[Closed] Is There Ever Any Acceptable Excuse For Drink Driving?

Also as a balance, I reckon I've processed more bodies due to speeding.

What about not paying attention / arguing with passengers / being a general ****wit?

"has one of you lot actually bothered to find out just how drunk all these people who kill and maim thousands when they get behind the wheel actually are?" [url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8412891.stm ]Yes but 80% of road fatalities[/url](total 2,538 in 2008) are caused by people under the limit. Seems there's a fair amount of ****wittery involved in killing people with cars, not just deciding that D&D/DUI is ok, I guess they deserve a mention too.

Would be interesting to know what % of D&D drivers do cause/have accidents and compare them to % of legal drivers. but I guess you'd have problems collating all the numbers, "hands up anyone who's driven under the influence and not got caught...no-one? oh OK."

Parents screamed at the driver to reverse before 20 dads managed to lift the 4x4 off.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1713367.ece#ixzz0kbvYypMb

?? Why did they not just reverse the car off, instead of lifting it?

I worked in a pub for a long time and I was actually shocked at the attitude by many (usually older blokes) to drink driving. There was one guy who would drink lager all night then go onto shorts too and always drive home. Madness.

Donk any number of factors can cause an accident.

A DUI causing an accident is highly emotive for obvious reasons. They don't have an accident they cause them.

A DUI causing an accident is highly emotive for obvious reasons. They don't have an accident they cause them.

So if a DUI were sat at the lights, minding their own business, waiting for them to change, and some moron changing their CD drove into the back of them, it would be the DUI's fault? 🙄

EDIT: and the 'DUI' had consumed two pints, not 10. Not that it matters in this scenario...

You say drink and drive....

How many on here have a pint after a ride with there mates? guess what you would probably be over the limit.

How many have had some beers or a couple of bottles of wine after work with the misses and had to get up for work in the morning? guess what you would probably be over the limit.

How many have been out on a firday or saturday night and got up to drive for a ride in the morning? Guess what etc...

[url= http://www.drinkdrivinglaw.co.uk/drink_driving_limit.htm ]http://www.drinkdrivinglaw.co.uk/drink_driving_limit.htm[/url]

I dont drink and drive (or try not to)

Your preaching to the converted here. I have cancelled attending a ride if I had too many the night before and I never drive before 12 etc if I have been out the night before.

Zokes, yes and I agree with where you are coming from in that scenario.

TBH I'd prefer if cup holders and ash trays were removed from cars (and smoking illegal in cars). Thats another argument on one of my pet hates that I see in a morning when I commute in.

or a couple of bottles of wine after work

Donk any number of factors can cause an accident.

....or not paying attention

mastiles_fanylion- me too. A girl at work regularly drinks two bottles of normal strength wine on a night out! I moan at her everytime she mentions it!

Donk You could be on to something there. If 80% of all deaths on the road are caused by people who have not had (or had very little) a drink, then lets get the sober sods of the road as it will be a lot safer! Hic.

What about not paying attention / arguing with passengers / being a general ****wit?

no idea, it was an 'i reckon' rather than a scientific study, based on over the trolly chats. All forms of wreckless behaviour keep me in a job 🙄

I was just wondering, seeing as being a general ****wit is a bit harder for the police to prove as a cause, as opposed to DD or speeding. I suspect if DD causes 20% of accidents, and speeding causes a certain %age more, i'd hazard a guess that 'unknown' (read as 'probably was being a ****wit') would be the largest percentage...

driving drunk [b]and[/b] juggling is what you want MT (according to lee mack)

Drink driving accounts for 10% accidents and 18% of fatalities.

Speeding 7% of accidents and 28% of fatalities.

So 17% of those who drink or speed cause nearly half of all road deaths.

So statistically doing either is more dangerous than just being one of the 83% of ****wits.

Obviously these are Govt stats so it could be claimed that they have been falsified or exagerated.

The simple answer is no. What does annoy me though is the demonization of anyone who d&d's as if it's the worse thing you can do behind the wheel. What about all those people who need glasses to read as they can't see as far as their elbow without them and then drive without glasses, old people who are so fraile they can't even turn their heads, people speeding, hgv drivers on the phone etc etc. Nothing gets done about those problem drivers and it is socially acceptable just like d&d was 40 years ago. I personally would rather be on the road with someone whos had 3 pints than someone who can hardly see or has the reaction speeds of a snail.

Yes, but other people's failings/inadequacies don't excuse drink-drivers.

A person who's been drinking is more likely to cause and accident than someone who's not. therefore, it's safer not to drink.

As for 3 pints; I would no way be safe to drive on that amount. I appreciate some people might be, but it's safer to have a universal limit, than leave it to individual (possibly impaired) judgement, surely?

