Scott W

No, and having the seen at first hand the damage it can do, I never intend to. Unfortunately the person involved killed her toddler son, and the thoughts of seeing him motionless in front of me will live with me forever.

chaos.

No, I was fully in control.
It's a matter of opinion if driving without a licence is wrong or right. Driving under the influence is wrong and is not an oppinion but fact.

See what I mean? Totally different..

Sbradley

And you wonder why you got abuse last time.

No licence = no insurance = no compensation for the poor sod you collide with because you are not legally competent to drive.

Not a matter of opinion, a matter of fact. You are not legally competent to drive. What part of that is open to opinion?

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

That is in your opinion! And rightly or wrongly, you couldn't convince a driving instructor of that fact! (I can only go on your word that you were in control, as I have never been in the car with you!)

Fact - Both situations are legally wrong!

I would say both are morally wrong, but that's down to your own opinions, morals and standards.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Oi Les! Don't think that my admission is an excuse for you to start on me

Why did I ask "define" drunk.

In the eyes of the law and in pure politcal correctness it would be anyone over the blood/alcohol limit.

Now, what about "drunk" as in the loss of ability in reactions and judgement?

There is a grey area between the two. Especially if you ignore the blood/acohol limit and go by quantity of beverage consumed. I know of people who show signs of drunkeness after 1pint, yet others will not show until after 3 or 4 pints. Alcohol in the blood has different effects on different people.

For example, if I'm tired, and dehydrated, 1 pint of normal lager can go straight to my head. It would be interesting to see what a breathalyser would show up in this circumstance. I would find it very scary if it showed as clear, when I myself "feel" slightly drunk, and yet be legal to drive It's just a thought guys (in theory not in practice)

Brendan Hughes

Ali-B, some of the five-0 here might help, but it's illegal to drive in UK while under the influence of alcohol - so your light-headed 1-pint makes you illegal to drive. However, it's then up to the prosecution to prove that the little alcohol you've had has affected your capacity to drive, and without the breathalyser, that's not easy.

Isn't there a more general charge of not being in a fit state to drive to cover situations like you're tired or you have an arm in plaster? That would cover you, though not to the serious extent as DUI I suppose.

CrisPDuk

I got absolutely rat ar$ed one new years eve, then decided it would be a good idea to razz my automatic Mk4 escort up & down my mums road, keeping the throttle mashed, using just the handbrake, in 6" of snow

I thought I'd left it neatly parked outside a mate's house round the corner. When I went back to it in the morning it was actually diagonally across the middle of the road. Quite a graphic illustration of how much even my ability to judge parking distances had been affected.

A once in a lifetime moment of madness, often regretted, never, EVER to be repeated.

I also have a rather large collection of used breathalyser tubes, which stand testament to the fact that I must drive like I'm p!ssed when I'm sober

Chip

Driven drunk in the past. Not proud of it and havent done it in about 15 years.

Having kids seemed to make me more responsible for my actions thank god.

Chip.

Brun

I had a Skinfull one night while out with a mate in his home Town. We we're supposed to be staying at his but met up with a couple of Lasses he knew who invited us back to theirs to stay 3 miles away in the next Village. I agreed to drive On route, we passed 2 Police cars and a Police Transit Neither batted an eye lid so i figured i was driving well. When we got to our destination i was inches from hitting a large wall pulling into the drive before just missing the house itself
All this was 9 years ago, and has since never been repeated, and never will be. I often thing what a **** i was that night. I think it's also fair to say that i would still be paying the price now had i been caught.

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Got smashed into by a drunk does that count?

Dave C.

If you Drink Drive and get caught you should be BANNED for life and do a stretch in prison and be used as a bitch there is no EXCUSE and for the members on this site with a family just how would you feel if a D/Driver killed your family think about that one.

workshy_fopp

Dave C. So if someone gets done for having 3 pints of beer and driving, their punishment should be being raped in prison?

