But I still struggle to see how someone could blow 36 and then fail a blood test after a regular slice of Xmas cake about 30 minutes earlier ie pulled over and now at the station. I gave some explanation above.
Apparently Listerine mouthwash contains 27%
It would probably help if dedicated traffic police hadn’t been cut by 30% in the last 10 years.
No it wouldn’t. As I understand it the process is you have the breathalyser screen, if you fail a blood test is then taken. The conviction is on the blood test. Recently eaten Xmas cake alcohol on your breath will not be in your blood. Neither will a pint from the night before.
Apparently Gibson has previous for drink-driving. This was a couple of years ago:
The Everton midfielder Darron Gibson has pleaded guilty to hitting a cyclist while drink-driving and then fleeing the scene. Gibson, 27, was behind the wheel of his black Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo when it ploughed into three cyclists who had stopped at the side of the road to fix a broken chain...
The tone of mitigation is of remorse, apology, embarrassment, shame and regret.... It is out of character. The defendant is extremely apologetic and remorseful, not just for the embarrassment he has brought on his family back home in Ireland but his wife and the football club he plays for.....Gibson was told his ban could be reduced by five months if he completed a drink-driving awareness course.
https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/01/darron-gibson-guilty-drink-driving-cyclist
I don't think he should ever be allowed to drive again after reading that.
Do people think like that?
Why is there a limit? Why not zero tolerance?
But why, what's your reason for lowering the limit? Are people driving dangerously due to being below the current limit?Personally I'd lower the limit to about 10 (in breath, similar reductions for blood/wee) so that one pint/wine/short puts you over the limit but a couple the night before (and I mean a couple, not a skinful) will be ok.
But why? It's not dangerous.I agree with the people who think there should be zero tolerance, if you've had a drink, you shouldn't be driving. It should be that simple - however inconvenient.
...
the law should be very clear and very simple. If you have a drink, you should not be driving and if you choose to do so, you live with the consequences.
But why, what's your reason for lowering the limit? Are people driving dangerously due to being below the current limit?
Without Googling, I'm pretty sure it's 20-something, yes.
If I know I'm driving I won't even "I can only have one because I have to drive" and I'm incredibly paranoid about day after driving too, having been involved in an accident on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out. I hadn't had many and I felt absolutely fine, but I was aware that didn't mean there was no alcohol in my system.
The accident was no fault of mine - the passenger in a car coming the other way pulled the car's handbrake, putting the car into a spin on a very wet road. They span in front of me and I had nowhere to go but into them. However, sitting in the back of a police car I was absolutely shitting in when I blew into the breathalyzer, because I knew that if there was booze still in my system then it changed everything. It came up green so I was fine, but I've been ultra-cautious ever since.
If you've got a breathalyser that is accurate enough for that, you could equally check you're under the limit, which removes all doubt.
Bye then
Life ban simple, same as drug driving and killing whilst driving.
Sorry if this has been asked and also sorry if it's a stupid question but are there any reliable breath test kits you can buy and test yourself?
I ask because I honestly would not drive if it showed I was above. This can be due to either having one pint and driving like many do and think we'll be ok. Or having a few the previous day.
Many of us have a few or a couple of an evening and drive to work the next day.