As for the 'demonisation' of drink-drivers; I think the 'social outrage' is a good thing; the prospect of losing your licence, job and livelihood serves as a good deterrent to most.

what annoys me is being so drunk that when I wake up the next day I've forgotten where I parked.. lost two cars already so far this year..

Now now, Yunki... 😀

Only time it could possibly be justified is if it would endager life [i]not[/i] to drive.
E.g. you are camping in the wilds somewhere, no mobile reception, had a few bevvies and then your mate, playing silly buggers, breaks his leg and starts losing a lot of blood.

i.e. very rarely justifable!

I suppose you could argue that in the above scenario you would then be endagering the lives of others...but personally I think the decision to drive would be the correct one.

your 7 times more likely to die walking home drunk than driving home drunk so yes everytime where are my car keys i'm off for a pint

I'm not excusing drink drivers. My point is that there are people on the road who are as dangerous if not more so who don't receive the same criminal or social punishment as DD's which IMO isn't fair.

Indeed, having just walked home from the pub and waved goodbye to a regular who may be slightly (and only very slightly) over the limit and who drives about 1.5 miles home in a far safer manner than the majority of people, I'd be inclined to agree.
I'm still happy that it's generally frowned upon now.
I just wish that mobile phone usage in car was hated as much though.

More people are killed every year by crap drivers than drunk ones, I guarantee it. But it's far easier to catch drunk drivers than rubbish ones, so lets spend millions on advertising against those buggers rather than the people who do the most damage.

all drivers become crap/rubbish drivers once pissed though.

+1 samuri

I worked in a pub for a long time and I was actually shocked at the attitude by many (usually older blokes) to drink driving. There was one guy who would drink lager all night then go onto shorts too and always drive home. Madness.

why the hell did you not call the cops, grass them up? take his keys, stop serving? what if he'd gone on to mow down a kid. how would you feel now? it's not just the DDrivers at fault y'know?!

+1 samuri

Junkyard, in the test I read your statement didn't hold up. They tested various motorcyclists (from just qualified to highly experiencd) - hazard perception, control etc. Their very clear observation was that the more alchohol you had the more your ability mattered and the highly experienced riders were able to function at a higher level whilst legally very drunk than the beginners were whilst sober.

As quite a significant number of people don't need the assistance of alchohol to drive like a c*** and given that most people seem to think that being able to drive is a basic human right I can see a problem here, however, sadly as the 'drink' is easy to establish it's not them that will get punished. See Burls72 point above.

In fact I'm sure that quite a few drivers would be happy to put their coffee down and pick up their phone etc to report drink driving or speeding.........

Everyone is a crap driver. 100% of the people who hold Driving Licences are fallible. Even those who hold IAM. The reason being we have rubber balloons on changing surfaces with many factors- the main one being the human behind the wheel.

Everyone on here will have had a near moment caused by themselves. Or of course are you all driving Gods? Just because you havent had a claim on your insurance doesn't mean anything.

I remember a certain Lewis Hamilton rear ending another motorist whilst coming back from training in a Smart car. He said himself that his mind was elsewhere. Does that make him a 'bad' driver?

Just love STW sometimes. Throwing scorn on others but never quick to apologise or recognise your own failings.
🙄

I heard it on good authority, that if it was say, 3am and your wife went into labour, you could take her to hospital if you had consumed a little over the limit and get away with it (not that i'd drink much if the missus was about to drop).

I bet in certain pressured emergeny situations, we'd all take that chance if it meant there was almost a certainty you would preserve another life at great risk. I think this would be considered a balanced action.

Best policy is to drink nothing at all if you are driving, but one pint should keep you below the limit. Is it worth it though?

I wonder how many people go out and have a skinfull and then drive to work the next morning after 5-6hrs of sleep, thinking they are below the limit. I bet there are hundreds who do this.

I went to a company do years ago and everyone drove there. I went to bed at 4am after a long session, leaving a condsiderable number still drinking in the bar. By 9:30am the next morning most had left, or were about to. I hung around until 11:00am, but I was still concerned about my blood/alcohol levels. My advice if you need to drive within 7-8 hrs of a session; get a cab!

I did once. 16 years old, in NZ, first car, out in the sticks with my friends. Sober friend who is driving my car (we had a rota) gets out for a pee, falls in a hole, opens a cut in her head. This was years before mobile phones. I drove as far as a phone box to call the Police it was awful, but surprising how much I sobered up. The Cops were cool about it, and surprisingly so was my dad when they phoned him to come and get us. Not much wrong with my friend either as it turns out but head wounds bleed a lot and we didn't know that !

