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[News] Drink driving - why?





happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
7,935
Eastbourne
But I still struggle to see how someone could blow 36 and then fail a blood test after a regular slice of Xmas cake about 30 minutes earlier ie pulled over and now at the station. I gave some explanation above.

I was talking generally, not in relation to cake.
 


Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,575
Back in Sussex
Apparently Listerine mouthwash contains 27%

Without Googling, I'm pretty sure it's 20-something, yes.

If I know I'm driving I won't even "I can only have one because I have to drive" and I'm incredibly paranoid about day after driving too, having been involved in an accident on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out. I hadn't had many and I felt absolutely fine, but I was aware that didn't mean there was no alcohol in my system.

The accident was no fault of mine - the passenger in a car coming the other way pulled the car's handbrake, putting the car into a spin on a very wet road. They span in front of me and I had nowhere to go but into them. However, sitting in the back of a police car I was absolutely shitting in when I blew into the breathalyzer, because I knew that if there was booze still in my system then it changed everything. It came up green so I was fine, but I've been ultra-cautious ever since.
 


METALMICKY

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2004
5,935
It would probably help if dedicated traffic police hadn’t been cut by 30% in the last 10 years.

Pretty much sums it up having spoken to an ex traffic cop in the Eastbourne area. Aside from the drink driving debate they simply do not have the resources to nick all the idiots still using their mobiles.
 


Buzzer

Languidly Clinical
Oct 1, 2006
26,121
Apparently Gibson has previous for drink-driving. This was a couple of years ago:

The Everton midfielder Darron Gibson has pleaded guilty to hitting a cyclist while drink-driving and then fleeing the scene. Gibson, 27, was behind the wheel of his black Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo when it ploughed into three cyclists who had stopped at the side of the road to fix a broken chain...

The tone of mitigation is of remorse, apology, embarrassment, shame and regret.... It is out of character. The defendant is extremely apologetic and remorseful, not just for the embarrassment he has brought on his family back home in Ireland but his wife and the football club he plays for.....Gibson was told his ban could be reduced by five months if he completed a drink-driving awareness course.


https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/01/darron-gibson-guilty-drink-driving-cyclist


I don't think he should ever be allowed to drive again after reading that.
 




maffew

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2003
8,859
Worcester England
No it wouldn’t. As I understand it the process is you have the breathalyser screen, if you fail a blood test is then taken. The conviction is on the blood test. Recently eaten Xmas cake alcohol on your breath will not be in your blood. Neither will a pint from the night before.

Thats partially correct. Recently eaten xmas pud would make it to your blood the you would be unlikely to fail a breath test anyways

If you clean your teeth then use mouthwash eg listerine you WILL fail a roadside test straight after with a shockingly high reading but asssuming you didnt swallow it wont make your blood so you'll pass at the station. The engines in cars which have a built in breathalyser to start will let you try again after x mins

On the flipside you can have alcohol in your blood and pass a breath test right away say you injected some or (as was a fad in the US for some girls soak your tampon in alcohol and shove it in)
 
Last edited:


Doc Lynam

I hate the Daily Mail
Jun 19, 2011
7,186
I can only imagine in Ants case its the stress of making ground breaking work year after year, much like the stresses Elon Musk must be under; oh no wait a minute!
 


Wrong-Direction

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2013
13,395
Zero is the way to go.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
 




happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
7,935
Eastbourne
Apparently Gibson has previous for drink-driving. This was a couple of years ago:

The Everton midfielder Darron Gibson has pleaded guilty to hitting a cyclist while drink-driving and then fleeing the scene. Gibson, 27, was behind the wheel of his black Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo when it ploughed into three cyclists who had stopped at the side of the road to fix a broken chain...

The tone of mitigation is of remorse, apology, embarrassment, shame and regret.... It is out of character. The defendant is extremely apologetic and remorseful, not just for the embarrassment he has brought on his family back home in Ireland but his wife and the football club he plays for.....Gibson was told his ban could be reduced by five months if he completed a drink-driving awareness course.


https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/01/darron-gibson-guilty-drink-driving-cyclist


I don't think he should ever be allowed to drive again after reading that.

