I caught a drink driver this evening.

Not criticising the OP or particularly advocating having a drink before/while driving (but staying under the legal limit), but I don’t think we’d be seeing the same level of outrage about driving while tired/distracted, which is apparently at least as dangerous, or sipping from a coffee in a travel mug.

We were driving down the A1 when I bloke drinking a bottle of lager went past. We phoned 111, they took the details and dispatched an unmarked car. Traffic was slow, so they kept us on the line to offer commentary provided it was safe to do so. We saw the unmarked Audi pull him over, the phone call was ended. They rang us back and confirmed he was drinking Becks, but hadn’t drank enough to be over the limit. They were now looking at what else they could find to add to driving without due care and attention. Or in the words of the police, being an idiot.

In reference to the OP, you’ve done the correct thing. How do you know how many the driver has had, it may be their first can, it may be the sixth

I dont see what the OP did that was wrong?

People can be habitual drinkers/alcoholics and need constant alcohol just to function throughout the day.

He could have been on his first or he could have been on his 5th or 6th can. Only the Police stopping the fella would know this.

A few years ago two children reported their mother for drink driving. She’d drank so much daily that she was basically a functioning alcoholic. On the day that they reported her though she had two bottles of wine in the morning (more than usual) and was driving them to school as per usual.

looking inot it a bit further the “Just the one” argument might be more tenuous than I’d actually thought…
looking at this lot:

http://www.80mg.org.uk/guide.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Artois
http://www.breheny.com/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/knowyourlimits/stay_safe/units.html

Apparently Stella is a “Premium strength larger” (in the 4.8 – 5.2% ABV range).

So it looks like the fella was in the process of taking on ~2.2 units over the course of his commute home, the approximate guideline limit is 4 units for an “Average” male (and he looked pretty average), so that one can could have taken him past the halfway point, if he’d had a cheeky lunchtime pint or two, or was actually on his second commuting can, then he may have actually been much closer to the limit than he realised…
How many “daytime drinkers” stop at just the one?

Handy table for the casual alchy that third one, I for one shall limit myself to just three shots of Tequila on the drive home tonight, because I’m a responsible motorist. 😉

One can of Stella would put you over the drink drive limit and your not telling me he has decided to have his first can as he is driving home?

I hate drink drivers, there is no reason whatsoever to drive after having a drink.

One can of Stella would put you over the drink drive limit and your not telling me he has decided to have his first can as he is driving home?

Doubtful, unless you’re very, very small. As the article linked to says the average male can have approx 4units without exceeding the limit. One and a half cans and you’re playing with fire, one can and you’ll be ok in the eyes of the law.

Anyway, I thought the laws only applied in you’re over 55, drive a Jag and are a member of your local golf club.

Or is that when they don’t apply…

You probably did right cookea. Chances are it was actually his second can.

If it had had been his first one and he was sure he would pass a breath test, he’d probably have got out and given you a slap for not minding your own business. If he’d had 3+, he’d have probably got out and given you a slap because he felt like it.

😉

Well done OP – Markus Wolf would be pround of you !

I don’t know why we don’t have a 0mg drink drive limit.

Well done OP, pity more people don’t take action.

One can of Stella would put you over the drink drive limit and your not telling me he has decided to have his first can as he is driving home?

On its own, no that one can would not, technically, put him over the limit.
Its worth noting “The Limit” is a measure of blood alcohol, for the UK its 0.08%. Normally this is extrapolated from a breath sample where 350 microgrammes of alcohol per litre of breath or more is found.
The Rozzers treat this as an indicator of excessive blood alcohol, but normally a confirmatory blood sample is taken at the station I believe… Blood alcohol content is what actually impaired you.

Of course if you’ve just been swigging 5% larger moments before giving a breath sample I’d imagine you might just get yourself arrested on the breath sample, and lose a few hours being taken in, having a blood sample taken and processed only to get a BAC result below 0.08%…

Guidance on what and when to consume prior to driving is just that, guidance, not hard and fast rules, its all approximate, and your BMI, metabolism and anything you may have drunk over the preceding 12-24 hours will all affect your blood alcohol content to some extent…

I believe there was a case not too long ago where one force had to overturn a whole load of Drink driving convictions due to questionable evidence, they had apparently been wiping suspects arms with an alcohol swab before taking blood samples… Urban myth? who knows… but when you are looking for slightly less than 1% BAC it doesn’t take much to edge the results…

Theres a lot of blatant trolling going on on this thread, or Im so out of touch its scary!
Anyways, I’d never consider drinking ALCOHOL behind the wheel of the car, it just seems totally wrong.

