I was just read8ng this article …

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45572561

…and I was wondering “what are the arguments against reducing the current level?” Most legal changes will negatively impact someone and so they need careful consideration. This seems to be a proper no-brainer, with no losers.

country pubs, employment therein, etc.

and for all the above average drivers it’s a real pain (apparently).

IMHO, no-brainer; aircrew and train staff:

Breath: 9 μg of alcohol in 100 ml. (35 on road, E&W)
Blood: 20 mg of alcohol in 100 ml. (80 on road, E&W)

No brainer just get on with it there is no excuse to drink alcohol if you’re driving.

No brainer just get on with it there is no excuse to drink alcohol if you’re driving.

Indeedy.

Chanel 2 now . They are discussing this .

For me it’s any alcohol no driving.

I’m not unhappy with the rules in E&W and do allow myself a pint but the lower limit seems to work well in Scotland (where I also spend some time).

IMO there should be a low limit like in much of Scandinavian – 20 ie lower than the scottish limit of 50  and much lower than the English limit of 80.  If you make it zero then someone who had one pint 12 hours before would fail the test – thats not right.  But one pint and drive  should be a fail.  You are already impaired at one pint of ordinary beer.  Its been proven.

Despite the claims of the death of country pubs in scotland with the lowering of the limit and the damage to golf club profits and the like I have seen no actual evidence of this happening ( has anyone?)

I would also make a drink driving fail mean automatic jailtime.  Just a couple of weeks and can be done in your holidays if you are employed but a fine of a couple of hundred and a ban is not enough to deter the hardcore. ( and in that I include the “couple of pints is fine” bunch as well as the hard core drinkers)l  Its needs to be jail

I wish the successful demonisation of being DUI could be spread to being on the phone (including hands-free, which is a joke that it’s legal), tailgating, driving knackered, joining from a slip-road at whatever speed you like as if you have priority and undertaking.

All spectacularly dangerous, the cause of many more accidents than DUI and topics that are easy targets for a public campaign …but we only drone on about alcohol levels.

Cite?  Drink driving kills around 300 people a year.  thats 15% of all road deaths IIRC.  How many are caused by the things you mention?

Probably around 85%

Probably around 85%

You have no idea then.

Surprising that humour was lost on you.

No, I seen what you did to try and not answer the question.

I would also allow random breath testing.  At the moment the police have to haver suspicion before they can test.  I’d like to see roadblocks and test everyone driving down that road.

<div class=”bbp-reply-author”>kcal
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country pubs

There doesn’t seem to be any evidence for that; traders in Scotland claimed that it caused a downturn but actually the trend was no different to the north of England which had no change in the law so it seems to be bobbins.

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But even if it did actually have an impact… Seems reasonable to say suck it up. Lets say they introduced tougher rules on drunk and disorderly, would we listen to clubs that said the drinkin-and-fightin trade was essential for their profits?

Think we have it right in Englandshire I have driven with 2 pints of normal brew normally after a ride  and i can cofindently say it has no effect on my driving if anything it makes me a better driver as I am more conscious of my surroundings and other drivers. I know i am going to get flamed for this but just trying to be honest. Will not drive after a heavy night on the ale and usually abstain for the next 24hrs

You must be a really shit driver Rich if alcohol improves it.

Entirely anecdotal based on visiting the same island in Scotland once or twice a year, but the reduced limit has had no effect on the locals (or tourists for that matter) driving to the local boozer, having three, four or more pints then getting back in their car or 4×4 and driving home. No I know on said island there isn’t much in the way of opportunity to crash in to other cars but it still astonished me that it seems to be entirely acceptable, and the bobby posted to the island must turn a blind eye to it as it would be like shooting fish in a barrel if they really wanted to catch people, they could lock up half the population most weeks if they really wanted to.

No, I seen what you did to try and not answer the question.

I still remain amazed you’re allowed to be a representative of this place. I posted my simple thoughts on a topic, and you’re in there like an uncontrollable fart trying to find any way out to express your opinion. Negative, naturally.

You must be a really shit driver Rich if alcohol improves it.

I think the point being if a person has had one or two drinks they’re aware of this so concentrate more.

Whether this makes them safer I have no idea. I generally don’t drink and drive at all, on the rare occasions I do its one drink only.

Not against lowering the limit per see, but most of not all the bad driving i see can be put down to aggressiveness I. E. Entitlement or not paying attention I. E. Mobile phones..

It’s all a moot point anyway as there are not enough police to prosecute enough people for anything to make anyone care.

Can’t agree with the “no cause” approach to policing.

It’s just a waste of the law abiding public’s time and police resources to road block and breath test.

To observe the proper legalities takes time, if you rush it a smart arse lawyer will get the one offender you catch off the hook and it’s a crap use of scarce resource.

