Sledding and alcohol?

[mudboy]

I have come accross a truck in the ditch and stopped to help. The guy could hardly walk. Grabbed the keys and tossed them into the ditch. The gentleman was not injured just mad cause he was in the ditch and drunk. Got back in the tuck drove the 5min back into twon and let the rcmp know of the location of the truck.

Expirence number 2 was a group of us quadding the logging roads back up around robb. Come accross an old car with a old man sitting on the driverside with his legs out on the ground and pants around his ankles. Back of car and trunk had nothing but empties and th odd half beer. by the looks of things he lived out of his car. He had no idea where or how long he had been where he was. We towed his car out of the ditch (mud hole) Dragged it back to the main gravel road going to the robb petro canada plant. left him and his car there (battery was dead anyways). Drove back to robb and informed some people of the situation. There response was " he is the town drunk and we should of left him there" Well we tried our best and slept better that night knowing what we did.

 

[2manykids]

In the past, I've come across idiots out sledding, the 2 that stick out the most in my mind were in Valemount one in Clemina, on the trail down at the end of the day, we were playing in a cutblock catching air, this moron comes flying down the trail right below us catches the ditch, launches big time,and crashes on the trail. We went down to see if he was OK, there were a few empties laying on the trail that had come out of his trunk and bag and he could barely stand up. Said his "buddies" were already down waiting for him at the P/lot. Before we could do or say anything he was back on his sled and off again. Can't say what happenned to him, because I don't know. Second time was in Allen, headed back to the cabin , got to the narrow little trail behind the hillclimb thru the creek at the avy zone, found this other idiot laying on the trail crashed. He broke his collar bone and his "buddies" were no where to be found. We fixed him up, I doubled him up to the top of the trail to find his "buds" all sitting at the bottom of the back of the hillclimb, you guessed it, drinking away. They took it from there.

I'll tell you this much,since those days I've seen first hand the devastation caused by drinking and driving/ riding. I run a heavy wrecker and have been to many accidents involving alcohol, and more often than not the drunk survives and the innocent are dead. Lots of studies have been done on the subject, alcohol starts to double the effect at elevations over 5000', so 1 is 2, 2 is 4, etc. It takes 3 hours for the body to dissolve one ounce of alcohol.
I could go on but why. When you have had to lift a semi trailer off a car so the ems crews can extracate the body of a 17 yr old girl and her drunk boyfriend is alive in the hospital, unscathed other than some scratches, or had to lift a cement truck off a unidentifable car so the other tow truck can drag it up onto the deck with the bodies of 3 innocent toddlers and their father still wedge inside so bad that it has to go the coroners to be cut out, and the truck driver is unscathed and unaware of what he's done, you too might have the same opinion.
As far as helping someone out in the back country, I'll be the first to help, ask anyone who knows, and if your hurt and don't smell of booze you have nothing to worry, I'll help until my help isn't needed, but if you smell of booze, like it or not, I couldn't care less, you best hope there are others there that are a little more compassionate than I, because you deserve what you get, plain and simple!!
Flame on!!

I have just one thing to say, a little story..
I have a camp up by Vilna that would be HWY 28. The camp is on a very bad corner that when it rains it gets like goose chit. It is about 11pm and we hear the sqreech and then thump thump thump bump. Before the last bump i have my cell out and have hit 911. I am talking to the dispatch and she is asking how many and all the regular question. I have no answers for her but all i tell her i know for sure it is one car and it has rolled. Cops are on the way i say great. The other half has jumped on a quad and is on her way. I stay with my kids whom are sleeping. She gets to the car and the car is up on its side and the girl is getting out. The is the smell of booze like she just walked out of a vat. The male driver is in the same canoe. Stinks like booze. Yes as they walked around stumble fall trip they went. And all the stuff from the car is everywhere. The cops get there and start in. DRUNK!! Says one cop to another. So out comes the old , put this in your mouth and blow. PASS not a drop drank. The cooler in the trunk of the car had exploded. Were they drinking NO.

