How much do/would you drink before you drive?

How much do/would you drink before you drive?

Author
Discussion

leglessAlex

5,384 posts

140 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
AC123 said:
Driven very drunk in the past, just drove sensibly. Don't understand these people who drive at silly speeds whilst sh@tfaced - just asking for trouble.

I would say I am a better driver when drunk than many sober drivers I see.

I rarely do it nowadays for the sole reason of losing my license, rather than from a safety point of view.
Ah yes, the good old 'It won't happen to me' attitude which is basically what you seem to be saying.

I'm legless because of a drunk driver and so if the laws are the only thing stopping you from drink driving then I'm very, very glad they exist.

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
SEE YA said:
AC123 said:
Driven very drunk in the past, just drove sensibly. Don't understand these people who drive at silly speeds whilst sh@tfaced - just asking for trouble.

I would say I am a better driver when drunk than many sober drivers I see.

I rarely do it nowadays for the sole reason of losing my license, rather than from a safety point of view.
Also you may kill someone or hurt them as well would be a better reason?
not really a badge of honour though is it and I can assure you you're not a better driver

Cliftonite

8,406 posts

137 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Planter said:
5 and drive. Just drive with my head out the window, its perfectly acceptable. wink
No it isn't. Only " it's " is acceptable here.

smile


bonamassa

7 posts

113 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I worked at the Police for ages and wrote a breathlyser database, that uploaded the data from the machines, test it by having three pints at lunch, came back, tried it, was slightly over, tried again and 30 mins later was under the limit, so, after three or four hours I think the level would be negligible.
You get bonus points for admitting to being a copper and drinking 3 pints at lunch time before returning to work biggrin

Tonberry

2,078 posts

191 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
3 pints of 4-5% beer and straight into the car.

Enough to feel the effects but not to the point it impaired driving ability leading to an accident.

What annoys me is when you see these cop tv shows where drivers are tested at 2 or 3 times the limit and are lambasted as the devil incarnate.

Illegal sure - but 6 pints shouldn't see your ability impaired to the point you're causing accidents and mowing down pensioners. Not unless you're 8 stone or just a st driver generally.

We're all different so a pointless discussion really.

Supernova190188

887 posts

138 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
AW111 said:
I have been breathalised many times, and never been near the limit (0.05%).
I thought it was 0.08% ? or am i thinking of blood alcohol content?
I generally only have 1 pint now , sometimes 2 though depending on circumstances. When about 17/18 have driven on 3/4 pints before - easy enough , but would probably fail the breathalyser if ever pulled on that. I did once move my car across a field at a party once, and had about 10 cans before doing so , definitely felt quite dangerous then , would have to be stupid to go on the road after having consumed that amount, although some people must think it's a good idea at the time.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
3 pints of 4-5% beer and straight into the car.

Enough to feel the effects but not to the point it impaired driving ability leading to an accident.

What annoys me is when you see these cop tv shows where drivers are tested at 2 or 3 times the limit and are lambasted as the devil incarnate.

Illegal sure - but 6 pints shouldn't see your ability impaired to the point you're causing accidents and mowing down pensioners. Not unless you're 8 stone or just a st driver generally.

We're all different so a pointless discussion really.
whistle

MondeoMan1981

2,352 posts

182 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
I drove an hour after a half pint once about 6 years back, that's it. I don't mix the two.

Nigel Worc's

8,121 posts

187 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
3 pints of 4-5% beer and straight into the car.

Enough to feel the effects but not to the point it impaired driving ability leading to an accident.

What annoys me is when you see these cop tv shows where drivers are tested at 2 or 3 times the limit and are lambasted as the devil incarnate.

Illegal sure - but 6 pints shouldn't see your ability impaired to the point you're causing accidents and mowing down pensioners. Not unless you're 8 stone or just a st driver generally.

We're all different so a pointless discussion really.
Or just don't tolerate alcohol well, there are some of us about you know.

Tonberry

2,078 posts

191 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Fair comment on tolerance. Some people don't seem to be able to handle caffeine either.

6 pints is about 12 units depending on what you're drinking so a bottle of wine and a bit.

Whilst highly illegal and a bit silly - can anyone honestly say that a bottle of wine over 2 hours has them in a gibbering mess on the floor incapable of even holding a set of keys?

I wager that fiddling with a cigaretre whilst driving, having a conversation on the hands free, looking over your shoulder to shout at your children, or just generally not paying attention is far more dangerous and leads to far more accidents than the loss in reaction time a few drinks will cause.

I am in no way advocating drink driving but I think a sensible discussion without the emotion should be had if such a thing is possible.

Drink drivers are easy to go after and shun from community (just like those who break speed limits). What about the other road users with a blatant disregard for the safety of others?

Nigel Worc's

8,121 posts

187 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
Fair comment on tolerance. Some people don't seem to be able to handle caffeine either.

6 pints is about 12 units depending on what you're drinking so a bottle of wine and a bit.

Whilst highly illegal and a bit silly - can anyone honestly say that a bottle of wine over 2 hours has them in a gibbering mess on the floor incapable of even holding a set of keys?

I wager that fiddling with a cigaretre whilst driving, having a conversation on the hands free, looking over your shoulder to shout at your children, or just generally not paying attention is far more dangerous and leads to far more accidents than the loss in reaction time a few drinks will cause.

I am in no way advocating drink driving but I think a sensible discussion without the emotion should be had if such a thing is possible.

Drink drivers are easy to go after and shun from community (just like those who break speed limits). What about the other road users with a blatant disregard for the safety of others?
I wouldn't be able to drive after six points I assure you, if I haven't actually been sick I wouldn't be able to stand.

