Drink Driving

Cantona's Collars · 30-07-2016 12:20AM

Maybe it is the times I drive at but I meet more gobshites staring at phones while driving than those who have obviously been drinking.It is no surprise that so many of these fatal accidents have been head on collisions when people feel the need to read a text or tweet and reply to same is more important than looking at the bloody road ahead.

petrolcan · 30-07-2016 12:32AM

pablo128 wrote: »

Got it now.
http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/two-young-men-killed-head-8505788

Appreciate the link.

However, the suspicion is just that. There seems to be no official statement to back it up.

pablo128 · 30-07-2016 12:36AM

petrolcan wrote: »

Appreciate the link.

However, the suspicion is just that. There seems to be no official statement to back it up.

It was 48 hours ago! Give them a chance.

petrolcan · 30-07-2016 12:41AM

pablo128 wrote: »

It was 48 hours ago! Give them a chance.

It was more a dig at the publication.

Your Face · 30-07-2016 12:42AM

Jesus Christ I love drinking.

Pinch Flat · 30-07-2016 12:47AM

What scares me is that the RSA report that in the order of 150 to 180 people a week are caught drink driving.

I've been driving back here since 2000 since in moves back from the uk, drove from 1987 to 1995. In all that time, I've been breath tested once. Had a few random stops for tax insurance etc, so perhaps if I had a few sherbets on board I could have fallen foul of the law.

Given that alcohol is a factor in 38% of road fatalities here, I think we have a massive drink driving problem.

Minderbinder · 30-07-2016 12:52AM

murpho999 wrote: »

You think you're ok with three or four pints to drive, but do you actually do that?

I have done it on a cold winter's night. Long way to walk in the countryside. And plenty of folks happy for the lift too.

stampydmonkey · 30-07-2016 01:00AM

May have done it once a long long time ago...the fact I'm not sure scares me so much...not a chance I'd put myself in a position anymore so that it's even a possibility. A few at work do it from time to time....have no time for these muppets no matter the excuse...please call in sick before risking other people lives

bigroad · 30-07-2016 01:11AM

Look at the MAT checkpoints a joke,most people with 80 percent sight can see them a mile away and just turn off to another road.
Are these checkpoints just set up for the pr stunt,i think so.
We checked 750 drivers and got one .
I know many places they could check 10 drivers and get 8.
Its just a media stunt and nothing to do with catching drink drivers.

Atlantic Dawn · 30-07-2016 01:16AM

The Gardaí need to introduce more stats in to crashes, they have improved but need more detail...

Phone of driver, active text/call in 15 minutes pre crash
Tyres on car, were they bald or legal
Was the car road legal with tax, nct and insurance.
Did the car have any defects
How many people on the same road died in the last 10 years

bigroad · 30-07-2016 01:22AM

Thats too much work for the Rsa ,lazy pizzants .

Turtyturd · 30-07-2016 01:28AM

Have never done it. But it's easy to see why some do when the risk of getting caught is so low. I don't think I have ever come across a checkpoint outside of bank holidays or in the run up to Christmas, and even then I know they will either be along the quays, at Heuston Station, or on the Naas Road just before the Long Mile Roundabout so all easily avoidable if I wanted to.

TheQuietFella · 30-07-2016 01:36AM

risteard7 wrote: »

I think mobile phone use is a much bigger problem than drink driving.

I had a lady who pulled up on the N2 to use or answer her phone.

Not much room on the left to pull in either and I was travelling

at speed albeit a legal one!

pablo128 · 30-07-2016 01:45AM

TheQuietFella wrote: »

I had a lady who pulled up on the N2 to use or answer her phone.

Not much room on the left to pull in either and I was travelling

at speed albeit a legal one!

Yeah, but that exact scenario would occur too if she simply broke down, or did she slam on the brakes?

worded · 30-07-2016 01:57AM

People often forget to drink and drive, you need a car

VincePP · 30-07-2016 08:44AM

petrolcan wrote: »

Appreciate the link.

However, the suspicion is just that. There seems to be no official statement to back it up.

They're dead - so there'll hardly be an investigation and trial and unlikely they will be applying for bail.

VincePP · 30-07-2016 08:48AM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

The Gardaí need to introduce more stats in to crashes, they have improved but need more detail...
Phone of driver, active text/call in 15 minutes pre crash

Tyres on car, were they bald or legal

Was the car road legal with tax, nct and insurance.

Did the car have any defects

How many people on the same road died in the last 10 years

They get all of these but if the person is dead they tend to respect the family as is the norm in most countries.
You do hear it sometimes when an inquest is held.

I think Australia and new Zealand are exceptions and publish if alcohol or drugs were involved.

shamrock2004 · 30-07-2016 09:26AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

the social opprobrium

Wha?!

TheQuietFella · 30-07-2016 10:33AM

pablo128 wrote: »

Yeah, but that exact scenario would occur too if she simply broke down, or did she slam on the brakes?

She simply pulled up in emergency style as if the call couldn't wait!!!