One can of Stella would put you over the drink drive limit

No it wouldn’t.

and your not telling me he has decided to have his first can as he is driving home?

Unless you are actually him, you can’t tell anyone otherwise can you ?

I hate drink drivers,

Me too.

there is no reason whatsoever to drive after having a drink.

Of course there is.

Sometimes I like to sit after work and have a nice beer and a bit of food with some friends. and I work 30 miles from home, so afterwards I drive home. Well under the limit.

And there is no reason whatsoever why I shouldn’t do it either.

Think the trolls on both sides are mixing up the law with personal opinion as to what the law should.

Rightly or wrongly, it is not illegal to drink alcohol while driving, or to have some in your bloodstream. The fact that he was drinking alcohol while driving would make me, and I suspect quite a few coppers, thi k it would be worth reporting and/or breathalysing him.

Not sure I’d have made the call unless his driving made me think he was definitely over the limit.

Nealglover

One can of Stella is equal to 2.2 UK units, the legal limit is 2 units, it even says this on the can.

Your attitude stinks, if you going for a drink then don’t drive, i have a 70 mile round trip everyday for work but I wont have a “swift” one after work, I don’t even drink during the week.

Nealglover
One can of Stella is equal to 2.2 UK units, the legal limit is 2 units, it even says this on the can.

I don’t drink Stella so I’ve no idea what it says on the can.

But if it does say 2 units is the drink driving limit, then that’s not correct.

Your attitude stinks, if you going for a drink then don’t drive,

The shit coming out of your high horse stinks worse.

It’s perfectly legal for me to have a drink and then drive home, well under the limit.

Why do you have such an issue with me obeying the law ??

i have a 70 mile round trip everyday for work but I wont have a “swift” one after work, I don’t even drink during the week.[/quite]

Not sure what you want me say ?

Well done 😕

[Edit – post crossed with Neal.]

Calm down, philfive.

The ligal limit is not 2 units. It’s a percentage of alcohol in the blood, so its can’t be any number of units. It’s sometimes stated that the maximum units an average male can drink and be under the limit is 4, but just as often stated that it’s hard to judge how it affects you, and it’s safest not to drink anything.

Bit off to say his attitude stinks. He has a pint then drives. Well under the limit. perfectly legal. Plenty of things more dangerous than that, fiddling with the radio, changing a CD, talking to someone next to you. Being a little bit sleepy.

One can of Stella is equal to 2.2 UK units, the legal limit is 2 units, it even says this on the can.

Nah, the UK’s legal “Limit” is 0.08% Blood alcohol content, “Units” are a rough guide to a drinks alcohol content, mostly for the benefit of people confused by percentages. Units are often erroneously confused with the actual legal measure of driving pissed, or indeed the number of pints one can drink, I’ve had people confidently tell me 1 pint = 1 unit in the past, a handy universal rule for those wanting to neck 2 cans of Tennent’s Super before driving anywhere…

Bit of 3rd party guidance on the topic:

To ensure you run no risk of being “over the limit”:

Immediately before driving:
– men should consume no more than 4 units, women no more than 3

Very roughly one and a half pints or two cans of Ordinary strength (3.5 – 4%) beer, straight before driving for a ~12 stone male and he shouldn’t exceed the limit*…

That’s what you might call normal social drinking…
I’m not sure being sat on your own in a moving car quaffing Stella, counts as “social drinking” though.

I couldn’t find any guidance on how many units it was safe to consume While driving, only prior to driving, suggesting its not the expected norm for most drivers…

(*Please don’t cite this post as part of your defence…)

Stockholm syndrome – that’s what a bunch of you obviously have – also how do you know said ‘ offender’ wasn’t drinking Stella 4 ? Nobody likes a snitch ….

Nobody likes a snitch ….

Sorry but that should be left behind in the school playground where it belongs.

Nobody likes a funeral, drink driving is still a major contributing factor in road deaths, yes we don’t know whether the guy was over the limit or not, but not all of us are so liberal with the law or potential law breakers, perhaps if a few more people spoke up a few more families wouldn’t have been devastated by drink drivers.

“Units of alcohol” is health-related rather than driving-related
milligrams and micrograms are driving-related

You can’t equate the two, we’re all different. The legal limit is what it is, but you could be unsafe as a driver at below the limit and, because alcohol is a depressant, not even know it

“Well I feel great after a few”, because it depresses your inhibitions. Simples