Oda stopped for DUI

Would you get into a car with a drunk driver? Woul you wheel you baby carriage across the street (green light in your favor) with a drunk driver coming down the road? Your answers could end this discussion.

Japan has capsule hotels where you can stay the night, or he could've called someone to pick him up. He was under the influence, and someone could have ended up hurt. What he did was still illegal and wrong.

That said, forcing him to withdraw from the GP, would be absolutely ridiculous and it would only hurt the Japanese federation.

Joesitz said:

Would you get into a car with a drunk driver? Woul you wheel you baby carriage across the street (green light in your favor) with a drunk driver coming down the road? Your answers could end this discussion.

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Drunk - no. But with someone with 0.03 blood alcohol - yes, I would, and I have.

I don't believe that he was "under the influence". Having a .03 blood alcohol level is nothing.

Smokers who haven't had a cigarette in several hours are more impaired/distracted by their body's craving than someone at .03 BAL.

For me personally, I'm MORE alert in my driving when I've had just 1 or 2 drinks (because I realize it). In the middle of the day when I'm on the familiar trip to the rink or work, it's much more likely that my mind is going to be engaged in other thoughts.

two beers and a drink, that was too much to think it is o.k. to drive if it ewas in less than 2 hours, and to make that kind of decision is "showing" of poor decision making - hence very impaired IMO. Most people, I would say are impaired via "their actions" when driving though.

He didn't think twice about driving let alone he was impaired?

I think that shows more about how lightly people take the serious nature of diving a motorized vehicle. Anytime we get behind the wheel we need to take it more seriously.

Mistakes .... Live and learn I hope. He seems like a great guy really. I hope it doesn't recur.

to get pulled over for having a .03 (that is more than a beer in a hour I believe) says more about the fact he is likely a horrible driver.

What they said on TV here are:

1. Nobu was very worried of his not having been able to attend the exams in his University, which took place just when he was with the JSF forcing its camp and the show in Italy. (ETA Nobu did his best in the show.)

2. He got the chance after being back here, to discuss with 3 personnels, including a professor in charge, on how to make his skating and his studies compatible, for about 2 hours in a grill restaurant, and took while eating and talking two jugs of daught beer and a glass of alcoholic soda.

3. The three saw Nobu off to the Osaka station, he overslept while waiting for his train to come, and 3 hours later, he got on the moped that he had left in the parking lot of another station half on the way, and then he was caught in a DUI trap immediately nearby where the officer(s) smelled alcohol from Nobu.

4. He apologized in tears to his fans and supporters, in the press conference last night, for his loose-mindedness, and said he was ready to take any punishment for this.

Well, Japan has had hundreds of thousand deaths in automobile accidents, and has made its law more strict to DUI some years ago. Even still, disastrous accidents caused by alcohol had recently occurred continuously, and every media is campaigning the Don't Drink and Drive.

So on the forums here, skating fans' reactions are mosty that Nobu should take the punishment, which would toughen his mental power, and hopefully he would comeback on the ice even stronger than before. Fans foresee that the probability of the JSF taking away Nobu's GP entries is very high, and under the atmosphere here fans' voices won't rize enough to stop such penalties from the JSF.

It would be none other than the clear voices from overseas that would prevent the JSF from confusing things and over-reacting.
(But they must be sent straight to the federation, preferably from the host federations, Canada and France.)

The JSF will decide the punishment next week.

Is it a given that .03 in Japan is the same as a .03 in the U.S.? Meaning, are the testing and reporting methods the same? Just in our city, if you go from one hospital to another, the levels on certain tests can be slightly different, based on the particular method used.

Regardless, he made an error in judgement, and by doing so, broke the law. Hopefully he's learned.

He ate with his drinks AND slept for 3 hours afterwards. That's most definitely a reasonable amount of time for a person to think their body has recovered enough...

Again, should smokers not drive if they haven't had a cigarette recently? Because, imo, that's just as "bad" in comparison to this very low amount of BAL in terms of how your brain is functioning.

IMO Japanese people tend to think this way:

Sports celebrities give courage and dreams to youngsters.
So they must always try to be the youths' ideal, not just as athletes but also as ethical figures.

The JSF may be thinking this way:

We are supporting the skaters to fully extend their abilities, through administration, promotion and bonuses.
They can't become stars without our suport, so if they don't fulfill the requirements of being a star, we must punish them because we are the ones responsible in keeping the stars as ideal personalities.

... So that must be why the JSF is holding its "Ethical Committee" next week for the Oda incident.

sorcerer said:

What they said on TV here are:
4. He apologized in tears to his fans and supporters, in the press conference last night, for his loose-mindedness, and said he was ready to take any punishment for this.

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The video :no:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/2007/07/28/k20070727000133.html

Kasey said:

Is it a given that .03 in Japan is the same as a .03 in the U.S.? Meaning, are the testing and reporting methods the same? Just in our city, if you go from one hospital to another, the levels on certain tests can be slightly different, based on the particular method used.

Regardless, he made an error in judgement, and by doing so, broke the law. Hopefully he's learned.

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His breath result is 0.3mg/ltr (the limit is 0.15mg/ltr in Japan)
It means his blood result is a bit more than 0.6g/ltr or 0.06 % (the limit is 0.3g/ltr in Japan).
That would not make him punishable in the US, Canada or UK (limit at 0.8g/ltr or 0.08%) but it would in most of Europe (limit at 0.5g/ltr or 0.05%).
.