Never be to quick to judge. A guy with a wobbly pop in his pack or trunk and explode, giving you the impresion he is drinking.
It is better to save a life then let one leave because you thought.
Just my 2 cents

 

[fargineyesore]

CR500, don't act as if you're the only person that has been affected by drunk drivers, because you are not!! And furthermore, you have no business telling me or others how much beer they can handle. I've ridden with many people, and yes they have some beers. Not one of them was pissed drunk, or even close, but according to you, they weren't in any shape to ride. I've never been drunk while riding. Just because some people abuse it doesn't mean all do.

There are many stupid riders out there that are stone cold sober. Are you going to apply the same logic to them, if they do something stupid in your eyes, you're not going to help them? You're a real hero!

CR500, I want to retract the "hero" remark. It was written in the heat of the moment, but no excuse, didn't need to make the remark. Apologize for that. I do stand by the rest of the post though. I couldn't bear to leave someone on the mountain personally.

 

[CR500R]

There's no contradiction in morals here, I said "since those days" my atitude has changed. No, collar bone boy was just as liquored as his buds, And yeah, I know very well I'm not the only one that has been affected by alcohol near as much as those who have lost loved ones to it.

Yes, there are lots of stupid sober riders as well, but, that's the deck handed them, drinking is a choice that each of us makes, if a stupid rider gets hurt because of stupidity, ch!t happens. At least he/she isn't under the influence and their ability to make a logical choice wasn't affected.

Hell, I like my beer as much as the next guy, everyone I ride with likes their beer, but we save it till after the riding is done, it's not uncommon to crack a few open once down to the truck, but, someone always stays sober to drive back to the house.

You don't have to like my opinion, doesn't really matter, I don't like the opinion and atitude of some towards this subject either, doesn't really matter, does it. That's why the world is the way it is, we all have different opinions, heck, probably better this way anyhow, otherwise it be pretty damn boring place to be. I'm not here to tell anyone what to do, you'll do as you please regardless, just hoping that common sense might take hold.

 

[Puba]

I'd always help, I'd never leave someone hurt. They would however feel the pain even if they had a drink or two....

 

[Can-Do]

well heck il ride any time with CR500R...at least i know he wont be drinkin while on the toys so i wont have to worry about him... ...lol

il have a drink after finishing the day off and after the toys are put away. not so much because i have issues with drinking and driving. i dont agree with it but i wont soapbox the issue. i dont do it mainly cause i seriously do not like the taste of alcohol...i know i know i need medical help....LOL :d

 

[treemongrol]

It seems this keeps coming up, it is illegal to operate a motorized vehicle period whether you have one beverage or a dozen. Why don't you people understand this. The criminal code states the following:

Section 253(a) of the Criminal Code defines the offence of
“impaired driving”. It states that “Every one commits an offence
who operates a motor vehicle or vessel or operates or assists in
the operation of an aircraft or of an aircraft or of railway
equipment or has care or control of a motor vehicle, vessel,
aircraft or railway equipment, whether it is in motion or not, while
the person’s ability to operate the vehicle, vessel, aircraft or
railway equipment is impaired by the alcohol or a drug”.
Section 253(b) of the Criminal Code defines the offence of “Over
80". It makes it an offence for a person to operate a motor vehicle
while your blood alcohol level exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol in
100 millilitres of blood.


I for one would be alot happier if the police would police it better then maybe the point would start to get across to people who insist that they need to drink on the hill, out quadding or dirt biking.

As for leaving a person on the hill, I know that the group that rides with CR500 wouldn't leave a person injured without tending to them, unless it was to dangerous to get to them, but the drunken person would be having a visit from the rcmp afterwards.

 

[MOMMA]

I was thinking the same thing. I have had my share of alcoholics in my family, but it would really be a shame if I judged someone, wrote them off as a drunk and left them to "deal" with it, only to find out they had a head injury or a stroke which caused them to act in a drunk like fashion. That being said, as long as I don't put my children in danger I will help the person who is drunk. November, I had to help a drunk little old lady who really wasn't going to be able to cross the street. Everyone was slowing down to watch her as she bounced in and out of traffic, but because she was drunk no one was going to help. It was a really crappy feeling because I watched a parent die from scirossis of the liver.