I do agree with your sentiments though, some people can hold their drink.

nagsheadwarrior

2,779 posts

178 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
quotequote all
Different these days but when I lived in Devon over 10 years ago at my remote local boozer everybody would drink drive to some degree.
I set myself a 5 pint limit and would only drink real ale, normally about 3.8 to 4%, upto and including 5 spread over 4 or 5 hours I was fine, over 5 or over a shorter period I could feel the difference and wouldn't do it, my commute home was 4 miles of empty country lanes.

Not the done thing, not p.c and not what I'd do nowadays but a truthful assessment of how it was and probably still is down there.

AW111

9,455 posts

132 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
Supernova190188 said:
I thought it was 0.08% ? or am i thinking of blood alcohol content?
I generally only have 1 pint now , sometimes 2 though depending on circumstances. When about 17/18 have driven on 3/4 pints before - easy enough , but would probably fail the breathalyser if ever pulled on that. I did once move my car across a field at a party once, and had about 10 cans before doing so , definitely felt quite dangerous then , would have to be stupid to go on the road after having consumed that amount, although some people must think it's a good idea at the time.
I don't know the UK limit : here in Victoria (aus) it's 0.05% BAC, and heavily tested and enforced.

There are still drink drivers out there, but a lot less than when I got my license.


okgo

37,858 posts

197 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
What people tend to forget on this topic - nobody gives a fk about what happens to the person that drink drives it's the innocent people they may endanger that the law is there to protect. Your reactions are slowed no matter how billy big bks you think you are after 3 beers.

daveofedinburgh

556 posts

118 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
2 pints regardless of food intake/ how soon I need to drive afterwards.

This is an informed decision, made by a grown up who is well aware of his own tolerance to alcohol.

I know many people who are 'buzzed' after a single pint (have only encountered this since moving to England ;-) ). I'd like to think the majority of drivers can make an informed decision based on their own experience of alcohol tolerance.

I do still tend to glance at the 'units' if Im having a bottle, but am totally convinced that being 6'3" and 18 stone I can exceed the recommended units safely, within reason.

Have never once in 14 years of driving driven 'drunk' after being out. Nothing to do with fear of being pulled/ breathalyzed, but from the knowledge that causing a serious/ fatal accident while over the limit is shame that I'd have to live with forever.

I suspect that teens/ early 20s are highest risk through peer pressure or hopping in the car the next morning to get to the weekend job. Im fairly sure the closest I ever got to 'drink driving' was heading to Uni on Monday after a heavy Sunday night. Looking back to my late teens, I remember thinking 'Ive slept, it's cool' when hopping in the car in the morning, still stinking of fags, vodka and Red Bull. Utterly idiotic ofcourse, but hindsight is 20/20. Wonder how many Uni students do this on the regular nowadays, the danger exacerbated by them all having smartphones now.

Aside from being a stupid kid, there's really no excuse, and any driving ban given for being over the limit is well-deserved. I was lucky in my day.

A good friend of mine experienced some incredible luck during a rare lapse in discipline back in 99. A group of us Uni lads were out in Edinburgh, and my friend got separated. Being ancient, we didnt all have phones at the time, so he grabbed a taxi back to another's friends' house in Balerno where we we are staying that night. He got back to the house to find we were all still out, and the house locked. Rather than sitting on the doorstep or sleeping in his car, he jumped in and decided to make the 20 minute drive home. He had passed his driving test on the 8th attempt, and written off his mk2 Fiesta the day after he passed. He was now driving pissed in a E30 325. He hammered it down the country road, pissed off at his mates for losing him. He then forgot the huge roundabout outside Herriott Watt Uni, and mounted it, mashing up the front bumper, alloys and suspension. He hopped out of the car in shock, only to have a fire engine with blues going off speeding towards him. Preparing to be banged to rights, the fire engine pulled up, a fireman leant out the window and asked him if he was OK. He said yeah, he was just driving too fast, the fireman then told him they were heading to an emergency and drove off! After much wheelspinning he managed to reverse the car off the roundabout and dump it on a grass verge at the side of the road. He then headed into the Uni campus and got the night security to call him a cab. Car was collected and limped to the nearest garage the next day.

Dread to think what damage he could have done had he lost it around other motorists.

And yes, it actually was my friend, not me!

stormy22

793 posts

136 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
For me, I hardly drink, driving is more important than drinking!

spitsfire

1,035 posts

134 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
AW111 said:
I don't know the UK limit : here in Victoria (aus) it's 0.05% BAC, and heavily tested and enforced.

There are still drink drivers out there, but a lot less than when I got my license.
Yeah, Australia is a bit odd like that: Enforcement is a lot more enthusiastic than in the UK (I've been pulled 3 times in 3km on a Friday evening driving out of Sydney), but DD doesn't make somebody a social pariah.

I've got an Aussie friend who's just back behind the wheel after her second low-range DD conviction, and nobody seems to care - other than a few jokes, it didn't provoke much comment when she got caught. She had a couple of glasses of wine at the pub on Friday then drove home. Nobody batted an eyelid. I tried to discreetly raise the issue by mentioning that, in the UK, a DD conviction means a criminal conviction and quite possibly loss of job, but none of the Aussies believed me until I pulled up a couple of news stories from the Daily Hate. After reading them, the consensus was that the UK needs to calm the fk down.

I'm not saying that the Aussies are in any way right, merely observing that the UK takes a particularly presbyterian approach to DD

Raman Kandola

221 posts

122 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
1 botter of beer with no meal or one pint with a proper meal

Matt UK

17,649 posts

199 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
If I'm heading into town for a meal / drink then cab / lift every time.
Quick drink after work - an orange and lemonade.


grkify

366 posts

119 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
Had far to many friends caught for drink driving after very little alcohol if i drink i dont drive. There are to many factors to put definite oh 1 pint will be fine limit on it. Will be interesting to see how many people get caught when the limit drops before Christmas.