ItsLikeThis · 30-07-2016 11:08PM

I have been driving 11 years, I do a lot of driving all around Donegal and regularly drive on nights out (sober). In those 11 years I've been breathalysed once. Just not good enough. Fair enough I see a few speed guns/gosafe vans around but cars need to be stopped and looked at and drivers tested for alcohol/drugs. The level of driving in Letterkenny itself is very poor.

andekwarhola · 30-07-2016 11:14PM

I've been driving about 15 years here, mostly Dublin. I've been breathalyzed about 5 or 6 times but bizarrely they were all in a single year (around 6 or 7 years ago) , but never before or since.

andekwarhola · 30-07-2016 11:25PM

shamrock2004 wrote: »

Wha?!

The societal obloquy or egregious bellicosity shown to miscreants that overdo the imbibing of social tinctures prior to perambulating in their motor vehicle.

Burial. · 30-07-2016 11:31PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

The Gardaí need to introduce more stats in to crashes, they have improved but need more detail...
Phone of driver, active text/call in 15 minutes pre crash

Tyres on car, were they bald or legal

Was the car road legal with tax, nct and insurance.

Did the car have any defects

How many people on the same road died in the last 10 years

It's all well and good looking at the phone but what about the decent people who actually stop to make a phonecall. How do you exclude them from this process? You can't.

foggy_lad · 30-07-2016 11:37PM

Pinch Flat wrote: »

What scares me is that the RSA report that in the order of 150 to 180 people a week are caught drink driving.

I've been driving back here since 2000 since in moves back from the uk, drove from 1987 to 1995. In all that time, I've been breath tested once. Had a few random stops for tax insurance etc, so perhaps if I had a few sherbets on board I could have fallen foul of the law.

Given that alcohol is a factor in 38% of road fatalities here, I think we have a massive drink driving problem.

Lies and more lies, they say that so many are caught for drink driving but the reality is that figure covers the number who are breathalysed and show a positive result who are then arrested on suspicion of DD who have to give another breath sample or a blood/urine sample and only when these are tested will the drivers be "caught"!

Also in rural areas most tests are carried out using the older breathalysers and the Gardai then have to get a blood or urine sample to prove guilt.

RSA are just another useless money-grabbing Quango

30-07-2016 11:40PM

Burial. wrote: »

It's all well and good looking at the phone but what about the decent people who actually stop to make a phonecall. How do you exclude them from this process? You can't.

The question is, was the phone in use at the time of the crash?
Even hands free are a major distraction while driving (like talking to the wife!).

Burial. · 30-07-2016 11:44PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The question is, was the phone in use at the time of the crash?
Even hands free are a major distraction while driving (like talking to the wife!).

Well then that's another matter. If they can prove that then you're onto a winner. But by having a proposed window of 15 mins as stated above, it is impossible to differentiate between idiots texting in between traffic lights or while driving and those who stop to use it in the same time frame. Then again, if a crash is fatal it's more than likely the phone is completely mangled and are they going to try and recover a tiny SIM card from all the carnage? I doubt it.

30-07-2016 11:56PM

Burial. wrote: »

Well then that's another matter. If they can prove that then you're onto a winner. But by having a proposed window of 15 mins as stated above, it is impossible to differentiate between idiots texting in between traffic lights or while driving and those who stop to use it in the same time frame. Then again, if a crash is fatal it's more than likely the phone is completely mangled and are they going to try and recover a tiny SIM card from all the carnage? I doubt it.

The phone provider will have the records, no need to find the physical phone, just find the number & service provider.

Burial. · 31-07-2016 12:03AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The phone provider will have the records, no need to find the physical phone, just find the number & service provider.

Never even thought of that

And there I was calling people using phones while driving idiots :rolleyes:

Mountainsandh · 31-07-2016 12:08AM

VincePP wrote: »

They get all of these but if the person is dead they tend to respect the family as is the norm in most countries.
You do hear it sometimes when an inquest is held.

I think Australia and new Zealand are exceptions and publish if alcohol or drugs were involved.

I think this is a bit of an issue, and a serious hampering factor in preventing more accidents.

I know in France they give a lot more details in the media, and I feel this helps anchor the reality of consequences to a behaviour, ie speeding in the rain, drink driving, drug driving, breaching the rules of the road ... The exact circumstances of the accident are often described. I don't think it's a voyeuristic motive, more that it helps to understand that if you speed on a particular bend, or stretch of road, you are at risk of becoming airborne like another car previously has in this very spot.
Even a youngster will be very likely to remember that, 2 weeks ago, a speeding car went into a spin at a particular spot, and same youngster might just decide that yeah, that spot is lethal and they'll slow down there in the future.

I believe that the mystery surrounding the reports of car crashes on the news (of how exatcly crash happened) is more a disservice to road safety than transparency about crashes.

I understand the concern and care for the families, but imo most families would have no objection to details being released if it means another (perhaps young) life may be saved.

edit : to answer OP, I never drink and drive, but I did it once when put under pressure by people who wanted a lift years ago, and am horrified at doing it. Was very lucky nothing happened.

Snickers Man · 01-08-2016 08:47AM

I happily and unapologetically drink alcohol and drive. Frequently.

Never when over the limit though. Always within the law and so I am careful to watch my intake. Two will do.

Drink Driving

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