I thought the law against drinking and driving applied to all beverages, for anyone in a car. Oddly, this didn't stop me from doing it, or from caring if others did -- I just hid my drink any time we passed a cop car!

A little anarchist even then

I used to think that "drinking and driving" meant that you couldn't drink ANYTHING when you were driving. My babysitter used to always drink coffee when she was driving us to school. I knew she was a good friend of my parents so I felt really guilty when I had to tell my parents that Ms. Nancy was drinking and driving on the way to school.

Anon

when i was little i believed that drinking and driving referred to all drinks. so when my dad drank a soda in the car, i would yell at him for breaking the law.

sydney

I remember when I was about 7 years old I saw a sign that said don't drink and drive, its thw law. So I thought that when you drank anything, alchoholic or not, it impaired your driving skills. Also, I believed that the passengers couldn't drink anything wither, because they might spill and that would cause a crash or something. (I don't know where I got that from). It wasn't until I freaked out when my dad drank iced tea while at the wheel and he explained to me just what kind of drinks were illegal to drive with.

C

One day my dad was drinking water while he was driving. I thought it was illegal. It is stupid that they say don't "drin and drive", they should be more specific.

Joseph

i thought drinking and driving meant ANY drink and that it went for anyone in the car. one day, I asked my sister "are you not allowed to eat in the car either? 'cause i really wanna eat my McDonalds."

julia

I used to believe that by drinking juice in the back seat of my Mum's car while she was driving, we were committing a drink-drive offence!!

Anon

I remember when i was small i saw a magnet on my grandmothers fridge that said "MADD DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE"

so i took this literally....i thought you couldn't drink ANYTHING while driving...cuz when i saw my mom drinking some water while driving I was appalled.....i was like"mommy, you shouldn't drink and drive" She laughed

Anon

One family holiday we were driving along and we passed under a 'Drink Driving is a Crime' sign. My mother later pulled out a juice drink and offered it to my father who was driving. I completely freaked out because I thought my Dad was breaking the law because he was drinking (juice) while driving.

Lucindar

When I was a little kid, I heard PSAs and that about "drinking and driving". The phrase wasn't too specific, and I didn't understand the alcohol element to it. One day, after hearing an especially scary warning, I started screaming at my mother and refused to get into her car because she was bringing with her a can of diet soda. Oops!

Carie in Detroit

When I was probably about 6, I remember seeing ads on TV reminding people not to drink and drive. I didn't know what alcohol was so I thought this applied to drinking any liquids at all. So I was very shocked and worried when I went to the grocery store with my mom one day and she got herself a soda and opened it in the car while she was driving home! I thought my mom was going to get arrested for drinking and driving.

K.

when i was 6 or 7, i would see those dont drink and drive commercials on tv and so whenever i would see my mom drinking any type of beverage in the car, i would yell at her,

stupid

When I was younger, after seeing all of those "dont drink and drive" ads on TV, I became upset when my father was behind the wheel with a can of soda. I said, "Dad! You're not supposed to drink and drive!"

Jami

I used to belive that "drinking and driving" was drinking anything like you couldnt drink a coke while in a car everytime i saw a police car i would hide my drink LOL

Natalie

When I was little, I took drinking and driving, well literally. I would always get onto my Mom for drinking and driving, even if it was only coffee or coke.
Also, I fussed at my uncle for not having both hands on the wheel while he was driving...for some reason I guess I thought that the cops would stop you if both of your hands were not on the wheel!

H. M.

When I was younger, I used to be really afraid that my dad was going to get arrested because he was "drinking and driving". I didn't realise that "drinking and driving" didn't include soft drinks ;)

Darcy

I remember seeing a commercial often when I was 4 (now 24) that depicted a group of teenagers drinking something (that I thought was just pop at the time) while sitting in their vehicle. As soon as the driver turned on the ignition, all passengers and the driver turned into skeletons and a scary voice said "Don't drink and drive!!!". From that point on, I thought that if you drink anything while driving, you would turn into a skeleton! I finally got the balls to drink some pop in my parents' car to see if I would actually turn into a skeleton. I was scared as hell after the first few sips but after a while, I realized that I wasn't really going to turn into a skeleton. Looking back at this moment just made me realize how dumb some of those 80's public service announcements are. Skeletons??? LOL!!!

Darius

my mums boyfriend got banned for drink driving - i immediately had a picture in my head of him drinking a 2 litre bottle of lemonade whilst driving his car. im dumb!!

roxie

When I was young, before I knew of the effects of alcohol, I thought you weren't allowed to drink and drive because when you would lift up the cup to drink, it blocked your view of the road. I would then chastise my dad for drinking his coffee while driving us to school because I thought all drinking and driving was against the law.

Derek

When i was little my mom always would always tell me that "you should never drink and drive". i guess she thought she was doing a good thing by stessing such an important thing at an early age, but as a young child i was much too young to know about alcohol or it's effects (my parents never drank), so i of course thought that "drinking and driving" meant drinking ANYTHING while driving in a vehicle, and i never drank any fluids in the car until i was older and understood what she had meant. :)
At least my "no drinking and driving" mindset made for far fewer bathroom stops on family road trips as a kid. :)

miss helen