So underage drinking and drunk driving all in one night. For the curious, as I remember it didn't feel that difficult, and I drove very very slowly. And likely wasn't that far over the limit.

None of you live in Dorset then.

5 and you can drive round there. Less than 5 miles or less than 5 pints and you're good to go.

Apparently.

Yup, it's true, because the Dorset air sobers you up quicker. Something to do with the chemicals in the air from all the crop spraying, or something.

If you're influenced by any drug, prescription or otherwise, then you can be charged with driving under the influence of drugs, ask any person with insulin treated diabetes who [i]may[/i] have had a hypo while driving and whose been prosecuted as such under the law.

So if you're a little dizzy with a prescription medicine, the side effects of which may pass in time, you shouldn't be driving until the dizzyness passes. Until that point you're as much of a risk as anyone out there whose had a couple of pints.

I currently can't drive, my licence has been revoked due to seizures, I've had 2 seizures in the last year, but each one means a further 12 month medical revokation of my licence. Last one was only a few weeks ago so I'm not going to be driving until March 2011 at the earliest.

So for the bulk of the last 10 months I've had days where I'm 100% "fit" to drive because I've not had a seizure, but I'm still following the law as dictated by the state.

I did in the 70s - most people did

We used to meet up at a country pub [on motorcycles] have a good drink & race home
Madness, when I look back at it

Junkyard - Member

all drivers become crap/rubbish drivers once pissed though.

Not disagreeing (yet), but please do elaborate Junkyard

Sorry missingfrontal, you mishundershtand. I don't drive unless I have absolutely no other option at the best of times and I certainly wouldn't while I'm feeling like this. I've not even been peddaling for over 10 days now.
Maybe that's why I've been causing trouble on here (and in real life).
I have a lot of apologising to do.
My apologies to all I've been mean and arguementative to/with on here (including hora) over the last 10 days or so and especially for starting this thread which was prompted by my removed post on the Where's Sharki? thread.
I'll behave from now on and I hope the bloke is having a great time somewhere, blissfully unaware of the obvious worry he has inadvertently caused.

Is There Ever Any Acceptable Excuse For Drink Driving?

However, the law allows for the defence of 'Duress'. Where a person is threatened with [u]death or serious physical injury[/u] unless he or she carries out a criminal act, such as drink drive, he may have (in law) a defence of [i]duress[/i]. You'd have to go some to get home on this at court mind.

There are also occasions when circumstances leave the defendant no real alternative, which is a variation of the above.

Going back to the talk of being let off if slightly over the limit if your missus goes into labour in the middle of the night.

A. Why would you be drinking at this time. Shouldnt you be lucid?
B. MrsH went into Labour at 11.30pm, I slowly and carefully drove her to hospital, her waters broke but we were still sent home 'for few hours'. We then cameback at 3.00pm. Again slowly and carefully.

BTW- throughout this I noticed LOTS of lasses coming in on ambulances laying flat on the stretcher being wheeled.

Worse case scenario- call a frigging ambulance. Saying that, I never would have done that.

Sorry officer-mate. My missus was in labour so I thought sod-it I'll drive (hic) 😉

barca2 - Member
Sorry missingfrontal, you mishundershtand. I don't drive unless I have absolutely no other option at the best of times and I certainly wouldn't while I'm feeling like this. I've not even been peddaling for over 10 days now.
Maybe that's why I've been causing trouble on here (and in real life).

Fair enough, just your opening post implied you knew your driving is impaired, but that was "OK" because you knew about it.

I'd still exercise a lot of caution because at the time of an incident the police would find impairment easier to prove than you'd find the defence of "not impaired" easier to use in court 6 or 9 months later.

Of course there are valid reasons...

you're a complete ****wit, or

you're psychotic, or

you're an entitlement freak, or

you're a registered alcoholic, or

you're a chav, or

you're part of the british 'party hard culture', or

you're stressed and needed the release, or

your boyfriend/girlfriend/cat/hamster just died, or

you didn't like the latest sun ediorial, or

you just didn't think anything bad would happen.

Heard/seen 'em all.

No excuse.

Tear their licences up and never let them on the road again.

Might ease congestion too.

I had to smile- this must be about as close to acceptable as it gets..

[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7606600/Man-loses-licence-after-drink-driving-in-toy-Barbie-car.html ]Man loses licence after drink driving in toy Barbie car.[/url]

We had a situation years back when a friend was glassed in the neck in a night club, it was chaos and the bouncers were basically thumping everyone and gave no thought to him (who we all thought was dying). So two of us carried him out and into the car and drove him to A&E, seemed like the only reasonable course of action at the time, all of us were pissed and were planning on coming back for the car in the morning. I can still see him covered in blood twenty odd years on.