Is there ever an acceptable reason to "drink and drive"? Under what circumstances could you understand this type of behavior?

Well, there's such a thing as making a bad situation worse, and loading a soused spouse, a burned child and a loaded driver into a car and speeding toward a hospital probably qualifies. If they were at a campground, there should have been other campers or campground employees. If they were in the middle of a national Forrest all by themselves, fine, let the drunk guy drive his burned kid to the nearest sober person (not the hospital), like the nearest house or store.

If the driver is pulled over, his DUI should serve as a reminder that wilderness camping (as well as drinking and driving) contains inherent dangers. There should always be at least one sober adult just in case something like this happens. S thinking after drinking is obviously clouded, but whose bright idea was it to bring a young child out into the wilderness, start a fire, and then drink to the extent where you are possibly not able to supervise the child or provide first aid or transportation?

The decision to drink beyond the legal driving limit while exposing a child to the dangers of an open fire (let alone other campground dangers) was made while stone cold sober, and for that alone, the drinker deserves the DUI. Never, never, never start a fire and allow children access to it while you drink to the extent where you cannot supervise the child and/or drive to a hospital legally. Drink responsibly.

I probably shouldn't answer this considering what has happened to me this week but...My son was in an accident caused by a drunk driver. He sustained a bruised spine and bleeding in his brain. He is just now getting the feeling back in his spine but will still need physical therapy and be in the hospital until after Thanksgiving.So, I would have to think of it this way...what if before the father was pulled over for swerving he swerved into oncoming traffic and took out another family or someone's son?

While I can understand the situation and I know you would do anything for your child I can't excuse putting other lives in danger.

Nope. Even then it's not acceptable, and I personally think it's neglectful or bad parenting. If you're too intoxicated to drive while you are the only driver and your children are with you, that's bad parenting.

Raising my kids, I would never have gotten drunk enough to not be able to drive them, even if there were other adults with me. I would never get drunk enough not to be able to drive if my kids were watching anyway. One or two beers while camping over the course of an evening with the adrenaline rush of your child getting hurt isn't enough to make you intoxicated by definition of the law.

But getting drunk with your kids when you are the only adult able to drive? Not smart. So ultimately, the plan would be to be a good enough parent to never put yourself in the situation where the choice you present here has to be made.('you' universal, not you specifically...LOL I know you didn't do this!

).

Well maybe if he was..... no that doesn't work. What if she was going to the.... no that doesn't work either. What if she was an astronaut and was going to the launch..... No I've tried.

I really have, and even with some creative thinking I can't think of any plausible situations that would excuse the dangers and irresponsibility of drink driving.

I see your point about emergencies, but as a whole, most DWI "emergencies" are running to the beer store cause the beer is gone. It's NOT okay to drive when you're loaded - I've gotten a DWI and it was awful. I learned my lesson.In this case, I would imagine the dad went to jail and the police took the son to the hospital.

It sucks, but there ya go - gotta drink responsibly (especially around fire since you could get all loaded and burn the forest down too...).

It could perhaps be justified if necessary to escape an act of terrorism. Other than that, I'm coming up short on ideas. I'm a firm believer in planning ahead and making sure you cannot find yourself in a situation where you need to drive.

One sure-fire way to do this is to have a sober driver with you at all times. Another option is to never drink more than the legal limit - ever.

I would have to say the example given is a very long shot. If a persons life is at stake, driving after driking could be justified, but my guess is 99% of the time it is not. I would highly advise against drinking and driving.

There is no reason this parent should have gotten himself in that situation. Knowing that you are the "Responsible" one and drinking when you are the one taking care of children is irresponsible at least and almost criminal in my mind. He should have gotten a ticket for Driving under the influence and also one for endangering the lives of his children.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.