I don’t drink a drop if I’m driving the same day (no lunch time beer and drive home 5hours later) and I won’t drive the day after a big night out so I have nothing to fear but getting held up for 30 minutes while someone processes 3 cars in front of me and then goes through the motions with me would proper annoy me when I know I’ve not done anything wrong.

By all means though drop the limit if you like.

Very good Drac 🙂

Very good Drac

I’d imagine Drac has seen more of the consequences of DD than all of us put together 🙁🙁

 i can cofindently say it has no effect on my driving if anything it makes me a better driver as I am more conscious of my surroundings and other drivers

They should obviously make a couple of pints mandatory for police and ambulance drivers then.

I’d imagine Drac has seen more of the consequences of DD than all of us put together

Speeding more so but seen my fair share as have others on here.

I usually drive sober but I see now that this is irresponsible

i can cofindently say it has no effect on my driving if anything it makes me a better driver as I am more conscious of my surroundings and other drivers.

That’s what a couple of pints makes you think. In the old days I’ve driven home along the back roads with one eye closed and got home in one piece so it must have been OK. It wasn’t.

i can cofindently say it has no effect on my driving

So either the scientific studies demonstrating that alcohol impairs driving ability are wrong, or there is something special about you.

I think the point being if a person has had one or two drinks they’re aware of this so concentrate more.

Alcohol impairs your physical ability to drive, but it also lowers your inhibitions and compromises your ability to make rational decisions, so the argument that a wee drink is going to make you all sensible and careful doesn’t hold much water.

It’s all a pointless argument anyway.

Since moving out to the sticks I’ve realised that people who drink drive couldn’t give a shit as long as they know they won’t get caught.

And with the traffic police in this country now essentially being yellow boxes sat by the side of the road, they know there’s precious little chance of that  happening.

So the hand-wringers debate this bollocks, meanwhile Dave has 7 pints of Stella after work then drives his car home with impunity

You can set the limit at no alcohol for a week before you get in a car…. who’s going to enforce it? The 3 traffic cops left in the U.K.?

It’s all a moot point anyway as there are not enough police to prosecute enough people for anything to make anyone care.

Sadly I agree with this. I firmly believe that if you’re going to drink alcohol you shouldn’t drive. Leave the  car at home or have somebody else drive.

Binners +1000.

Country pubs and golf clubs round here are still absolutely rife with DD. I’ve never, ever in my life seen a random breath test pulling people in, and the traffics are only ever to be found at speeding black spots on the dual carriageway.

There’s a retiree pulls up outside my local rural pub – a few miles inland – in a big old Merc, first noticed him as it’s on a blind corner and a right bad bit to park, there’s a car park round the back. He always orders a pint for him, and a bottle of red for him and his missus to share. God knows if he has any more, as I only ever pop in on a ride up the river trails, I’m sure he doesn’t stop at that.

I love it when people shout cite in internet chat rooms.

I think we should have refresher training and retests, then at least we’ll all be better at it when we’ve had a couple.

Don’t people who drink and drive worry about being caught? That is enough of a deterrent for me – lose licence, lose job, can’t pay mortgage, lose house, etc, etc

James, read Binners post….

I’ve never, ever in my life seen a random breath test pulling people in,

That will be because the police are not allowed to do random breath tests.  They do catch a fair few – couple of hundred a year just in the lothian and border area IIRC

Postierich.  You should be driving carefully and paying maximum attention all the time.  2 pints and your chances of crashing are many times higher.

That will be because the police are not allowed to do random breath tests.  They do catch a fair few – couple of hundred a year just in the lothian and border area IIRC

Oops, I thought they still could. Anyway, less than 1 a week, that would suggest the ones they caught will have been involved in accidents, and tested as per protocol.

So, as long as you don’t crash, yer laughing, basically.

I’d much rather they concentrated limited resources to target driving whilst tired and poor driving in general as that is the cause of the vast majority of RTA’s.

I’ve been up n’ down the A75 every day for the past fortnight wi mum to visit dad in hospital and the standard of driving is **** atrocious, tailgating being a particular way to really piss me off to the point that I’ve now started carrying a bag of crab apples, if a slight dab of the brake doesn’t make them drop back to a safe distance then i start lobbing apples out of my window at them.  Today being an example of particular fuckwittery as I was overtaken outside Springholm during the very windy and extremely wet stormy morning, I was only doing 40mph as the road conditions were very dodgy with limited visibility due to the amount of rain but the guy behind me took offence at my speed and howled past me in his car, two miles up the road I passed him, his car was mashed rather badly into a large branch that’d blown down onto the road.

When I used to ride motorbikes if I had one pint I could really notice the difference it made to my riding ability, you don’t notice the difference as much sat in a nice warm car but you’re just as impaired, you just don’t realise it.

The current limit in England and Wales is way too high IMO.