General Chat

That poor family, I know several people who have lost family members in accidents altho not car accidents, but have seen the effect on them, the accidents their youngsters had were drink related but not to do with cars.
Until people realise how long alcohol stays in the blood and how stupidly and carelessly it can make you behave we will always have these tragedies.
In our city, we used to have a pub for every day of the week, now many of them are closing altho we do still have a lot of pubs and many clubs etc that serve alcohol, but to my mind at least the fewer places there are, the less likely someone might be to drink and drive. Trouble is they still do it the next day.
Take care everyone, I make sure I don't let o.h. drink and drive now, well he isn't driving at the mo anyway, but if I thought he had done it I would shop him, no hesitation.

Lizx

Hi Helen & thank you

If people who drink drive could see for themselves the devastation it leaves behind I'm sure they'd think twice , or god forbid if it happened to one of their own
Also the sentence when caught should reflect the crime .

The said Doctor got a driving ban & fine ,

When we were in Florida we were told it was zero-tolerance there so one of us didn't drink at all each time we went out. It wasn't hard......in fact it was easier than measuring glass sizes, etc.

Julie and Karen, just read your post. I am so sorry. That's exactly what we all wish to prevent.

In Tobago there was no alcohol limit and it's a good thing the roads were empty because we even saw police drinking as they drove! Bizarre.

THOMAS ALLUN HANSON
MY SON WAS KILLED BY A DRIVER WHO WAS SPEEDING, HAD BEEN DRINKING AND FAILED TO REMAIN AT THE SCENE. THE OTHER DRIVER WAS A DOCTOR, WHO IS UNDER OBLIGATION TO PROMOTE LIFE.
TOM WAS IN HIS SECOND YEAR AT UNIVERSITY AND ALL HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS AND TUTORS HAD HIGH HOPES FOR HIM.
HE HAD JUST FULFILLED A DREAM OF SWIMMING WITH THE DOLPHINS IN CANCUN IN JULY HIS 20TH BIRTHDAY.
TOM HAS TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS: ONE WHO IS STARTING

DRIVING LESSONS AND A GIRLFRIEND HE LOVED SO MUCH.
WE ALL MISS HIM SO MUCH AND WE ARE ALL FINDING IT SO HARD TO COME TO TERMS WITH.
WE LOVE YOU TOM BUT YOU WILL REMAIN IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER YOUNG. WE WILL NEVER FORGET THAT AMAZING SMILE TILL WE ARE REUNITED. REST IN PEACE.


This was an article written by Julie (Toms mum . )

If you drink you don't get behind the wheel full stop.

My friends son was killed by a drink driver , not any old drink driver , no this was a young qualified Doctor who left Tom at the scene to die , apart from the stupidity of his drink driving the Dr fled the scene . oh he returned to collect his mobile phone! , then reported his car as stolen .

Please don't drink & drive .

RIP Tom

hi i think that any one who drinks and drives are idiots and if cought they should be banned from driving for good the can course so much pain to familys. painterman

Well I did it 4 years ago and got caught, I was wrong and regret it to this day, Nobody was hurt thank God, and even though Im not banned now I have never drove since
Davex

A few years ago my car was wrecked in a collision with a drunk driver.

He literally ran away from the scene of the acident. It turned out the car he was driving was stolen and uninsured.

What if he had seriously injured or killed some one ?

If the Police were give authority to park in pub car parks and have a walk around the cars parked in there they would find reasons to speak to the driver and from the very fact he/she had been in the pub, breathalyse him/her successfully

But people would cry harrassment


I say don't drink and drive

I went to a party,


And remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mum
So I had a sprite instead..

I felt proud of myself,

The way you said I would,
That I didn't drink and drive,
Though some friends said I should.

I made a healthy choice,

And your advice to me was right,
The party finally ended,
And the kids drove out of sight.

I got into my car,

Sure to get home in one piece,
I never knew what was coming, Mum
Something I expected least.

Now I'm lying on the pavement,

And I hear the policeman say,
The kid that caused this wreck was drunk,
Mum, his voice seems far away.

My own blood's all around me,

As I try hard not to cry.
I can hear the paramedic say,
This girl is going to die.

I'm sure the guy had no idea,

While he was flying high,
Because he chose to drink and drive,
Now I would have to die.

So why do people do it, Mum

Knowing that it ruins lives?
And now the pain is cutting me,
Like a hundred stabbing knives.

Someone should have taught him,
That it's wrong to drink and drive.
Maybe if his parents had,
I'd still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mum

I'm getting really scared.
These are my final moments,
And I'm so unprepared.

I wish that you could hold me Mum,

As I lie here and die..
I wish that I could say, 'I love you, Mum!'
So I love you and good-bye.

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) IS HOPING TO GET 5,000 SIGNATURES ON THIS,

I witnessed the most terrible accident on Christmas Eve,in the late 1950's between two cars, and the casualties were laying all over the road. I shall never forget this, and from then on, we never drank and drove.

Occasionally, we stayed in the Hotel the function was held.

Nowadays, we are content to stay at home, and never venture far in the evenings. Although as already pointed out, I have seen lorry drivers pulled up on the road and breathaliised, who were still over the limit the next day. So when is it safe?

I rarely drink at all, the only time I have consumed a drink and then later driven it has been 1 glass of wine at a wedding, and recently a mug of mulled wine when out shopping (and I walked that one off!).

I think having a 0 drink limit would simplify matters a great deal as people still don't understand units and there should be a time limit as well. No driving within X hours of drinking.

good thread

i dont think we should be allowed to drive if we have had a drink or taken some kind of tablets

I really enjoy a glass of wine and have one MOST nights with my dinner.
I will not have one at all if I have to drive at night.
It is just not worth it.
If hubby and I do go out for dinner in the car, one or the other doesn't drink at all. Luckily we are both responsible drinkers and drivers.

Regards
Jackie

My o.h. has always had a very careless attitude to drink driving, and I know he has done it sometimes, and often driven to work the next morning at 6am when he has been drinking the night before. He wouldn't believe me that he will still have more than enough alcohol in his bloodstream to be over the limit, and not in full control of his faculties.
I rarely drink and drive, and if I am driving, the maximum amount of alcohol I will have is 1 glass on wine with soda water.

It's just not worth the risk.

Lizx

That's a bit extreme.....but...........

My son has had to tell people that they have lost a relative through someone's stupidity. Very distressing

Linda

Just to add, My husband is a bus driver in London. He can be tested for drugs or alcohol at any time. If he failed any test he would be sacked.
My husband never drinks the day before (even the afternoon) if he is working the next day - It just isn't worth it

Pat

Hi Steven,

It IS interesting to get peoples views.

I think it's just a sign of the times. Everyone seems to think that society owes them something nowadays and there's a couldn't care less attitude about many things.

No respect for themselves or anyone else.

Linda

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

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!"