Drinkers, be careful on the roads from now on.

meditraitor

Obviously be carefull all the time but from this week onwards the alcohol legal limit is being reduced to near 0.

This effectively means that if you have a bottle of wine(8 units), hit the hay at Midnight and are out in your car before 8am you could in all likelyhood be over the limit,

Fine and a ban to follow if caught.

And if you forget to carry your license you will also face a lower limit check,


On a lighter note, when I cut and paste this from the sindo, the highlighted add gave me a giggle, bloody interweb knows what your thinkin.

Drink-drive limit drops this week
Hundreds of checkpoints as level falls below 'just one pint'

Convicted Drivers Quotes
Low-Cost Car Insurance For Drivers With Convictions. Apply Online Now!

BeWiser.co.uk/Convicted-Drivers

Monday October 24 2011

MOTORISTS finally face new lower drink-drive limits from Thursday night, the Irish Independent has learned.

The new breath test limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood -- down from the current 80mg -- is equivalent to drinking less than one pint of beer.

There will also be a virtual 'zero tolerance' limit of 20mg for learner and professional drivers.

The new limits are being made legal from midnight on Thursday.

Gardai are to mount hundreds of mandatory alcohol tests (MAT) checkpoints nationwide over the October bank holiday weekend to enforce the new lower limits.

The new three-tier drink driving regime involves a controversial 'second chance' for those who are just over the limit.

Under the current system, all drink drivers are prosecuted in court -- and banned for 12 months if convicted.

Gardai now have powers allowing them to impose three penalty points and an on-the-spot fine of €200 for motorists caught slightly above the new legal limit of 50mg.

This will replace the current automatic court appearance and disqualification for one year, while these drivers will also escape a drink-driving conviction. However, drivers will be legally obliged to notify their insurance companies when renewing their premiums.

Motorists will only be allowed to use this lower penalty regime once in a three-year period. If caught a second time, they will go to court.

Drivers found with between 80mg and 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood will be served with a fixed-charge notice of €400 and will be disqualified from driving for six months, instead of the current 12 months imposed by courts. They will also have a conviction recorded against them.

Drivers who test above the 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood cannot avail of the fixed-charge option and must appear in court. A minimum ban of one year, and possible fines of up to €5,000, can be imposed.

The number of drivers being prosecuted for drink driving is steadily falling.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said this bank holiday weekend was regarded as a pivotal event every year for road safety, given the tragic legacy of crashes in previous years.

While last year was the safest year on the roads since 1959, with 212 people killed, October was by far the worst month with 36 fatalities.

- Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

orourkeda

OP giving drink drivers the heads up shocker

Dravokivich

From now on...

...as opposed to before?

KTRIC

Damn, no more drink driving for me

I feel really hard done by, surely they can't get away with this :rolleyes:

starbelgrade

Never drink & drive.

You might spill some.

stovelid

meditraitor wrote: »

This effectively means that if you have a bottle of wine(8 units),

What's this in non-gay alcohol units?

Wertz

Something I haven't seen clarified on this...if you get stopped and blow above the new limit but below the old one and gte the 200 quid fine/3 points...do you just get to drive off down the road or are you arrested and car taken back to station?

Up until now under the old limit system, you could drive on (since you hadn't broken a law), and not get fine/points and if above the old limit arrested and car taken back to station.
So this week those people weren't really a danger...and next week they sort of are, especially if they do it more than once :rolleyes: More revenue collection without the costly court process.

Anyway the people above the old or new legal limits aren't the problem...it's the people 2 and 3 times above the limit that are the real danger and from what I've seen in my area, random test checkpoints are almost non existent.
the law was fine as it was...the enforcment was the problem...this is us just playing at being good EU citizens.

BTW I don't drink before anyone accuses me of defending drink driving...

4leto

So if you are driving to work the next morning its ballygowan another nail in the coffin of the pub trade.

I have never drank and drove, BUT I would say I was over the limit when I drove the morning after. I don't think on those mornings my driving was any less safer then normal. But I have heard those arguments years ago when most drank and drove, "I am a safer driver with drink I am more careful".

I personally think 50mg is to low, jaysus a portion of sherry trifle might send you over. But that's just me.

orourkeda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_53g9m0hVQ

robbie_998

why are there more motor threads showing up in AH ?

Mena

robbie_998 wrote: »

why are there more motor threads showing up in AH ?

Because that's where the OP posted it

Wattle

Sure lads its grand if there's a drink driving checkpoint up ahead some friendly driver coming the other way will flash his lights to warn you.