 

[DEVER]

So I make mistakes many times a day. Some big, some small, some repeatedly and others for the first time.

mistakes and poor judgement are no reason to be left for dead!!

Every man, woman or child is equal and deserves to be treated as such.

Idealistic, perhaps, but I think we all feel this way when put to the test.

 

[SnowDog]

The point people are trying to make is one while having lunch on the hill is not going to make you impared. The criminal code CLEARLY states .o8, which for 100% of the worlds population of legal drinking age would not make you impared by the criminal code standard. In my opinion having a beer is perfectly acceptable by society, having several beer and operating a motor vehicle of any kind is not, hence the law of .08

It is no different than going over to your buddys house, having one beer and than driving home, or out to the bar having one or two beer all night than driving home. The point is ONE OR TWO BEER is perfectly acceptable. Now I know all you people against this will rant and rave about what I just stated, but I really don't give a damn. it is a free country and as long as a person is not legally impared it is no concern to me.If a person is drunk, by all means call the cops , do what ever it takes to refrain the drunk from operating the motor vehicle, but one beer, give me a break!!

So the next time I am on the hill and having a beer with my lunch and any of you bleading hearts say something, you better be prepared for a world of hurt, because I will not be impared and all my faculties including my fists will work just fine!!

Rant over!!

 

[Powertool29]

The point people are trying to make is one while having lunch on the hill is not going to make you impared. The criminal code CLEARLY states .o8, which for 100% of the worlds population of legal drinking age would not make you impared by the criminal code standard. In my opinion having a beer is perfectly acceptable by society, having several beer and operating a motor vehicle of any kind is not, hence the law of .08

It is no different than going over to your buddys house, having one beer and than driving home, or out to the bar having one or two beer all night than driving home. The point is ONE OR TWO BEER is perfectly acceptable. Now I know all you people against this will rant and rave about what I just stated, but I really don't give a damn. it is a free country and as long as a person is not legally impared it is no concern to me.If a person is drunk, by all means call the cops , do what ever it takes to refrain the drunk from operating the motor vehicle, but one beer, give me a break!!

So the next time I am on the hill and having a beer with my lunch and any of you bleading hearts say something, you better be prepared for a world of hurt, because I will not be impared and all my faculties including my fists will work just fine!!

Rant over!!

A little bit of a temper there SnowDog, maybe some therapy and anger management might be in order, because using your fists against someone might just put yourself in a 5 X 5 concrete room with a steel toilet without a seat... You would not get a couple beers with your lunch on the inside.

 

[stuckenough]

Wow....this thread just makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.
Is it "Miller time" yet?

 

[Modman]

The point people are trying to make is one while having lunch on the hill is not going to make you impared. The criminal code CLEARLY states .o8, which for 100% of the worlds population of legal drinking age would not make you impared by the criminal code standard. In my opinion having a beer is perfectly acceptable by society, having several beer and operating a motor vehicle of any kind is not, hence the law of .08

It is no different than going over to your buddys house, having one beer and than driving home, or out to the bar having one or two beer all night than driving home. The point is ONE OR TWO BEER is perfectly acceptable. Now I know all you people against this will rant and rave about what I just stated, but I really don't give a damn. it is a free country and as long as a person is not legally impared it is no concern to me.If a person is drunk, by all means call the cops , do what ever it takes to refrain the drunk from operating the motor vehicle, but one beer, give me a break!!

So the next time I am on the hill and having a beer with my lunch and any of you bleading hearts say something, you better be prepared for a world of hurt, because I will not be impared and all my faculties including my fists will work just fine!!

Rant over!!

LOL - Typically I try to never get involved with these types of threads because there is always two sides of the story and everyone has there own opinion.

That being said - I don't drink while riding. Mainly due to dehydration (i'd rather drink water to stay hydrated), but if guys want to have a beer or two max, I'm cool with it. If a guy shows up in the p/lot and only packs 12 beer into his backpack I will say something, but otherwise they are big boys and girls and have enough sense to take care of themselves.

0.08% BAC is a great 3 digit # but means nothing. Alcohol affects each person differently (body mass, physical condition etc) and when sledding, you are typically dehydrated which means potentially more prone to the effects.

