This thread has rather gone off the rails and is now about drunk-driving, which is a wicked thing to do.

Drinking and driving absolutely do not mix. I enjoy drinking and pride myself on my driving. That’s two reasons why I don’t ever drink and drive.

In the UK the driving age is 17 and the drinking age is 18, but many learn to drive later. I learned to drive only in my twenties, but “learned” – if that’s the word – to drink in my teens. So I got used to socialising without a car. I’m not unusual. I think Americans do it the other way round. So possibly they use their cars for socialising, then some maybe drink too when they’re old enough.

We have perhaps less of a car culture because public transport is better, at least in the cities. The downside – more of a yobbish drinking “culture” and plenty of alcohol-related problems, probably more than in the US. Brits abroad – our lager louts – are a disgrace.