Stricter Drink Driving Limits for Scotland - Should Eng, Wales & NI follow suit?

[Goldstone1976]

my only issue with it is the morning after issue. Last night i had half a bottle of wine, finishing the last glass at about 11pm. At what time was i ok to drive?

I'd be all for widely available, effective and cheap self testing kits to make sure that i never risked it.

The rule of thumb I've seen is that the average male metabolises about a unit an hour. 1 unit = 10ml of pure alcohol. A standard wine is, say, 12.5% alcohol. Half a standard bottle = 375ml. Thus - 3 hours to metabolise (if you drank all of it at the same time, which you won't have done, of course). Thus, if you finished at 11pm; you should be clear at 2am. Add on, say, 2 hours for safety = 4am. All, imo, like. I'm not qualified in this field!

 

[banjo]

Does one need an excuse? Having a pint of harveys, for example, with a large meal isn't going to affect your driving as much as how much sleep you had the night before, who's in the car with you, or even how uncomfortably full you are after the meal. You also need to have a buffer. Surely the priority needs to be dealing with the (many) people who get absolutely bladdered and drive.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_driving_law_by_country

Well maybe not completely zero but as close as..

 

[chimneys]

If I'm driving, I won't drink. But if I go out a have a load on a Saturday night, at what time the next day can I safely/legally drive?

Safely I would say after 8/9 hours sleep - legally I'm really not sure.

So you have "load", go to bed straight after your last drink at midnight, and you reckon you will be OK to drive at 8am?! Not a chance.

 

[Triggaaar]

This means that you'd really need to abstain from any booze to avoid going over the limit. Is it a step too far, or a sensible move?

Step too far. Are people that currently pass the test, too drunk to drive? I think not.

BBC News just said one pint / glass of wine for men, half a pint / small glass of wine for women... that is about what I would have stuck to in England anyway... seems sensible to me.

That bit is fine, but what about the morning after a few beers? Not on the occasions when you're still drunk, but when you feel fine (and are safe), but your levels may fail the new tests?

 

[SurreySeagulls]

I heard one response this morning which went along the lines of "you shouldn't try and work out want you can drink to still be legally allowed drive rather that you should think about the life of someone you could kill by drinking and getting behind the wheel" . A bit deep I guess but never the less still worthy of thinking about.

 

[Billy the Fish]

"you shouldn't try and work out want you can drink to still be legally allowed drive rather that you should think about the life of someone you could kill by drinking and getting behind the wheel".

The problem with these laws is that they're so subjective and a bit ambiguous - micrograms per letre of breath means nothing to me in real life terms.

And all that emotional nonsense that SurreySeagulls has quoted doesn't help either.

If I was in charge I'd do a sliding scale based on how long you've had a license. 0-5 years = zero tolerence and as low as the limit would go. Over 5 years make it enough to allow 2 pints of stella. If you have an accident that's your fault, if you injure someone or get caught speeding while over the limit then it's an instant prison sentence.

 

[Pavilionaire]

This is a disappointing decision on so many levels:

1. With Scotland coming into line it is now a question of when, not if, England does the same.

2. Terrible news for out of town / rural pubs and the brewery industry.

3. I'd like to think British people are more sensible that the rest of the world - more tolerant on race, we queue, we give to charity and give a sh1t about our fellow man therefore we're more predisposed to 'self-regulate' our drinking. We hear a lot about "British values" whereas increasingly the distinctions between countries are being lost.

4. If you can't safely drink a pint then we're probably halfway to losing the pint altogether and getting it replaced with the smaller half-litre. Smartarse brewers will probably come up with the litre glass - like the German stein - prompting even more pissed up people in our town centres.

 

[Notters]

This is a disappointing decision on so many levels:

1. With Scotland coming into line it is now a question of when, not if, England does the same.

2. Terrible news for out of town / rural pubs and the brewery industry.

3. I'd like to think British people are more sensible that the rest of the world - more tolerant on race, we queue, we give to charity and give a sh1t about our fellow man therefore we're more predisposed to 'self-regulate' our drinking. We hear a lot about "British values" whereas increasingly the distinctions between countries are being lost.

4. If you can't safely drink a pint then we're probably halfway to losing the pint altogether and getting it replaced with the smaller half-litre. Smartarse brewers will probably come up with the litre glass - like the German stein - prompting even more pissed up people in our town centres.

That's another thing, we ARE the safest drivers in the world.

