Did it ever exist in the age of automobiles? Even when you’re not running into people you can definitely cause damage to public infrastructure.
In It’s a Wonderful Life George Bailey was fortunate enough not to kill anyone in his accident but he still damaged one of the oldest trees in town when he was drunk driving.
Any graph of car deaths over time in any OECD country shows two sudden down-turns. One in the 1970s (seat belt laws), and the 80s (when drunk driving became socially unacceptable).
e.g. Australia
1970. population: 12.6M. Car deaths: 3798. Deaths per 100,000: 30.4
1980. population: 14.9M. Car deaths: 3272. Deaths per 100,000: 22.3
1990. population: 17.0M. Car deaths: 2331. Deaths per 100,000: 13.7
Over 20 years, the population went up 50%, and the road deaths went down almost 40%.
This is personal for me: my first funeral for a childhood friend was when I was 18. He was driving home, sober, and was hit by a drunk driver. It was the late 80s, and I’m glad the social attitude was “the other driver did something genuinely wrong”, rather than “the other driver made an unfortunate mistake”.
That world didn’t exist pre-automobile either. You can find vintage PSAs about not riding a horse while drunk, and public intoxication is/was illegal in many places going back to the start of the country. Even today, in many jurisdictions, you will get a DUI for riding a horse, bicycle, or any other conveyance while drunk.
Operating a water craft of any kind (even a jetski) while drunk is definitely illegal in BC. I suspect the laws vary by province. I’m not sure if open containers are legal for passengers. I suspect not, but I am also fairly sure that part is loosely enforced. You’ll get a DUI if you crash into the dock but otherwise I doubt much is gonna happen.
When they first introduced the law in Ontario, they had a campaign with the slogan “Water on the water, beer on the peer” which makes me think you can’t have open containers, even as a passenger.
I think it’s pretty loosely enforced for everyone, but I know they do run quite a few blitzes on the big lakes around here. There’s almost always a big accident or death on the lake each year. It’s one of the many reasons I don’t drink while on the water.
You can, but the scale is radically different. Walking, riding a bike, horse riding, etc all suffer when drunk and are more dangerous. And people have always died around horses [1]. But the scale of damage done has not been comparable. I feel it’s a bit like the guns vs knives comparison.
But I totally agree that being drunk and carless in public puts others at risk, no matter which means you’re using to get home.
“Communism,” “Socialism,” and “Woke” are all synonymous in that universe. They basically mean doing absolutely anything that might benefit people who 1) are not you and 2) might belong to a class of others. This includes public schooling, public hospitals, public roads, social programs of any kind, education on exactly what these terms actually mean, and, of course, teaching and study of history, the worst offender of all.
I am not gonna put a /s tag on this, because it is absolutely not.
You’re suspicion is correct. Alcohol can only consumed if the boat is (anchored or docked) AND has (permanent sleeping space, permanent toilet, and permanent cooking facilities). So a boat one might live on for more than a week.
I only know this 'cause my mother insists their boat meets these requirements. I agree the cubby up front has a permanent bed, but the portable eco-toilet isn’t plumbed in per the regs, and the Coleman stove is “permanent” in the sense it is bolted down.
And you’re right, it’s not enforced strongly. I’ve been out dozens of times with them of ~20 years, only once had an OPP boat pull up for a chat.
Back in the early 80s we would launch my buddies boat in Detroit or Wyandotte and head over to Amherstburg, get completely hammered at Duffy’s and then hit the beer store and fill up the boat with Labatt Extra Stock.
We always made it back avoiding OPP, Canadian Customs, and US Customs.