SEPT 23 1989

I will have to change my blood before i leave for work

Tea_Bag

I can't believe its still a pint though.

virtually zero isn't zero at all. If you consume a pint, you don't drive for at least an hour or 2, simple as.

seamus

Wertz wrote: »

Something I haven't seen clarified on this...if you get stopped and blow above the new limit but below the old one and gte the 200 quid fine/3 points...do you just get to drive off down the road or are you arrested and car taken back to station?

No, it always involves an arrest and a check down the station.

The media report is incorrect, it's not an on-the-spot fine, it's a fixed penalty notice.

It's actually a lot simpler. Between 50mg and 80mg, you get a fine and 3 points.

Between 80mg and 100mg, you get a fine and a 6 month disqualification.

The idea behind the fine + 3 points is to serve as a warning. You can only get this once in 3 years. Certainly if it happened to me, I would be counting my lucky stars and I wouldn't bloody dare even nearly drive after drinking again.

Wertz

Which begs the question: how do you "admit" to being above a limit. You can admit to having had a drink or drinks, but the limit is a measurement. Unless you mean a garda has you blow in the bag, it registers a preliminiary reading above the new limit and you agree with that rather than the evidential intoxilyser (sp?) back at the station... kind of like contesting a speeding fine in court.

Of course it makes no sense that if someone is over a limit that they can't just be allowed to drive on (they're now a danger apparently)...that's just the way it's coming across in anything I've read so far.
So if you admit to being over the 50mg, it's fine at the side of the road and drive on (but only once every 3 yrs)...or fine at the side of the road fixed penalty notice, leave the car there and get a taxi home...
Confusion reigns. Might be one to ask over in the ES forums...

[edit] Sorry missed your second post. Always an arrest.

This now increases workload on gardaí, since detection rates will be higher and arrest rate higher (for a while at least) this removes gardai from the roads for other things whilst they deal with the detainee.

seamus

Sorry Wertz, I was totally wrong, I've changed my post

Once you're over the limit, you're down the station.

Lord Derpington

stovelid wrote: »

What's this in non-gay alcohol units?

4 cans @4.2% or 3 cans @5%

mikom

seamus wrote: »

The idea behind the fine + 3 points is to serve as a warning.

Handy old money racket too.....

seamus

A €200 fine wouldn't cover the Gardai's time and cost in dealing with the offence.

All the claims of "money generating" are nonsense. Fixed penalty notices don't bring in very much money in the overall scheme of things.

mikom

seamus wrote: »

A €200 fine wouldn't cover the Gardai's time and cost in dealing with the offence.

It will bring in more than it did before the changes to the law.
That's the difference.

mconigol

People need to start drinking lower alcohol content drinks so....

sdanseo

It's this simple:

If you drink, even a thimbleful, don't drive.

Stick to that and you can't go wrong. ZERO sympathy for anyone stung the next day.

robbie_998

sdeire wrote: »

It's this simple:

If you drink, even a thimbleful, don't drive.

Stick to that and you can't go wrong. ZERO sympathy for anyone stung the next day.

i agree completely


i've gotten the bus to work and what not a few times cos i had a few the night before..... didnt bother me in the slightest.

didnt mind leaving the vehicle at home at all regardless of how long it took me to get to work.

people need to grow up.

ziggyman17

A guy I know works as a van driver for a well known delivery company.. About 8 months ago he got caught well over the limit.. Was arrested and was given a blood test at the station by a doctor.. He got a letter in the post saying he was over the legal limit, but as of yet he has'nt been brought to court, does anyone know if there is a backlog of these such cases ??

Helix

can we change the thread title to "drivers, don't fcuking drink when you're driving, even if you're driving the next day, or you run a good chance of rightfully losing your license"

Mongarra

That's ok if you have a bus service or taxi available. Not practical in most parts of country. Just have to lay off. Is that really such a problem for people?

Helix

Mongarra wrote: »

That's ok if you have a bus service or taxi available. Not practical in most parts of country. Just have to lay off. Is that really such a problem for people?

apparently, according to the reactions of some when this topic comes up, it's physically impossible not to drink. and it's their right to drink and drive if there's not a taxi around

obviously they're being forced to drink by the very government who is putting these new rules in place, so it's all a scam

heaven forbid they don't drink when they're not able to get home without driving. or even worse, that they aren't able to use the car til the middle of the next day after a big session

here's an idea for them; don't go on stupid sessions drinking your bodyweight in bloody booze

Oranage2

I've drove home drunk the odd time and if anything I'm a better driver -


We should do something similar to Germany were you are only held responsible for drink driving if you're in a crash (at a certain blood alcohol level)

We should really be teaching responsible drink driving.

Mongarra

robbie_998 wrote: »

i agree completely


i've gotten the bus to work and what not a few times cos i had a few the night before..... didnt bother me in the slightest.

didnt mind leaving the vehicle at home at all regardless of how long it took me to get to work.

people need to grow up.

