[phillamb168]

Most countries have laws that state, effectively, if you are witnessing a crime, and you have the ability to help and do not, you're charged with 'failure to act' or 'aiding and abetting' or something like that. The penalties are pretty hefty - jail time in most cases.

What about the (hot) damsel in distress you try to save, only to meet her four thug friends who were hiding in the shadows? Or that crazy girl when you try to beat up the boyfriend who was smacking the s*** out of her - she jumps on you and claws you up cuz you are hurting her boyfriend! I'm sure some of you live in a neighborhood like in "my blue heaven", "groundhogs day" or "the truman show". But the bigger cities you gotta be suspicious about everything. 

Eh.. I've lived in major metropolitan areas for most of my life. Bed Stuy and Brooklyn heights in Brooklyn, Mott Haven in the South Bronx, various parts of Chicago, and now the suburbs of Paris. Truman Show they ain't, and I gotta say the idea that you have to always be suspicious in the "bigger cities" is bunk. Bad things can happen (I've been mugged before - two teenage punks knocked me over and tried to steal my iphone, but little did they know that I've been boxing for 5 years. I got my phone back), but Jiminy H Cricket, the chances of one of the above situations you mention actually happening are extraordinary. Maybe in the movies, but not in real life.

[blatz]

Speaking of unfit for human consumption AND fueling cars with alcohol: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/01/four_loko_is_being_used_to_fue.html

reminds me of yet another great Simpsons quote:

"One for you, one for me" - Homer, in a dream, as he fills up his car at the beer station.

[beerocd]

I gotta say the idea that you have to always be suspicious in the "bigger cities" is bunk. Bad things can happen (I've been mugged before -

I must have a heck of an imagination to come up with those totally fictional scenarios all on my own. And besides, you WEREN'T suspicious and you got mugged. Just like I said. Luckily you were able to fend for yourself - many cannot.

[phillamb168]

Speaking of unfit for human consumption AND fueling cars with alcohol: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/01/four_loko_is_being_used_to_fue.html

reminds me of yet another great Simpsons quote:

"One for you, one for me" - Homer, in a dream, as he fills up his car at the beer station.

Ha! Exactly.

[phillamb168]

I gotta say the idea that you have to always be suspicious in the "bigger cities" is bunk. Bad things can happen (I've been mugged before -

I must have a heck of an imagination to come up with those totally fictional scenarios all on my own. And besides, you WEREN'T suspicious and you got mugged. Just like I said. Luckily you were able to fend for yourself - many cannot.

I'm not sure I understand about the suspicious part. My point is that if you're able to do something, you should. I could certainly defend myself, but if I saw an old lady in the same situation, I'd think it was my duty to try and do something. Not everybody SHOULD do this, of course.

FWIW, the law in France, for example, says that if by your inaction you deliberately caused something bad to happen, you're responsible. Mugging or other violence is not a good example here... A better example: you'd be liable if you were walking down the street and saw a woman lying in the road bleeding to death and did nothing to help her. Going back to the original sub-topic, if you see somebody obviously drunk trying to start a car, it's your -duty- to stop them, and if you don't do anything (as opposed to trying and then he kicks you in the nuts and drives off) I think you should be liable for anything that he does as a result of you not trying to prevent him from doing something obviously stupid. There's of course a lot of grey area here and this shouldn't apply all the time. Extenuating circumstances and all that.

There's a super interesting podcast from WNYC's Radiolab about Morality and why we make the decisions we do (http://www.radiolab.org/2007/aug/13/) I haven't finished it yet, but they cover some of this stuff, like what makes people react the way they do in different situations.

[bluefoxicy]

Luckily you were able to fend for yourself - many cannot.

This is the problem.

In my school, they told us if you are being attacked, cover your head and wait for a teacher.

They said absolutely do NOT intervene if you see someone being beaten, go get a teacher.

This is the new "self defense."  That's the problem.  What we need is a class in ass-kicking.

[maxieboy]

Stay out of it. Call the cops...

The police can't get there fast enough and somebody dies.  It's happened.  Police have been called, and turns out it wasn't necessary because they would have shown up after the fatal collisions with other cars or walking/biking pedestrians anyway.

I had someone in my college class that heard some woman screaming outside at night, but decided to stay out of it.. found out she'd been violently raped the next day, the cops were out asking people questions.  One woman in the past had bled to death for an hour after being fatally stabbed in two separate attacks within several minutes of each other; everyone heard her, but decided to stay out of it.

The bystander effect is the single biggest threat to civil society we have, and we've culturally taken to magnifying it via the concept of a nanny state.  Nothing is your problem and the police will handle it.  People may die, but it's better than risking getting hurt, killed, or worse--fined or sued.

Most countries have laws that state, effectively, if you are witnessing a crime, and you have the ability to help and do not, you're charged with 'failure to act' or 'aiding and abetting' or something like that. The penalties are pretty hefty - jail time in most cases.

Not physically restraining someone and then calling 911 is not "not doing anything". You have no obligation to risk injury or death by physically restraining an intoxicated, possibly dangerous individual.

[punatic]

1)  A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2)  A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3)  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

[capozzoli]

Maybe another good question would be, how much can you drink in a given time period and then drive without being over the limit. I imagine it is pretty low amounts. Is it a beer an hour? Cause I have had two in an hour and driven, bet I was over the limit.

Now-a-days, if im driving, its "no thank you".

[a10t2]

Maybe another good question would be, how much can you drink in a given time period and then drive without being over the limit. I imagine it is pretty low amounts. Is it a beer an hour? Cause I have had two in an hour and driven, bet I was over the limit.

A healthy adult of average weight can metabolize about 15-20 mL of ethanol an hour. That's roughly 12 oz of average-gravity beer, one shot of 80 proof liquor, one 5 oz glass of wine, etc. To get to a 0.08, though, you'd have to have about 3-4 drinks in an hour. There are a ton of calculators online that will try to estimate your BAC based on amount of alcohol, time, sex, and weight.

Now-a-days, if im driving, its "no thank you".

On behalf of everyone who's ever lost a loved one to a drunk driver, let me just say thank you.

[kerneldustjacket]

There are a ton of calculators online that will try to estimate your BAC based on amount of alcohol, time, sex, and weight.

So, does having sex increase or decrease one's BAC?


I've seen several forms of BAC estimators; what is surprising is how long it can take a high BAC to taper down to below the legal limit. I think someone said it earlier in this post...some folks are above the limit the next morning, and they drive home then.

[travistowe]

A person has a fifth amendment right to remain silent, so a "no refusal" checkpoint is unconstitutional.  You can find more about DUI law at my website, http://www.travistowe.com