I’m just on the internet bullshitting right now. Stop trying to corner me 
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My wife pretty much has to be in this camp by now. She’s never been ‘sick’ with COVID but I find it pretty implausible that she hasn’t gotten it at some point.
Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we stop at McDonald’s?
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Maaaan, thanks for that reminder. I gotta start using the ‘Don’t make me turn this car around’ with the students I take fishing.
My current go to is to get halfway there, look in the rearview mirror and declare “We forgot the boat!” then laugh to myself for the next 5 minutes as everyone frantically turns around and looks out the back window. At the boat they tripped over getting into the vehicle.
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Yeah, talking about drunk pilots really isn’t the same as talking about drunk drivers. For me, I have never been a passenger or driver in a car with a drunk driver. If I am in an accident with a drunk driver, it will be because my vehicle was hit in an accident where a driver of another vehicle was drunk and was a proximate cause of the accident. I expect that is a super vanishingly small risk with a plane.
When I was a kid we’d mentally prepare for a week for a 2 hour ride down the Jersey shore. My wife’s family would drive from NJ to Disney World… we’ve settled on capping out at 7 hour distances.
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I too would have to mentally prepare for the situation.
That’s about my limit, more than about 6-8 hours and I’m flying. Last time I went to Denver from KC I flew.
Commercial airplanes for sure. It’s a bigger problem with private pilots.
It does happen on commercial airlines though. The pilots get in WAAAAAAAYYYYYY more trouble than a DUI though, so it’s pretty rare.
Also the regulations for pilots are weird. There’s no BAC limit… they’re simply not allowed to drink within 8 hours of flying. Not even one sip of beer. But if they’re hungover from a bender that involved them stopping more than 8 hours ago that’s ok.
Most airlines have stricter limits than the law though… 12 hours is common. If your liver processes 0.015% BAC an hour (pulled from the interweb) then that means you could have a BAC of 0.18% 12 hours prior and still be fine. You’d have to be materially over that to not be fine.
Less than that it’s not even worth considering, but you also have to look at how close your final destination is to the airport and whether you need a car once you’re there.
A 6-8 hour drive to Manhattan (where you most certainly do NOT want a car) is pretty different from a 6-8 hour drive to a beach rental (where you probably DO).
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About 5% of passengers are still wearing masks.
I don’t think this quite correct. I think you are right about the 8 hour rule but on top of that, the FAA also imposes a BAC limit of no more than 0.04% when reporting for duty or at any time while on duty.
i like road trips. but generally feel like I lack the time for them. given the time i have, flying wins out on trips of a certain length.
air travel always concerns me for some sort of illness (low grade concern - more like i wouldn’t be surprised at catching anything). i don’t mask on the recent trips but fully udnerstand why one would.
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Oh, my bad. Maybe I did know that, but I guess I was more aware of the 8 hour “bottle to throttle” restriction.
I was once around a pilot who’d literally had two sips of beer when his phone rang. “Oh man, I’d love to but I just cracked open a beer. If you’d have called 5 minutes ago I would’ve said yes.” Hung up, looked at the beer and remarked “this beer cost me $15,000.”
Airline was going to pay him a crap ton for picking up a last minute overseas trip but he couldn’t do it. I’d bet a gazillion dollars he would have gotten away with it but it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught.
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I found this from a quick google search Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes in 2021 (dot.gov)
So if you assume that 100% of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities were of drunk drivers (obviously faulty as many of those deaths would be people driving unimpaired) that reduces your risk by about 1/3.
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So maybe a 20% risk reduction if you never get in the car with a drunk driver (you or anyone else).
What if you never get in a car with a drunk driver, properly maintain the vehicle & tires (sufficient tread, brakes work, etc.) always wear your seat belt, car equipped with airbags, car never exceeds 10 mph above the posted speed limit? All stuff within your direct or indirect control.
Maybe now a 25-30% risk reduction?
Dang, guess I need to get that bivalent booster before I do my fall traveling. I had forgotten. I wonder where I can get something other than Moderna. Also I will have to pay this time. I wonder how much it costs.
The need for a car at the destination is a factor, as is the length of stay and the amount of luggage needed. A weekend trip for a wedding in a major city is different that 10 days in a place I could bring my dog and would need a car and a bunch of stuff. I’d consider a 15 hour drive for the latter but not the former.
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Should be covered by insurance.