It's a minimum 3 year ban for a repeat conviction within 10 years.
 


Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
11,596
Cumbria
Do people think like that?

I think some do. If you're going out for the night, then you might well be quite happy to spend £20 on beer and the 'benefits' it brings to your night out. However, if you're going out and can only drink fizzy pop, you'd be a bit annoyed to still find yourself £20 lighter. It's a carrot and stick approach - if the pop was cheaper, then more people would be happier with non-alcoholic drinks.
 


SAC

Well-known member
May 21, 2014
2,534
I don't understand why people who have their licence taken away from them don't have to take their test again to get it back again, and pay to do so.
 








Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
49,989
Goldstone
Personally I'd lower the limit to about 10 (in breath, similar reductions for blood/wee) so that one pint/wine/short puts you over the limit but a couple the night before (and I mean a couple, not a skinful) will be ok.
But why, what's your reason for lowering the limit? Are people driving dangerously due to being below the current limit?

I agree with the people who think there should be zero tolerance, if you've had a drink, you shouldn't be driving. It should be that simple - however inconvenient.
...
the law should be very clear and very simple. If you have a drink, you should not be driving and if you choose to do so, you live with the consequences.
But why? It's not dangerous.
 




Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,575
Back in Sussex
But why, what's your reason for lowering the limit? Are people driving dangerously due to being below the current limit?

I'm not sure that lowering the current limit is the way forward or not. However, if I did, my reason would not be dangerous driving from the "I can have one can't I?" crowd, and the like, who stay below the current limit.

My reason would be that having a limit that does seem to allow "I can just have one" encourages people to start drinking when they otherwise may not. One might then become "Oh go on then, but make it a shandy" etc and people get themselves into a position where they shouldn't drive but, for all sorts of reasons, do then jump behind the wheel.
 


Notters

Well-known member
Oct 20, 2003
24,865
Guiseley
Without Googling, I'm pretty sure it's 20-something, yes.

If I know I'm driving I won't even "I can only have one because I have to drive" and I'm incredibly paranoid about day after driving too, having been involved in an accident on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out. I hadn't had many and I felt absolutely fine, but I was aware that didn't mean there was no alcohol in my system.

The accident was no fault of mine - the passenger in a car coming the other way pulled the car's handbrake, putting the car into a spin on a very wet road. They span in front of me and I had nowhere to go but into them. However, sitting in the back of a police car I was absolutely shitting in when I blew into the breathalyzer, because I knew that if there was booze still in my system then it changed everything. It came up green so I was fine, but I've been ultra-cautious ever since.

Did they say how much was in your system, out of curiosity?
 


maffew

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2003
8,859
Worcester England
If you've got a breathalyser that is accurate enough for that, you could equally check you're under the limit, which removes all doubt.

Bye then :wave:

In SA they have in many pubs breathalyser type machines mounted on the wall where one would normally expect a juke box. Never seen anyone use one though. many just drive trollied (on a side note i went into toilet in a pub in Saigon and where you might expect the toilet roll holder to be mounted was a fixed tray with a lighter on a string, a spoon on a string, a candle, and some tin foil slices which where in a kind of king size rizla type packet)
 






papajaff

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2005
3,968
Brighton
Sorry if this has been asked and also sorry if it's a stupid question but are there any reliable breath test kits you can buy and test yourself?

I ask because I honestly would not drive if it showed I was above. This can be due to either having one pint and driving like many do and think we'll be ok. Or having a few the previous day.

Many of us have a few or a couple of an evening and drive to work the next day.
 


Arthritic Toe

Well-known member
Nov 25, 2005
2,390
Swindon
Sorry if this has been asked and also sorry if it's a stupid question but are there any reliable breath test kits you can buy and test yourself?

I ask because I honestly would not drive if it showed I was above. This can be due to either having one pint and driving like many do and think we'll be ok. Or having a few the previous day.

Many of us have a few or a couple of an evening and drive to work the next day.

No company would consider marketing such a thing due to the consequences of inaccurate results leading to conviction or worse - accidents, even death. You can get those rubbish French ones that you were bizarrely required to carry by law when driving in France a while back, but they only give a yes/no (oui/non?) indicator and probably don't work anyway.
 



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