Sorry, forgot quote from robbie_998

Helix

Oranage2 wrote: »

I've drove home drunk the odd time and if anything I'm a better driver moron who deserves to be in a smash with a tree, rather than injuring someone innocent

fixed

and ill gladly take a ban for it

mconigol

robbie_998 wrote: »

i agree completely


i've gotten the bus to work and what not a few times cos i had a few the night before..... didnt bother me in the slightest.

didnt mind leaving the vehicle at home at all regardless of how long it took me to get to work.

people need to grow up.

Assuming you have a bus service to take.

This is a bit extreme in my view. Next they will have to start fining people who drive on less than 8 hours sleep, have a headache, are stressed out, etc...etc...

Everything that we put into our bodies has an impact on our senses. Everything that occurs in our day to day life has an impact on our senses. Of course everything is relative, not when it comes to alcohol however it seems.

robbie_998

mconigol wrote: »

Assuming you have a bus service to take.

This is a bit extreme in my view. Next they will have to start fining people who drive on less than 8 hours sleep, have a headache, are stressed out, etc...etc...

Everything that we put into our bodies has an impact on our senses. Everything that occurs in our day to day life has an impact on our senses. Of course everything is relative, not when it comes to alcohol however it seems.

the last time i drank a cup of coffee or 10 bars of chocolate or even ate a sunday dinner, it didn't impair my driving.

the last time i drank a few bottles of kopperberg i got rather tipsy and could bearly stand up straight, never mind compose the logic to drive a car.

Helix

mconigol wrote: »

Assuming you have a bus service to take.

This is a bit extreme in my view. Next they will have to start fining people who drive on less than 8 hours sleep, have a headache, are stressed out, etc...etc...

Everything that we put into our bodies has an impact on our senses. Everything that occurs in our day to day life has an impact on our senses. Of course everything is relative, not when it comes to alcohol however it seems.

If you dont have a bus service to take dont ****ing drink

mconigol

robbie_998 wrote: »

the last time i drank a cup of coffee or 10 bars of chocolate or even ate a sunday dinner, it didn't impair my driving.

the last time i drank a few bottles of kopperberg i got rather tipsy and could bearly stand up straight, never mind compose the logic to drive a car.

The argument for these new limits is not that you are hammered out of your mind, or even tipsy after a few drinks. It's to do with the trace levels of alcohol in your system the next morning. My point is that all these things are relative.

Having a drink and driving 30 minutes later is different to having a drink and driving 90 minutes later etc.etc...

mconigol

Helix wrote: »

If you dont have a bus service to take dont ****ing drink

It's not as black and white as this which I'm sure you realise (hopefully).

I'd like to see the statistical analysis that has been done to justify introducing these rules.

For example what is the chance of someone living in a built up area having an accident causing a fatality compared to someone living in a rural area with a lower population.

Then what is the chances for the same people 8 hours after having a drink etc...

Helix

it IS black and white because it's a law, and that's how they need to be. if you're going to be driving, don't drink. nobody is forcing you to drink. you don't need to drink. it's not a necessity of life. if you're driving, don't drink. then you know you're not going to get done with this law. it's very, very easy

robbie_998

mconigol wrote: »

The argument for these new limits is not that you are hammered out of your mind, or even tipsy after a few drinks. It's to do with the trace levels of alcohol in your system the next morning. My point is that all these things are relative.

Having a drink and driving 30 minutes later is different to having a drink and driving 90 minutes later etc.etc...

but sure could you not say its different per person ?


like my dad could drink me under the table with umpteen amount of pints where as i'd struggle with 5 ?

where as if i drank just 1 i would say myself no way in hell am i driving because i wouldnt have the mental ability to do it, but if my dad was still ok after 2 - 3 he could jump into a car and be gone no bother on him.

so the point is here that it doesnt matter who you are or how well you can drink , you shouldnt at all if your gonna drive because everyone is different !

hell even the smell of kopperberg gets me going !

mikom

Go easy on the morning swig and swirl of mouthwash folks.
It could end up costing you €200.

meditraitor

mikom wrote: »

Go easy on the morning swig and swirl of mouthwash folks.
It could end up costing you €200.

I wondered about that, what are the chances, anyone done/published any research on this?

seamus

meditraitor wrote: »

I wondered about that, what are the chances, anyone done/published any research on this?

Figures usually given are that it takes 15-20 minutes for the alcohol in mouthwash to evaporate from your mouth below detectable levels. The real issue is that the alcohol while in your mouth is purer than it would usually be, hence the detectability of it.

