Scotland to lower drink drive limit.

[Shaw Tarse]

Taken from twitter http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18226813#TWE...

[thinfourth2]

I fking hate control freaks and the nanny state

Its a fking st state of affairs and one single politician will have the balls to speak up against it

[Vipers]

Good old brake ...........

Why not just ban cars and be done with it.

[anonymous-user]

thinfourth2 said:

I fking hate control freaks and the nanny state

Its a fking st state of affairs and one single politician will have the balls to speak up against it

Most countries have drink drive limits, many are lower than the UKs.

I'm not sure any of this will actually improve safety much though. Are many accidents caused by people between the old and new alcohol limits?

[TheDiplomat]

I see no reasonable objection to this.

Driving after drinking alcohol is a selfish act and is justifiably socially unacceptable IMHO.

I don't accept your point that this is the nanny state in overdrive - this is a common sense policy which will only harm those who believe it is okay to have a few cans of pop before driving home.

(CBA to find statistics to back up my points.)

[thinfourth2]

TheDiplomat said:

I see no reasonable objection to this.

Apart from the from the difference in crash risk from 50mg to 80mg is feck all

TheDiplomat said:

Driving after drinking alcohol is a selfish act and is justifiably socially unacceptable IMHO.

If you are happy for everything else to be banned that ever so slightly increases the risk of a crash.

My list of things to be banned in cars is
RWD
Radios
Having a cold
Having children in the car
Women walking past in short skirts
Driving while needing a pee
Cars that can do more then 15mph
etc and so on

TheDiplomat said:

I don't accept your point that this is the nanny state in overdrive
- this is a common sense policy which will only harm those who believe it is okay to have a few cans of pop before driving home.

But a few cans will take you over the current limit

1 can won't take you over the limit

So how making me driving home from a nice meal with a single beer illegal will stop someone who is twice of the current limit help i haven't got a bloody clue

If someone is twice over the current limit how will make them being 3 times over the new limit change anything?

TheDiplomat said:

(CBA to find statistics to back up my points.)

Please do

[scenario8]

TheDiplomat said:

I see no reasonable objection to this.

Driving after drinking alcohol is a selfish act and is justifiably socially unacceptable IMHO.

I don't accept your point that this is the nanny state in overdrive - this is a common sense policy which will only harm those who believe it is okay to have a few cans of pop before driving home.

(CBA to find statistics to back up my points.)

A difficulty is in accurately assessing the time between drinking and driving. I will not argue in favour of driving directly after drinking four pints (for example) but how about the driving to work the morning after? Or a glass of wine at lunch and then driving home at the end of the working day? There are grey lines and it is not practicable to have a limit of zero. (Unless you are seriously advocating a life ban from driving after taking your first communnion wine (which I appreciate would be an absurd twisting of your point)).

[thinfourth2]

el stovey said:

Most countries have drink drive limits, many are lower than the UKs.

Yes but most countries don't have an years ban which stays on your record for ten years

el stovey said:

I'm not sure any of this will actually improve safety much though. Are many accidents caused by people between the old and new alcohol limits?

Zilch
Zero
Na da
Nothing


This is a move to be seen be doing something

Same as the impending ban on air rifles as some neds keep shooting people and cats with them

Shooting cats and people is already illegal so instead of stopping neds from shooting cats and people they are going to make the very legal practise of shooting rats on private property illegal

[bitchstewie]

Maybe the idea is for it to be lowered to function as a deterrent?

I suspect, might be wrong, that right now many people see the current limit in terms of "It means I can have a couple of drinks and I'm still safe".

By lowering the limit it might change their mindset.

[thinfourth2]

bhstewie said:

Maybe the idea is for it to be lowered to function as a deterrent?

I suspect, might be wrong, that right now many people see the current limit in terms of "It means I can have a couple of drinks and I'm still safe".

By lowering the limit it might change their mindset.

