HOW FAR AWAY IS THE DRINK, NO DRIVE AWAY. ?

[HERBIEMERCMAN]

i recently saw on the tv that darbyshire police are stopping the random breath tests this christmas and insted introducing the "shop your friends" idea.

this is not happening in my area as most of the main roads into preston and blackburn have major stop and test "impact brigades", with up to ten police officers involved.

this means anyone who saw or assumed you had had more drink than they considered ok, they could follow you out to your car outside the pub and give your car reg to the police.

my opinion of this, and i hope that other members will post their view, is that this is no different to the cctv cameras, in that if you are "clean", then you have nothing to hide.

however the downside is that i have always kept to the max 2 pints rule, beer, 3.9% max, not lager, and have confirmed that this is ok for me.

i am a firm believer in people being responsible for their actions and not spoiling everything for everyone else, eg: they ban all drink from driving based on a handfull of gob heads that "drunk drive",or "drug drive" who i would ban for life.

there are some very nice venues in my area for a nice meal and a couple of drinks for the responsible majority to enjoy and using their car for transport, i really hope that the yobo minority do not spoil this for the majority.

WHAT DO YOU THINK. ? herbiemercman.

 

[w44nty]

You might not like my answer,in my opinion it should be zero tolerance to drink with driving,drink driving ruins lives and kills people.

There is no such thing as I can have a couple of pints,it may not show up in a breath test but any amount of alchohol can effect your ability to drive safely

If you want a night out with a drink ,get a taxi,that way you are safe and so is everybody else

The above also includes driving under the influence of drugs

 

[jeffwebb]

In my opinion it is just such an intolerant attitude that leads to people being silly ie "hung for a sheep as a lamb"

 

[d215yq]

You might not like my answer,in my opinion it should be zero tolerance to drink with driving,drink driving ruins lives and kills people.

There is no such thing as I can have a couple of pints,it may not show up in a breath test but any amount of alchohol can effect your ability to drive safely

If you want a night out with a drink ,get a taxi,that way you are safe and so is everybody else

The above also includes driving under the influence of drugs

presumably you are also for a 30mph speed limit on all roads because anything above this also affects people's ability to stop safely if needed and if everyone drove at 30 there'd be no deaths.

you need to ask yourself, who would you rather walk out in front of, a sober person doing 50mph or someone who's had 2 pints and is driving at 30mph. drink does inhibit safe driving but so do many other things (like driving over 30mph).

of course drink driving kills, as does speeding and many other things, its nice to be able to say stopping drink driving stops deaths but it is of course complete nonsense.

 

[paul hayward]

for what its worth........ i am such a lightweight.... i hardly ever drink..i never used too anyway really but 7 years ago i had to not drink any booze at all as had other things to take so it was easy not to have a drink:lol:

For me "personally" i CAN feel the effect after even just one pint:Oops::lol::Oops:...SOOOO i just dont drink and then drive at all...each to their own though as everyone is different...My Mate Ty can drink Jack Daniels all night and still doesnt seem to even be anywhere near drunk...still over the limit though!!

One drink should be the max..if i drunk 2 pints i would be dangerous as hell:lol:

 

[paul hayward]

its nice to be able to say stopping drink driving stops deaths but it is of course complete nonsense.

hows that add up then?...dont drink n drive... you stand a better chance of not killing anyone when you drive home( like my Cousin and other friend) who s lives were tragically cut short (at xmas) by some one who had drunk too much??????

Nothing more from me on this subject as it touches a few very raw nerves

 

[w44nty]

presumably you are also for a 30mph speed limit on all roads because anything above this also affects people's ability to stop safely if needed and if everyone drove at 30 there'd be no deaths.

you need to ask yourself, who would you rather walk out in front of, a sober person doing 50mph or someone who's had 2 pints and is driving at 30mph. drink does inhibit safe driving but so do many other things (like driving over 30mph).

of course drink driving kills, as does speeding and many other things, its nice to be able to say stopping drink driving stops deaths but it is of course complete nonsense.

Yes I am against speeding as well,also mobile phone users,do I speed the answers is easily NO!,why because like most users on this forum,I have a speed limiter on my ML,I keep it at 30mph whilst driving in built up areas,why have the facility if you do not use it.

the stock answer is if you want to break the law(yes it is law)don't moan or make excuses when you get caught,it will only be one persons fault

 

[whitenemesis]

Not forgetting the "morning after" effects also...

Being responsible on the night and using a taxi, only to crawl out of bed after a few hours sleep and drive to work. Still very much over the limit....

 

[television]

I am the same as Paul, the slightest touch of any drink I can feel it, so I never drink

 

[Mic]

Zero tolerance is not a workable option for drink driving or for any other real life scenario.......there has to be wriggle room for very many reasons.

Mic

 

[HERBIEMERCMAN]

some good points raised so far, one key point IMHO is knowing your amount limit, i know mine from years of experience and having a friend who has the test kit. the other key issue is the morning after the night before syndrome, this is not an issue for me as i very rarely drink in the evening nowadays, in the past i have attended business conferences and been drinking into the early hours with fellow managers and directors, all responsible people, then at 8.30am the following day we are all driving to work, thinking it is another day. this must still happen for many people who like us back then are more than likely to be over the limit. can you immagine the police bursting into the conference at 2 am and taking everyones keys based on extrapolating the probability of most of us being over the lilmit 6 hours later.
as one member said, it is not an easy subject,BUT i maintain that if people are responsible with drink, driving in fog, no phone use, slow in congested areas, etc, then this is what is important to me, a straight ban, would again, hurt the many, because of a few.
if a driver hurt one of mine, i would blame the driver, not the drink, most accidents are caused by bad reckless drivers, not drink. herbiemercman.

 

[d215yq]

Just to clarify I'm not necesarily pro drink driving, certainly not excessive drink driving. I accept that the more you drink and drive the more likely you are to kill someone, in the same way that the more you drive sober the more you kill people, the more you ski the more you kill people, the more you speed you kill people. Should these other things be punished with a criminal record and 12 month ban too?

I'm completely for a punishment system that is proportional to the danger caused. As the law stands I could drive past a school at school time 65mph sober and get a first time offence 10 day ban and £300 fine (i know becuase someone i know got caught doing so). I could drive past the same school marginally over the limit at 25mph at midnight and would get a £1000 minimum fine, 1 yr minimum ban and criminal record, despite causing considerably less risk. This is stupid IMO.

I live in a place where drink driving isn't a consideration on almost everyone's mind (despite tough penalties), everyone does it and does it quite extremely. Does everyone die as a result, no. I don't condone this approach and have told people they shouldnt drive when they've had a lot, but giving someone a criminal record and year ban and ruining their life for a first time marginal offence is over the top and not related to the danger (unless coupled with excessive speed or other stupid behaviour, or two or three times the limit in which case i have no sympathy).

I suppose the fact is whatever the law people ignore it. Cultural attitudes tend to rule this sort of thing and I've gone from being told by others i'm worse than a child murderer for drinking a pint and a half before driving home in the uk to here where people dont uinderstand when i tell them they shouldnt drive after 6 double vodkas (and an hour "sobering up")...for me i think the correct attitude is somewhere in between. responsible driving around the limit at a sensible speed is fine. Sadly the gutter press/media will always find an example of someone who is 3 times over the limit, driving at a ridiculous speed and kills a cute child and then wrongly liken this to someone carefully driving 2 miles home at 2 am after a pint and a half and then the usual misinformed "zero tolerance" brigade (which is unworkable as alcohol can stay in the system for 24 hours so effectively saying have a few pints and don't drive for 24 hours!!!) will come out in force