DJB

Its refreshing to see some honesty in the above posts. Its also good to see that this thread hasn't been hijacked the sanctimonious politically correct. The fact is that the only ones who can in truth say they never drink and drive are those who don't drink at all. No-one really knows how much you can drink and still be under the legal limit. So many factors influence this such as body weight, male or female, time between drinking and driving, etc. Its true that a late night's drinking will mean that you might be unfit to drive the next day.
Alcohol is one cause of dangerous driving. Lack of sleep, prescription and illicit drugs, mood and health can all seriously affect driving safety.
As a final note, I have never knowingly driven whilst over the limit. I do however frequently drive after drinking small amounts of alcohol (never more than 2 units).

D.

StickyMicky

same as this bloke for me

i dont even drink at all these days, i drink filterd water most of the time

scoobypreza

Neither of us drink so it would never happen.

My dad was banned for drink driving... stupid man
Think my dad has a lot to do with my lack of drinking ... but thats a whole differnet thread!!
cath

Brit_in_Japan

Ali-B, the law does not state what "drunk" is, but at a blood alcohol reading of more than 80mg/100ml it is deemed your skills and judgement are sufficiently impaired as to be a danger to other road users.

How did they arrive at that level ? Experimentation. It has been shown that driving skills and judgement are affected by alcohol. Below 20mg/100ml the effects are generally not discernable. But above 20mg/100ml the deterioration is observable and measurable.

The limit chosen in the UK (& Ireland) is 80mg/100ml and is in fact the most lax in Europe. Most of the rest of Europe have a limit of 50mg/100ml, except for Sweden where the limit is 20mg/100ml.

So our driving skills (you included) start to measurably deteriorate at less than the 80mg/100ml. It doesn't automatically follow you will have an accident, but the risks will be higher don't you think ?

I think your "political correctness" jibe is a bit lame. The law has to set certain limits which are easy to understand and easy to test for. There is no way you can enforce individual limits for individual people based on some supposed measure of how badly alcohol affects them. The only practical approach is to set a fixed limit, which if you lived in Europe would be stricter than the UK.

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

When you see the punishment they get it makes me sick, The guy that smashed into me at over 100mph head on walked away with shock cuts and briusies, Me trapped so badly at one time we thought my right leg might have to come off, I was trapped for over 2 hours and didn't know it at the time slowly dying in the wreckage, but thanks to the Firemen and Paramedics, I am here in one peice to tell the tale, the guy that hit me, £375 fine £125 in costs ans a 15 month ban the b@stard I hope he rots in hell for the pain and suffering he caused.
Cheers
Colin

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Brit_in_Japan

I know about blood/alcohol levels, but I was refering to ignoring what a urine test shows and going by quantity of beverage consumed. Which for Joe public is the only measurable way. And even then that is pretty useless "The Morning After."

Also I was referring to a person, through dehydration, or tiredness or whatever, can have syptoms of drunkeness whereby a standardised test would show up as a pass but the person is unfit to drive (see also drug driving thread). But as Brendan kindly pointed out that you will be arrested if you are percieved as unfit to drive, covering my query in terms of the law. But obviously you need to get caught first. Which opens up a whole debate of poeple who drink 1 pint, or driving the day after a heavy night. Who are unwittingly unfit to drive.

I don't like your attitude where you seem to be implying that I drink drive, bacuse of my admission. Truth is I HAVE (past tense - refer to use of English language) Driven, I did not mention anything condoning my previous actions, which I do NOT do through intention (refer to morning after).

My jibe at PC is at the poeple with the attitude who think it's their duty to preach the law and issues of responsibilty, arrogance, ignornace etc. Who will post singling out people who admitted their actions and ALREADY KNOW the implications.

This is not aimed at Bri_in_Japan's posts - it's a generalised view of the PC attitude that some people post. I'm sure many here already know what the law is and what social issues are raised by drink driving, so I for one (at least) am not prepared to have posts aimed at my direction preaching the same record over and over again for something that I adimtted to have previosuly done. And potentially accusing me as the scum of society and what is wrong with the world today.

So, for the record, I do not drink and drive. But I have done so previously when I was all young and stupid. My whole jibe at PC was me getting ready for somebody to pipe up and tell me how wrong it is, when I already know that and don't need reminding (semi-trolling?? ).