forgets the sights!
My parents always had alcohol available at home and I tried wine, beer and cocktails occasionly, so never had a desire or need to go hog wild on my own. I enjoy an ocasional drink at home or at a party, but NEVER drive until an hour after the drink. Many times I have poured my friends into the car and as DD hauled them home! If some one would film some of these people when they are drunk and see what asses they make of themselves it "might" slow them down, i know it would have on me!
We used to have New Years Eve parties and no one was allowed to go home! We had sleeping bags and mattresses for the floor and in the morning the hosts would cook everone a big breakfast and then they could go home! Just one attempt to be sure NO ONE got hurt.
I like the idea of locking any drunk driver up for a minumum of 24 hrs when caught. The lost fingers is a good idea too! All those convicted of DUI should have to have special license plates so the rest of us know who they are.
I have no problem with legal drinking at 18 years, but a few abusers of the PRIVILAGE has cost every one to wait untill they are 21. I wish there was an answer, but nothing seems to work. My ex-wife drank her self to death years ago, may be we should just lock up the drunks and let them drink all they want where they can't hurt any one else and will die young!
Enough of this, be sober and enjoy your Fords!!

 

I have a problem with drinking period.More so with under age people.I don't think alot of teens can really think about what could happen,or choose to ignore the dangers.

 

Here in Minnesota if you get a DUI you get special plates which gives cops a reason to pull you over regardless of whether you're doing anything wrong or not. The plates here start with WU or WV and list a number behind it.

 

Drunken driving is one of the main reasons why I left the EMT/Paramedic side of the Fire Dept. and now I concentrate on fighting fires primarily. I have had my fill of picking up (if I'm lucky) broken bodies and ruined lives all because someone thought they could handle it.

I don't care whether you are 18 or 80 - driving drunk is the quickest way into the grave short of a handgun to the temple! If I could only show people what these eyes have seen... the hurt - not from the drunk driver (he's often times dead and isn't feeling anything) but from the ones left to go on without him/her.

I have seen innocent children also involved...someone who hit them was drunk or they had the unfortunate luck to be riding in the car with a drunk.

I have been called for jury duty in four drunk driving cases...all I have to do is tell the judge that I am a firefighter and I have seen what drunk drivers can do and I'm excused from the case - good thing too because as far as I'm concerned, anyone who is caught driving under the influence should NEVER be allowed behind the wheel again! I've seen far too many innocents who will never drive because of a drunk driver.

 

I'm 17 and I don't like drinking and driving one bit. When me and my friends want to have an alcoholic night, we go camping. No drinking and driving, no people to tick off, and best of all no cops, they never want to walk a half mile just to find a few teenagers having a good time and not getting into trouble. Plus we all leave our keys locked in the sober guy's car so noone will be tempted to get behind the wheel. I've lost one friend to drinking and driving and almost lost another. By the time my brother graduated high school he had lost 5 friends. Being safe is better than being dead.

Drew

 

I'm 18, and I have no real problem of teens drinking. Have 2 or so beers at a party is NBD. Its all the retards that think that they need to get drunk to have a good time that I have a problem with. If not remembering what happened to you is fun, I'll have no part of it. I admit, used to drink at parties quite a bit (2 yrs ago), because I thought it was cool. 3 times getting drunk and not remembering what happened scared the **** out of me. Now I know my limit and stay far from it. I'll have 1 or 2 beers at parties, usualy thats it. My friend thinks you need to take hard shots of liquor (rum 151)to be cool. WRONG!!!!

It seems like this years grad class doesnt drink as much or as bad as the others before us. I have gone to a few parties, and 99% of the seniors there only had 2-4 beers in a matter of 3 or so hours. Mostly we were talking, too busy having fun to drink!!! Some times when I'm playing poker at my buddys house, we'll have a beer while we play. If your going to drink, do it responsibly. Dont let yourself get drawn into the stigma of "Man, ya gotta get hammered, its soooo much fun!!!" I'll tell you from a teens POV, its not fun, cool, exciting or anything of the sort. Care enough about yourself and others and dont over do it, be the good guy and drive the ones who can't home.

 

here's an idea...... do what the friggin law says.... its there for a reason... guys make fund of caps and break the law doinw whats "cool"...... man the cool thing is being man enough to refuse a drink and confident enough to walk away

 

i agree with alot of whats already been said, im not against underage drinking but i dont like the people that get outta hand with it, although last year i had some crazy moments and made some mistakes. last fall me and some friends were drinking on a back road and i only drank 1 beer, and someone saw us and called the cops, so after we took off a cop pulled me over cuz my truck fit the description of one of the vehicles so i got to do the whole breathlyzer and sobriety test deal. they wanted to charge me with dui, illegal consumption and tresspassing but they made us a deal and we got to go home. i was 18 then and now im 19. i never would let myself get messed up to where it made it unsafe to drive but now i dont hardly drink at all, ive drank like twice since then and the last time was new years eve. and i stayed the night where i drank at. the piece of plastic in my wallet and my truck mean to much to me, its not worth it.

 

Most people are in enough trouble driving just like they are. Add booze (stupidity factor) and there you go...

How bad do you want to DIE?

In Tennessee the first conviction will cost your license for a year, subsequent violations add on to it.

If you don't drive responsibly - you just ain't gonna drive! Period!!!

It isn't taken for granted anymore

I drink - but I stay the hell away from my car keys when I do that. I know better. When you make a living by driving - being on the road becomes the first consideration!

~Wolf

"Do - or DO NOT! There is no TRY"
~ Yoda

 

I think it's somewhat humorous that most of the people here under 21 drink, and see no problem with underage drinking (and in *some* cases, driving afterwards). Meanwhile, those of us who have come of age feel more often that it is not such a good idea. I think it probably has to do with how we all started... for example, I didn't drink in high school, and then when I got to college I saw that a lot of people who DID drink looked too young and acted really dumb. So my general opinion is that if you are in HS, you shouldn't drink. But those of you who started, or ARE, in HS, feel that the minimum age should be younger than, or equal to, 18. I can only imagine this is why kids aren't allowed to make laws... You often feel like you've got LOTS of life experience when you're younger, but it only takes one time to screw up big time... sometimes it takes a few of those to get through to people though. RebelFord, trust me... if you drank EVEN ONE BEER underage, that's too much to be driving!!! I hope you NEVER say again that you'd keep your drinking "safe to drive" because that's the kind of thinking that will get you driving intoxicated. Trust me... you never find the limit the easy way... best to say "I won't drink if I'm driving" while you're underage, then "If I have two in an hour, I'll wait a bit to go home. If I have more than 4, I'll sleep in my truck." I'm glad you didn't have to find out how having a criminal record would feel, but you don't seem to understand quite how lucky you are.
(The "limit" equation goes for all of you... part of the whole drunk thing is realizing that A. You test the limits without realizing it when drunk... lowered inhibitions really happens! B. Drunk people make us all laugh, but we're laughing AT you and not WITH you. But if you mess up, nobody is laughing, no matter how stupid or funny you act. and C. Listen to me because I'm scary mean. No really... I am.)

 

actually i do realize how lucky i am. thats why i no longer drink if im gonna have to drive home. i dont even really drink anymore anyways. i think about that night all the time and i know that i wont get a second chance like that again. especially after 1 of the 3 cops that were there when they pulled me over made me and my buddy a deal that if he heard our names come across the scanner saying we've been drinking he'd come arrest us himself, and we shook hands on it.

i shouldnt have even gotten pulled over because it was a local cop that was out of his jurisdiction that pulled me over, then he called county and they sent 2 cars.

 

If you drink and drive....................people die!