 

[Chinman3000]

I heard one response this morning which went along the lines of "you shouldn't try and work out want you can drink to still be legally allowed drive rather that you should think about the life of someone you could kill by drinking and getting behind the wheel" . A bit deep I guess but never the less still worthy of thinking about.

What a load of bullshit. Live you life by "think of it like this" and you will die a very boring and sad person - thought admittedly probably at the end of your natural life.

If I was in charge I'd do a sliding scale based on how long you've had a license. 0-5 years = zero tolerence and as low as the limit would go. Over 5 years make it enough to allow 2 pints of stella. If you have an accident that's your fault, if you injure someone or get caught speeding while over the limit then it's an instant prison sentence.

This - but not the speeding part the injure or crash part.

Jesus, did I just partially agree with Billy the Fish?

 

[Goldstone_groover]

I don't drink drive on less than four pints so this ruling wouldn't affect me if it came in down South.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Two things that are guaranteed:

1. It WILL go down from 80 to 50 in the next couple of years.
2. The EU are all over this. Further EU pressure will mean even 50 will be deemed unacceptable within 5 years. In 10 years we'll be on 30 if we're lucky. A swift half-litre and that's your lot!

 

[Billy the Fish]

Jesus, did I just partially agree with Billy the Fish?

First step on the path of enlightenment

 

[Goldstone_groover]

It's the day after heavy sessions where these minuscule limits become an issue. Virtually anyone who has had a night out will be over if you drop them to 30. I have been breathalysed after six pints and passed so I wouldn't be worried but I would sympathise with Joe Bloggs who did the right thing the night before but gets nicked on the way to work the following morning.

 

[BensGrandad]

The drink drive laws are the biggest anomoly in the legal system because nobody police, lawyers,doctors or drivers are able to give a difinitve limit as to how many drinks are persom can have and remain under the legal limit. It varies person to person so for this reason the limit should be zero that way everybody knows if they have had 1 drink they shouldnt drive as they are over the permitted limit.

 

[Goldstone_groover]

You won't say that after you lose your licence from being over just from gargling mouthwash before you head to work.

 

[arfer guinness]

The drink drive laws are the biggest anomoly in the legal system because nobody police, lawyers,doctors or drivers are able to give a difinitve limit as to how many drinks are persom can have and remain under the legal limit. It varies person to person so for this reason the limit should be zero that way everybody knows if they have had 1 drink they shouldnt drive as they are over the permitted limit.

So with a zero limit how long after having that 1 drink will it be out of your system so you can drive again?

 

[BensGrandad]

You won't say that after you lose your licence from being over just from gargling mouthwash before you head to work.

That would never happen you will not fail a breatherlyser on anything alcohol related lke mouthwash cooking in wine etc.
To answer arfer guinness assuming your user name is apt, the police reckon they can calculate back to when and what or rather how much was drunk and when so in consultation with doctors they would be able and have to give a statutory time limit in law eg 4 hours or whatever after the last drink. If you steal from a shop you know you have done it, after drinking 1 or 2 pints of guinness you do not know whether you are ok to drive home or not, although you will probably feel ok, with a zero limit you would.

I could never understand people who went to a pub to play darts or pool etc and had to 1 drink then drank coke or drank coke all night then had 1 lager before going home why?

 

[Goldstone_groover]

That would never happen you will not fail a breatherlyser on anything alcohol related lke mouthwash cooking in wine etc.
To answer arfer guinness assuming your user name is apt, the police reckon they can calculate back to when and what or rather how much was drunk and when so in consultation with doctors they would be able and have to give a statutory time limit in law eg 4 hours or whatever after the last drink. If you steal from a shop you know you have done it, after drinking 1 or 2 pints of guinness you do not know whether you are ok to drive home or not, although you will probably feel ok, with a zero limit you would.

I could never understand people who went to a pub to play darts or pool etc and had to 1 drink then drank coke or drank coke all night then had 1 lager before going home why?

So if you ate some chocolate liqueurs they could tell?

 

[BensGrandad]

So if you ate some chocolate liqueurs they could tell?

No you wouldnt fail a test on those so I was told when a publican. It has to be an alcoholic drink or obviously neat alcohol.

 

[Notters]

No you wouldnt fail a test on those so I was told when a publican. It has to be an alcoholic drink or obviously neat alcohol.

Hmm, not sure about that. What about a tirimisu?