General Chat

I went to my firms Christmas Party last night and seemed to be the only one on my department of 30 who was driving.

Everyone had a good drink some much more than others and most were driving to work this morning at 8am.

They were still drinking till after midnight....don't they realize that if they had been breathalysed on the way this morning the majority would still have been over the limit.

Amazingly some people still believe that several cups of coffee or something to eat will make a difference.

How does everyone feel about NO DRINKING at all? As the limit is so low perhaps there would be less accidents if it were banned altogether.

Linda

Agree totally - there should not be a legal limit even, there should be no drinking and driving at all - none whatsoever!!

A zero limit would leave people open to prosecution for using certain medicines, so it is too low.

The problem is not the limit, but the lack of enforcement of the existing laws as police have been withdrawn and replaced by speed cameras, road humps and Police Community Support Officers.

Plus there are no medical standards for driving under the influence of drugs, so unless you are involved in an accident or your driving is visibly impaired and you happen to be seen there is very little control.

Hi Linda

I too drove to my christmas party on Thursday and was amazed at how much people drank. The roads home where awful and i was glad i had all my wits about me.

Meryy Christmas

Lisa
xx

Hello Linda

I think the limit is fine as it is - it's very low and there's a reason it was set at that. Restricting people to know alcohol at all would be silly I think - would someone be banned for having a sip of champagne at a wedding during a toast? Or if they've been out for a meal and had coq au vin?

simple as far as I'm concerned - if you are driving you donlt drink - ANYTHING!!!!! Try asking people who've lost loved ones killed by drunk drivers what they think

Ann

It should be zero tolerance - no drinking at all. Too many folk are killed or injured, especially at this time of year.

I think the limit is probably a tad too high. However, those who are killed/injured by drivers who are on medication far outnumber those killed/injured by motorists who are over the limit.

Perhaps there should be an awaress campaign for that. How many people would actually think before driving if they have taken painkillers, antidepressants, cold remedies, cough mixture, allergy tablets or even Viagra in the last 24 hours?

Im all for no drinking and driving ... full stop

wonders what one would say if a close member of theres was killed or maimed for life by a driver drinking even if it was just 2 units..

i was at my daughters wedding last week just had a sip for the toast.... i got a taxi.. and only live one mile from the venue...

Totally agree with Annofgreengables, no driving & drinking.
When you've lost someone to it, it's unbearable.

Heather xx

same here Angie..

Perhaps there should be more adverts. etc to make the public aware how long alcohol can stay in the system.

A few years ago, near us, a bus driver ran over a woman and killed her. It was 11am in the morning..he was breathalized and was over the limit.

He was very upset as he said he hadn't had a large amount but had his last drink ar 2am.

I avoid having a drink if I am driving early the next morning.

Very interested in all your comments.

Linda

my son is a train driver and he can be randomly tested for drugs or alcohol at any time - perhaps this should be applied to bus drivers and other PSV drivers - maybe it is, I donlt know

There is a zero tolerance here to drink driving, if anyone is involved in an accident, they are breathalised and any trace of alcohol, they are held to blame for the accident, fined, banned and jailed also car confiscated for minimum of one month. At least that is what they should be doing, before these latest nationwide rulings came into being, each emirate had there own rules.
A friend of mine had been drinking and ran out of cigarrettes at 5am, he got in the car to go to the local garage and somebody hit his car. Friend got off very lightly, approx £85 fine plus costs.

Off topic, but another thing that gets my goat is that the speeding fines for locals can be waived, they charge about all over the place knowing that the speed cameras are set to 20kmh over the limit. Expatriates are fined upwards from approx £80 to £200 depending on the speed over the limit they were caught at. Also can result in car confiscation.

If he was out at 2am, should he have been driving professionally the next morning, purely from the fatigue point of view?

If you want to drive - you DONT drink - simple.

Tina x

Zero Tolerance! Most of the comments appear to be from those in the UK. I recall panda cars sitting at the curb, aside car parks of pubs, back in the late 1960s, after the breathalizer was first introduced. Many a folk came out of the pubs, then walked off down the road, instead of going to their car!

Here in Ontario Canada, we still have a problem with some people who continue to drink and drive. Some are chronic repeaters and have been banned for life, from operating any motorized vehicle. They still do it, eventually ending up in gaol. Unfortunately, but that time they have usually killed someone.

To help combat the above, we have 'RIDE' programmes, which are great, but the public are still being warned which streets/roads the police will set up on. They shouldn't let people know! 'RIDE' (reduce impaired driving/drivers everywhere), is when the police put up roadblocks, stopping each car, questioning the drivers. If they see a car turn around before having to go through the check-point, a stand-by police car is ready to go after them, to make a stop. Generally the RIDEs occur on the nights of a long week-end, as well as throughout December to after the New Year's Day celebrations/week-end has ended. It is amazing (I think) how many people, who are impaired, will be caught at the check-points. If some are almost at the legal limit, they will impound the car for 12-24 hours, giving the driver a ride home. Anything at the the legal limit or over, their vehicle is impounded for 7 days and they are charged with DUI, entering the court system.