Since it's not an on-the-spot fine though, the result still has to be confirmed at a Garda station. The time between your first test and any test in the Garda station is likely to be well over 20 minutes, so you will turn up negative.

In reality if you tell a Garda that you've used mouthwash and you don't appear to be drunk, they will probably wait at the side of the road with you for 15/20 minutes and then test you again using the breathalyser. That's easier for them than hauling you into the station for a false positive.

It's something which does happen, but I've never actually heard of anyone being charged or seriously inconvenienced by it. Unless you gargle immediately before leaving the house and you're unlucky enough to encounter a checkpoint around the corner from your house, you're unlikely to fall foul of it. It's worth considering that if you are tested immediately after using mouthwash, it will come up abnormally high. You will show as being so drunk that you should be braindead, yet you're talking away to the Garda, so he'll know that there's something very odd going.

You will never be convicted on the strength of it as a blood or urine test will come up negative.

Reg'stoy

meditraitor wrote: »

I wondered about that, what are the chances, anyone done/published any research on this?

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mouthwash-could-put-motorists-over-drinkdrive-limit-1206641.htm

They neglect to mention that they carried out the breath test directly after you have gargled so in reality you can't get done or can you.........

Excuse me sir I have reason to believe you have drink taken

Driver hold ups finger gesturing to Garda before spitting out window

I'm sure that will wash out Guard, now what were you saying

Jesus Wept

It's a step backwards.

seamus

Reg'stoy wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mouthwash-could-put-motorists-over-drinkdrive-limit-1206641.htm

The tests showed that an individual who recorded a reading of .00 per cent subsequently recorded a reading four times over the legal alcohol limit after gargling 20 millilitres of Listerine mouthwash for 30 seconds in accordance with directions on the label

Just for reference, four times the legal limit at that time would be .32. That's lying on the floor sh1tting your pants and foaming at the mouth territory.

No Garda would haul someone in if they tested at this level and were even remotely sober-looking.

Laisurg

What's the point in reducing the limit from 80-50mg

Not like it's a huge difference anyway.

TwoShedsJackson

Laisurg wrote: »

What's the point in reducing the limit from 80-50mg

Not like it's a huge difference anyway.

At the possible risk of stating the blindingly obvious, it's so there'll be fewer people driving whilst having recently taken an intoxicating substance.

Laisurg

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

At the possible risk of stating the blindingly obvious, it's so there'll be fewer people driving whilst having recently taken an intoxicating substance.

An average size man can still have a pint, so Mr Clever what's the point?

Helix

Helix wrote: »

it IS black and white because it's a law, and that's how they need to be. if you're going to be driving, don't drink. nobody is forcing you to drink. you don't need to drink. it's not a necessity of life. if you're driving, don't drink. then you know you're not going to get done with this law. it's very, very easy

Yes but a lot of people want to have a few drinks of an evening and want to drive to work the next day and now its even riskier for these people. I would wager the number of crashes caused in the morning by people at or a bit over the limit from the night before is almost non existent.

Its more nanny state rubbish, the limit was fine as it was. The limit was just over a pint as it was anyone who thinks people at the old limits or with 2 or 3 pints drank are causing crashes on the roads are deluded. Its people driving who can hardly walk that are the danger on the roads.

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

At the possible risk of stating the blindingly obvious, it's so there'll be fewer people driving whilst having recently taken an intoxicating substance.

Whats the point though, 80mg makes no difference to your ability to drive. Its a lot safer than driving while tired, a thing that happens everyday up and down the country and will continue as people dont see it as dangerous.

mconigol

Helix wrote: »

it IS black and white because it's a law, and that's how they need to be. if you're going to be driving, don't drink. nobody is forcing you to drink. you don't need to drink. it's not a necessity of life. if you're driving, don't drink. then you know you're not going to get done with this law. it's very, very easy

Don`t be so silly, just because its the law doesn`t mean it`s right or I haven`t got the right to question it.

robbie_998 wrote: »

but sure could you not say its different per person ?


like my dad could drink me under the table with umpteen amount of pints where as i'd struggle with 5 ?

where as if i drank just 1 i would say myself no way in hell am i driving because i wouldnt have the mental ability to do it, but if my dad was still ok after 2 - 3 he could jump into a car and be gone no bother on him.

so the point is here that it doesnt matter who you are or how well you can drink , you shouldnt at all if your gonna drive because everyone is different !

hell even the smell of kopperberg gets me going !

But that`s kinda my point, different people are affected differently by different substances as well as other things. Where is the information to back up the reasons behind these rules?

mikom

Helix wrote: »

it IS black and white because it's a law, and that's how they need to be.

*Clicks heels*

Bruthal

seamus wrote: »

Unless you gargle immediately before leaving the house

Not too many will be on the gargle just before work:pac: