The biggest problem with drink driving enforcement at the moment is the lack of police officers on the roads (due to the misguided belief that speed cameras provide a road safety alternative).

When I started driving, (which isn't all that long ago, 1997 to be exact), you used to see police out and about on the roads looking for problems a lot. Now you hardly see any at all.

I don't drink and drive because I consider it an incredibly stupid, antisocial and dangerous thing to do, but there are plenty of people who don't think that way. There are a significant number of people who believe that the only reason not to do it is what happens when you get caught, and with current road safety practices, the chances of actually catching these people are falling year on year due to reduced police presence.

It's yet another reason why I think the government's current road safety practices are dangerous and illthought out, and can only conclude that they are more to do with revenue generation than actual road safety.

-Dolph

 

I have.. when I was mcuh younger.. I'm talking 20 when I'm approaching 29 now. Now I would have a pint with a meal and then drive home but any more than that and the other half knows the drill. If she insists on not driving then I don't drink.

I can't imagine how drunk the chap a couple of posts up must have been after the stag weekend because I've always worked on the (science based I believe) assumption you lose roughly a unit an hour due to metabilism and sleep and food etc etc etc. Thats how I calculate when I'm fit to drive the following day (unless I actually feel drunk which is a definite no no)..

I just think drink driving is about a bezillion times worse than speeding.. I can be stone cold sober going down the motorway at 100 or more in the middle of the night and be 100% fine but 100 times more likely to be caught than being out of my skull doing 70 and sticking between 2 white lines.

More proper coppers.. thats what we need and what there is much less of than when I started driving 10 years ago..

And a proper drug driving test.. never mind drink the times 10 years ago when I was high as a kite and actually got stopped by police who breathalised me and sent me on my way were ridiculous.

 

after a single pint surely you can still walk right? how much does a pint effect your motor functions/coordinational skills?

 

A few years back i was hardly drinking at all when I went out with a friend for a quick pint. All I had was 1 pint of real ale and was very shocked on the effect that 1 pint had on me and swore at the time I would never drink an ounce and drive. Now I barely drink at all over the xmas period I've had 1 bottle of bear and that was last night.

 

im wouldnt condone drinking and driving but after a bottle of beer, i assume you can still stand and still coordinate your movements right?

must be scarey to get in the seat of a car and for everything to feel unsafe

 

The legal limit for alcohol in the bloodstream is exceptionally tight in the UK. The only problem I have with the currrent schem is there is no way for a person to know the next morning if they are over the limit. Personally I rarely drink more than 5 pints in a night (call it 4 hours start to finish) and would allow no less than 12 hours from the final pint to when I drive if I was having that much. But realistically I don't really know how much alcohol I have in my blood and where I stand legally. Short of being rediculously cautious there is no mechanism for even the concientous driver to be sure.

Whilst I don't condone drink driving I do have a certain amount of sympathy who may have been caught drink driving when they believed they had acted properly.

 

I agree. I once had one glass of wine about an hour before driving and the difference in my concentration was enormous. I will never drink at all before driving now.

 

if im driving, i dont touch alcohol full stop. not even one drink.

i lose any respect for people who drive whilst over the limit.

our old windowcleaner drove whilst drunk, had an accident which resulted in the death of a woman, he's now in prison. he was a really nice guy buy i have no sympathy at all.

 

Any drinks for me result in not touching my car the WHOLE of the following day, I cant be arsed with the whole "Oh 5 pints and I'll be ok to drive to work at 8am lark" It's not worth it. If I go out mid-week I either don't drink anything alcoholic or if I do then I use public transport the following day. Simple as..........

 

Not entirely sure if I've got the right end of the stick due to your inability to make sense, but if you meant what I think you meant (i.e. "i always drink and drive"), you're an idiot.

Yeah loads of people die from driving, loads of people die from drinking, so that makes it ok to drink and drive? Think about it and realise why it doesn't make sense..

 

on new years eve i got so drunk that i passed out at a house party, was staying over anyway so, didnt have a car with my anyway. i posted my car keys to my mum when i got back the next day and asked her to post them back a week later incase i was still too drunk to drive 1001% safely.

i then got back behind the wheel a week later (and it felt ok) after a week of public transport. that day my car was written off by a sober driver who was not speeding but simply didnt bother to look when he pulled out of a junction.

so not only do we have to worry about child/cyclist killing speeders, there are drinkers too and people who are just plain garbage at driving who are possibly blind or just spaz.

were all stuffed either way

 

Drink driving is inexcusable.

It's not like assault where it may be provoked, or the result of a heated argument. It's a strict liability crime and should have a much bigger sentence.

There should be absolutely no drinking allowed with driving then there can be no excuse. I'd say any form of drink driving should incur a discretionary life sentence.