Flip side of the coin

1 beer is currently legal so i shall had one beer and drive home nice and legally

Soon

1 beer will make me illegal shall i have a horrible fizzy coke or shall i just have 2 beers

[anonymous-user]

thinfourth2 said:

Flip side of the coin



Soon

1 beer will make me illegal shall i have a horrible fizzy coke or shall i just have 2 beers

Presumably you should have the "horrible fizzy coke" or perhaps some other non alcoholic drink you might like.

[anonymous-user]

bhstewie said:

Maybe the idea is for it to be lowered to function as a deterrent?

I suspect, might be wrong, that right now many people see the current limit in terms of "It means I can have a couple of drinks and I'm still safe".

By lowering the limit it might change their mindset.

I think you're right. It's a move away from the situation where you can still have one and drive. Here, the government in Scotland are trying to disassociate alcohol and driving. It's not a bad move if you have a problem with people having accidents after drinking. If you actually want to stop people drink driving though you need an even lower limit.

Most people done for drink driving are done the next day not at the time, so that's where you want to target education and awareness if that's your aim.

[bitchstewie]

thinfourth2 said:

bhstewie said:

Maybe the idea is for it to be lowered to function as a deterrent?

I suspect, might be wrong, that right now many people see the current limit in terms of "It means I can have a couple of drinks and I'm still safe".

By lowering the limit it might change their mindset.

Flip side of the coin

1 beer is currently legal so i shall had one beer and drive home nice and legally

Soon

1 beer will make me illegal shall i have a horrible fizzy coke or shall i just have 2 beers

Sorry but really, what a load of flawed logic "1 beer will make me illegal so I may as well have 2".

The difficulty with alcohol has always been that people have different tolerances and legal does not equal safe, but similarly you can't easily adopt a zero tolerance policy.

I'm all for anything that encourages people to choose to not drink at all if they're going to drive, and yes there is an element of "First they came for the communists" in my attitude, before you point it out

[thinfourth2]

el stovey said:

Presumably you should have the "horrible fizzy coke" or perhaps some other non alcoholic drink you might like.

Are you talking about low alcohol larger

You are a sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick man

[Mst007]

I have one pint and still drive, and do not touch Stella or the like "just in case". This would stop me drinking anything whilst driving, again "just in case". What it wont stop are the idiots who drink in copious amounts who have no moral compass or self discipline, neither will it stop those already banned who drive anyway. It also will be responsible for getting a whole load more people nicked the next morning. I`d be interested to see that arrest stats - re-offenders vs first timers vs morning afters.

[anonymous-user]

Mst007 said:

I`d be interested to see that arrest stats - re-offenders vs first timers vs morning afters.

The vast majority are morning afters.

[AJS-]

Mixed feelings about this.

I think it's unnecessary because 80mg is low enough to have no real impact on people's ability to drive, as compared to 50mg, and most people who do drink and drive don't really care about the difference between one pint and ten. They drive knowing they're over the limit and hope not to get caught.

On the other hand, I've known of at least one person who was far too drunk to drive, did so anyway and got caught. Own silly fault. However being a rural police station without the equipment or man power to blood test immediately he got away with it, as he was just under the limit by the time he got the blood test.

And it was getting away with it. He should have been done for DD.

As someone who definitely doesn't want a DD conviction, I followed the safe rule of never drinking anything if I was going to be driving, and not having a skin-full if I knew I couldn't have a good lie in the next day. It isn't that big an imposition, but I know many people who were less cautious.

On balance though I'd leave it at 80mg because it allows a bit more leeway for sensible folk, and still punishes those who are actually dangerous. And ultimately I'd rather the guilty got away with it than the innocent were punished.

[martin84]

The drink drivers who actually cause the problems are the ones so smashed that they dont need to know the ins and outs of the law to know they're over the limit - yet they still got in the car anyway. Even a zero limit wouldn't stop these people.

[Vipers]

Statistically the majority of crashes are due to sober drivers, minority are drunk drivers.

Reduce the carnage, lets all get sloshed before we go out for a drive

[7mike]

el stovey said:

Mst007 said:

I`d be interested to see that arrest stats - re-offenders vs first timers vs morning afters.

The vast majority are morning afters.

Only in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire apparently. 13% is the national average according to this:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/more-than-hal...