Thank you Nmsis, I was pretty sure there was a different scale, in that we were assuming less alcohol in him than was the case.

GoldMedalist said:

Again, should smokers not drive if they haven't had a cigarette recently? Because, imo, that's just as "bad" in comparison to this very low amount of BAL in terms of how your brain is functioning.

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This is comparing fruits and vegetables. Alcohol has a different effect on brain and body function. A person in duress is "unstable for driving. A person thinking more about their make-up than driving, etc....

Now if Oda was .03 after a meal and 3 hours of sleep he is likely not saying everything he drank, or the "distilled spirit" was more than 60% acbw. If he drank all of that with in an hour and "passed out" for 3 hours... no, that is not enough time to recover. As a nurse has told me, "sleep and you have a well rested drunk, coffee and you have an awake drunk, etc... The only thing that recovers sobriety is time dependent on the persons physique. Oda IMO should have either drank less, slept more (6-8) hours or had more responsible friends that would not allow him to drive.

Also, is Oda a drinker. Does he drink often? His body fat content is in addition a strike against him, he has a athletic body that it is "easier" to feel the effects of alcohol. And it would be distributed through his body more "effectively."

Again, I think the main thing here is that blaming the alcohol and not seeing it as a contributing factor is the real issue. He is likely a bad driver, he was half asleep still, and the effects of alcohol on his body with such low fat content make all of these things show poor decision.

Nmsis said:

That would not make him punishable in the US, Canada or UK (limit at 0.8g/ltr or 0.08%) but it would in most of Europe (limit at 0.5g/ltr or 0.05%).
.

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Colorado it is also .05.

My friends try to play the "beers per hour and how much they way game" all the time. Legal limit does STILL not designate if a person is impaired in reality. It is still a relativity issue.

Also -
With the advent of NASA (National Alcoholics Space Administration) news it is very obvious the effects of getting sleep have no relevance. Time and only time are what sober a person up. EOS.

Nmsis said:

His breath result is 0.3mg/ltr (the limit is 0.15mg/ltr in Japan)
It means his blood result is a bit more than 0.6g/ltr or 0.06 % (the limit is 0.3g/ltr in Japan).
That would not make him punishable in the US, Canada or UK (limit at 0.8g/ltr or 0.08%) but it would in most of Europe (limit at 0.5g/ltr or 0.05%).
.

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Ah, well that's a little different then! Those drinks must have been fairly large...

I know how much skating stars mean to their fans, and I do not pass judgment on stars or anyone else who drink alcohol or take drugs. But when that intoxicant involves the safety of others, I complain.

A car swerving on a highway should be stopped as a precautionary measure; the driver should be tested; and let the punishment fit the crime.

Joe

A car swerving on a highway should be stopped as a precautionary measure; the driver should be tested; and let the punishment fit the crime.

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I don't think there's anyone on this forum who disagrees with that.


I'm kind of curious as to why the university personnel incl. the supervisor of the univ's ice skating club took only Oda out to discuss (read: eat out) in this hectic schedule while, if I understand correctly, Sawada and Takahashi headed directly for Nobeyama for the JSF's exhibition event as soon as they arrived back from Italy.
They also attend the same university and belong to the same skating club. All three had the same string of events (DOI-Courmayeur-Nobeyama) planned although Sawada was out of DOI due to injury.

There is no excuse for what Oda did, but it was probably very unfortunate for him: little time to rest between flying back from Italy and (planning on) going to Nobeyama for the gala, yet his supervisor and professor took him out to "discuss what can be done for his schoolwork" in Umeda (the busiest area of Osaka) and not in or near the campus, exhausted in the train on the way home and overslept all the way to Kusatsu station (if I got the fact straight) which is far past the station nearest to his home in Takatsuki city, finally got back to Takatsuki past midnight, realized he didn't have his cellphone to call his mom to pick him up, probably asked himself "Great, there's no bus, no ride home, what should I do..."

(Correct me if I got some facts wrong from the crazy Japanese media)

I agree with the others who said he must follow the law, wherever he happens to be at the time (I wish our DUI laws were stricter in the US, as well).

That being said, what he did is nothing compared to how Pasha got arrested for DUI years ago with her agent in the Mercedes.

Nmsis said:

His breath result is 0.3mg/ltr (the limit is 0.15mg/ltr in Japan)
It means his blood result is a bit more than 0.6g/ltr or 0.06 % (the limit is 0.3g/ltr in Japan).
That would not make him punishable in the US, Canada or UK (limit at 0.8g/ltr or 0.08%) but it would in most of Europe (limit at 0.5g/ltr or 0.05%).
.

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Really? I'm fairly sure the legal limit here in the UK is 0.35mg per litre.

Ant

blue dog said:

That being said, what he did is nothing compared to how Pasha got arrested for DUI years ago with her agent in the Mercedes.

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Pasha? That I have not heard. Or are you meaning Oksana Baiul, perhaps?

About Oda I would like to say, that in my opinion it is right that he gets punished for his error in judgment. That is the law of his country and he did not obey it. But, I don´t think it would be right for the skating federation to withdraw him from GP competitions. It would be right though it it had happened in an official skating event, but this wasn´t.

I just wonder about the people with whom he was in that restaurant... How come they did not have more sense than this young boy???