This is my main rationale for not drinking while sledding though - While you may not be impaired after one beer, your reactions could be slowed/slower, judgement slightly impaired, etc. The average power to weight ratio on your average 150 HP sled is equivalent to that of a 900-1000 HP drag car (sub 10 second car). The average power to weight ratio of a turbo'd sled is equivalent to that of a 2000 HP dragster. I posted a video of a qualifying pass from Race City a few months back on the vid section (turn speakers down).

This car has around 3000 HP. IMO - You need to have all your faculties with you when racing and sledding is much the same. You will rarely see a drag racer take a drink before a race. Its all about reaction time, shift points etc. However in a 3200 lb race car the driver is protected by an engineered roll cage, 5 point harness, fire suit, etc. There is no roll cage on your sled and no other protection offered in the event of a collision. When travelling "mach chicken" down the bumpy trail not much wider than a pickup truck or weaving through the hills, its important to be focused as much as possible.

I would also help someone on the trail so long as doing so does not endanger my life in any way, regardless if they're impaired or not. If there is blood or bodily fluids involved and I do not have my first aid pack with gloves or one way valve mask, I will help where I can but we each have to protect ourselves first. Under the Good Samaritan's Act, once you start first aid, you cannot stop, so if you start administering first aid and then smell alcohol its too late, you have to keep going. You cannot start and then stop for no reason. So do the breath check first if that is your perogative. If you choose not to administer first aid after that and leave them, that is your choice.

 

[907rider]

I dont care drunk or not id help you out, we're all lookin to have a good time. you still gotta know your limits tho, ride responsibly

 

[fargineyesore]

It seems this keeps coming up, it is illegal to operate a motorized vehicle period whether you have one beverage or a dozen. Why don't you people understand this. The criminal code states the following:

Section 253(a) of the Criminal Code defines the offence of
“impaired driving”. It states that “Every one commits an offence
who operates a motor vehicle or vessel or operates or assists in
the operation of an aircraft or of an aircraft or of railway
equipment or has care or control of a motor vehicle, vessel,
aircraft or railway equipment, whether it is in motion or not, while
the person’s ability to operate the vehicle, vessel, aircraft or
railway equipment is impaired by the alcohol or a drug”.
Section 253(b) of the Criminal Code defines the offence of “Over
80". It makes it an offence for a person to operate a motor vehicle
while your blood alcohol level exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol in
100 millilitres of blood.


I for one would be alot happier if the police would police it better then maybe the point would start to get across to people who insist that they need to drink on the hill, out quadding or dirt biking.

As for leaving a person on the hill, I know that the group that rides with CR500 wouldn't leave a person injured without tending to them, unless it was to dangerous to get to them, but the drunken person would be having a visit from the rcmp afterwards.

Yeah, just what everyone needs, more cops in the back country! I'd guess that those that want that are in the minority.

 

[teeroy]

I don't pack any alcohol on the hill. (I ride hard, and need water....lots of it)
I don't really care if you do. (I might even have a shot of your Cherry Whiskey, but not beer)
Tho it would piss me off, I would help you if you were drunk and injured.....
I don't ride with anyone that would piss me off.

 

[willhickey]

WOW interesting thread. Here is my take. I don't drink on the hill, same reason as the rest. As for the people that I ride with they have a few but never enough to cause me greef. I don't really care if someone else wants to as long as they keep it within limits. I have been know to have a few (or a lot) at the regent in Revelstoke from time to time however I keep it to the that. As for the ride out. I don't care who is drinking as long as the driver does not touch it, period. I think that pulling 6000 +- through the mountain passes in crappy weather at 1:00am is enough to say that they should not have anything in there system. I usually am driving so if my buddies want to have a few I don't really care. I know the law states different however that is just my take on it. Right or wrong.

If someone was in need of help. I don't care what is in there system or I would help to the best of my abilities. I belive that people make mistakes and that people always deserve another chance to redeem themselves. I have made many mistakes some that have cost other people a lot of money but they have always given be another chance. Just my 2 cents