Ant McPartlin and drink driving

[Tony MB]

I can't feel sorry for him !!!....He knew the rules when he chose to drink and drive.

 

[Taffy7hfa]

Some of the most difficult problems to have fall into the "self inflicted" category, he is clearly suffering which is sad, he seems like a decent bloke I hope he doesn't drink himself to death, having loads of money usually just makes that more likely.

 

[Alfie]

Of course it would, And AFAIK it's his first offence. And was he 81milligram per whatever or 5 times over?

Nope, its 35 the limit. he was just over double the limit.

 

[dry run]

In the summertime
Just listening to this song on the radio and asked the missus if she remembered it being used for an anti drink drive advert, she hadn't so I found it on YouTube.
Not sure this type of ad gets through to any would be drink driver but if Ants Mum had seen it recently, maybe she would have taken charge of his keys.

Quite ironic really as the original lyrics end the first verse with the words "Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find"

 

[L John]

Quite ironic really as the original lyrics end the first verse with the words "Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find"

​

Ed Sheeran did the song about driving 90 down those country lanes and got a police warning.
I wonder if Mungo Jerry got a warning?

People in those days just accepted it was a song, no one thought it was the right thing to do or an excuse.
I'd be surprised if Ed didn't cheekily point out he never said he was quoting MPH in the song.

 

[AMGeed]

​

Ed Sheeran did the song about driving 90 down those country lanes and got a police warning.
I wonder if Mungo Jerry got a warning?

People in those days just accepted it was a song, no one thought it was the right thing to do or an excuse.
I'd be surprised if Ed didn't cheekily point out he never said he was quoting MPH in the song.

Another snowflake Sgt in the police force who can't seperate the difference between song lyrics and reality

 

[dry run]

Another snowflake Sgt in the police force who can't seperate the difference between song lyrics and reality

To be fair to Ed, he never spacified MPH or KPH so 90KPH is 56MPH - quite legal on some country roads

Also, I'm not certain that he even specifies which country he's talking about - so which police force has jurisdiction?

 

[Alfie]

Quite ironic really as the original lyrics end the first verse with the words "Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find"

It doesnt say 'Have an alcoholic drink..' It could mean a soft drink !

 

[dry run]

It doesnt say 'Have an alcoholic drink..' It could mean a soft drink !

You mean there are drinks that don't contain alcohol??? Every day's a school day

 

[Jim2]

Absolutely correct. It made TV news solely because it happened in the early afternoon rush hour on the motorway and caused enormous tailbacks on the Auckland harbour bridge. A day later it was forgotten about.

To add insult to injury in my mother's case the drunk driver was let off on a technicality. He was unconscious at hospital and a blood sample was taken. As it was taken without consent it was inadmissible.

The only bright spot was that he worked in the naval dockyards. Dad had just completed 20 years in the Navy and had left at Lieutenant Commander rank. The drink driver was heard to be boasting about how he'd killed someone when drink driving and got away with it so the Navy took its own action. He was assigned every dirty unpleasant job going and eventually left 2 years later.

That one event had a huge impact on my life - and thats something many people forget. The family of the deceased have to deal with it forever.

Yes it does stay with you for life,,, even 50 years later as in my case. Completely drunk driver out of his mind killed two people.....and nearly killed me. And he had previous form too. So no sympathy for this guy, or others like him.

 

[davemercedes]

When I wore a khaki suit a l-o-n-g time ago, I was stationed in Germany and at age 18 (hmm yes, a very l-o-n-g time ago!) and although I was on a short engagement (which meant I was on low my pay) it was incredible to have £olly in my pocket that was enough to get as drunk as a skunk every night... I remember that you could buy a large coke and decide to stick a tot of rum in it and the coke was dearer than the rum!

Personally, I had a good crowd of mates and yes, we had a beer or three and celebrated special occasions etc but there was a long table at the front of the NAAFI with about 12 - 14 chairs round it where the hardened boozers sat together. While most of us went from our evening meal to our rooms to write letters etc and then went over for a drink at around 8:00 pm, the hardened boozers went straight to the bar at about 6:45 pm and were there until closing time.

It was interesting but very sad to see pleasant young men, who when they were first posted in, seemed like nice guys but some of them quickly chose to join the hard drinking gang... So I watched a few 18-19 year old's become hard drinkers and within months they were putting away 7, 10 pints or more every night (yes it was cheap).

Going back to Ant & Dec, many "slebs" get caught up in the mould (how many times do you see people on the box who admit they've had serious drink/addiction problems?) because it's an easy downward slide and usually the cost is fairly irrelevant. I certainly think he's had too much sympathy but we tend to forget too easily that alcoholism is an illness just like drug addiction. I can't help a lack of sympathy when people go down that road, but they do need help when it takes over their life. It's very sad because a nice jar/tot/glass of wine is very enjoyable and relaxing, especially with good company.