No excuses are accepted, including medications. All medications which causes impairment are clearly marked on the bottles/packages and a paper describing the meds with any side effects are included within the bags the meds are put into. Plus, all pharmacists are required by law to speak with the person picking up the perscriptions, to outline their usage and the side-effects are stessed.

The general public feels our laws are still too lax when it comes to DUI drivers. At 8:10 am on December 13th 1993, I was hit head-on (very suddenly came into my lane) by a man who was a career criminal. He had been banned for life from driving. When the police had attempted to give him a breathalizer, he pleaded pains in his chest from his (he said) heart problems. The paramedics who had been called for my injuries, gave him oxygen ... 3 times. By the time they got him to hospital, he was just below the legal limit. The police told me, he more than likely was helped by the oxygen, so they couldn't charge him with being impaired. Mind you, he had attempted to leave the scene of the accident, as well had a car load of stolen goods (ciggies, men's & women's leather & fur coats ~ claiming they were Christmas presents from his relatives!). The police charged him of course, but I was left to deal with my injuries. Although not severe, I did lose a week's work with no pay, plus the £2000+ car repairs. On top of that, my insurance company upped my premiums due to me having been in an accident, even though we paid for the car repairs ourselves, to stop any future increases. We fought the insurance company regarding this, showing them the police report which clearly stated I was not at fault. There were roughly 40 witnesses to the accident, some of whom physically held the other driver as he attempted to flee, until the police arrived. We threatened the insurance company with going to the investigative reporters of our local newspaper to cover the story, if they increased my premiums. The company back-tracked and my premiums remained the same.

When the policeman and the insurance ajuster came to our house at the same time (a day after the accident), they told us about the other driver's criminal background which had begun c1959, suggesting we forget his name or that we'd ever heard of him, for our own safety! My husband asked how he could still be driving, when he'd been banned for life. The police said there was no way they could really stop him. The policeman was not impressed by my husband's statement ~ "Remove his eyes! Then he won't be able to see to drive or commit other crimes, thereby saving the community and innocent victims from having to suffer, not to mention the money saved from having to prosecute him in the courts, then house him in the gaols." Extremely harsh perhaps, but maybe not to those he'd victimized over the years. I think it is quite fortunate he died from cirrhosis before he had actually killed someone (there was some doubt about that as well, according to the police).

ZERO tolerance....................................

If you drink then dont drive

If you drive then dont drink

When I wrote 'Zero Tolerance' in my previous message, I meant for driving when one has been drinking.

I wouldn't go for banning all drinking. Alcohol is not at fault for DUI accidents. The person driving when intoxicated is! One wouldn't ban the total use of the automobile, just to stop one intoxicated person from driving and perhaps killing another. Why should those of us who obey the law or who would refuse to drive even if we'd had only one drink, have to suffer for those who have a total disregard? Why take the chance is our 'motto' ? It is not worth it. We have to convince others of the same.

One place to begin, which has been going on in Ontario (across Canada too, I believe) for some time, is in the schools, long before the majority of children even really give thought to having a drink themselves. There are similar anti-drug programmes in schools as well.

'MADD' & 'SAD' (or is it SADD?) go into the schools. I know when our son entered high school (secondary school), we had two separate contracts between us. We would not drink and drive, nor would he. Regardless if he was underage, that was aside the point .... if he did drink at a party, he wouldn't drive himself, NOR get into a car with someone else who had been. He COULD call home, anytime of the night or day, and we WOULD collect him. In his contract, he was not to be penelized by us at the time, for having been drinking whilst underage. We could a day or so later take him to task for doing so, but not for a certain period of time after we'd actually collected him. The main purpose was to get him home safely, and to ensure he did not endanger anyone else. Our contract with him was similar .. if he was still underage to drive, we would make sure we took a taxi home. At the time we lived in the country, so a taxi was really very expensive. Fortunately for us, we weren't much bothered by the need to drink, although my husband did enjoy a pint when we were out ... so I did not drink at all, therefore remained sober to drive home safely.

We had the same contract(s) with our daughter, when 4 years after her brother, she entered high school.

You wouldn't perhaps think so, but our two children each took these contracts very seriously (not that we didn't mind), and would remind us of them, whenever we were going out in an evening. Very often the next day, they would both come to tell us they were proud of us for honouring our contract with them!

Both, now 40 & 36 years respectively, kept their contracts as a reminder! Both are parents now as well ... already our son has drawn up similar contracts with his 14y old son.

Parents have to set an example for their children and one can never start to early in their lives to begin to do so. Basically it is: "Monkey see, monkey do!"

Hi Trena,

We could do with some of the things you talk about over here.

I have a friend whose husband is a chaffeur to one of the top newspaper executives here. I am sure he would be amazed to know that he is regurlarly driven to work in the morning by a person, who by the amount he's drunk the night before, must still be over the limit.

Consequently his two boys do it as well.

Linda