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Attitudes to drink driving

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Comments

  • #182
    Azalea
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,796 ✭✭✭Azalea


    To be honest, I think maybe some people (not me) would be ok to drive after one pint, possibly two pints - downed slowly in both cases. But I still wouldn't see the point in just having one or two pints when you aren't getting to enjoy the sensation and relax, so it would make more sense, in my opinion, just to drink a non alcoholic drink or two if you're driving. I'm not saying everyone *should* do that, it's just my opinion.


  • #183
    MarkAnthony
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭MarkAnthony


    A great example of the attitude of driving the day after going on the Dublin City forum. People are less on their guard because it's not a thread on drink driving per se. Fecking scary to be honest.

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=97791766#post97791766


  • #184
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 24,773 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Azalea wrote: »
    To be honest, I think maybe some people (not me) would be ok to drive after one pint, possibly two pints - downed slowly in both cases. But I still wouldn't see the point in just having one or two pints when you aren't getting to enjoy the sensation and relax, so it would make more sense, in my opinion, just to drink a non alcoholic drink or two if you're driving. I'm not saying everyone *should* do that, it's just my opinion.

    Well one good example is the one I gave earlier. Two pints or so at a pit stop point on the way to a wedding say. It won't be just one it two as you will be drinking later too just getting started.

    That said having one or two on the way home from work to unwind and have a chat in the local is not something that can't be enjoyed.


  • #185
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    Would never drive after more than 1 drink myself and even then I never drive in a built up area or a main road.

    However I do think there is a level of hysteria surrounding drink driving. Especially when people start calling for introduction of a zero level legal limit. There doesn't seem to be any evidence to suggest that driving with a BAC of less than 0.05 (the current legal limit) increases the risk of accident at all. It seems like the current limit has been well thought out and has the facts to back it up. But reducing it further, or demonising people who drive after alcohol but below the legal limit ( so 1 beer per hour i guess for most people) - there's no basis for that in fact.

    I'm looking at this paper by the way for the stats on this.

    http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/T95/paper/s9p2.html


  • #186
    Snickers Man
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,302 ✭✭✭Snickers Man


    Here's a poster that might bring a smile, or alternatively cause an attack of apoplexy. :D:D
    It purports to be an advertisement poster from 1972 but I don't remember it myself. I DO remember adverts from round about then advising no more than two pints before driving but hey, maybe it's genuine.


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  • #187
    Snickers Man
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,302 ✭✭✭Snickers Man


    Tasden wrote: »
    But you appear to have your mind made up that I have some sort of drinking problem so wtf would i know about responsible alcohol consumption :pac:

    I don't know how you inferred that I thought you had a "drinking problem". I don't. I think you have an attitude problem. But that's an entirely different matter. :D


  • #188
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 11,734 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Beau Unkempt Package wrote: »
    Well one good example is the one I gave earlier. Two pints or so at a pit stop point on the way to a wedding say. It won't be just one it two as you will be drinking later too just getting started

    Two maybe, but you said a few! I was down your way at the weekend Nox, and the majority of people must have been half cut from the night before or everyone was going to a wedding. The standard of driving is atrocious, I'm beginning to see why people urge caution when they see a G reg.


  • #189
    Rym Shanley
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 94 ✭✭Rym Shanley


    The main reason why people continue to drink and drive

    - Because they know a sizeable minority do it and continually don't 1) get stopped by the Gardai and 2) don't have an accident.

    Basically the chances of either happening are relatively small so that is why they persist.


  • #190
    pappyodaniel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,923 ✭✭✭pappyodaniel


    Have all the yes votes on the poll been made by members of the Healy-Rae clan?


  • #191
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    No. It's quite safe to drive after consuming alcohol once you are below the legal limit. The bac legal limit is not some number plucked from the sky, but has been carefully chosen on the basis of statistical evidence. Those who consume alcohol and drive while being careful to stay below that limit are not endangering anyone. Demonisng them is unfair....A sort of group think road safety hysteria if you will.


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  • #192
    pappyodaniel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,923 ✭✭✭pappyodaniel


    HIB wrote: »
    No. It's quite safe to drive after consuming alcohol once you are below the legal limit. The bac legal limit is not some number plucked from the sky, but has been carefully chosen on the basis of statistical evidence. Those who consume alcohol and drive while being careful to stay below that limit are not endangering anyone. Demonisng them is unfair....A sort of group think road safety hysteria if you will.

    Is that you Danny Healy Rae?


  • #193
    alan partridge aha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,406 ✭✭✭alan partridge aha


    pappyodaniel wrote: »
    Is that you Danny Healy Rae?

    If you are below the limit there is no issue fact.


  • #194
    pappyodaniel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,923 ✭✭✭pappyodaniel


    alan partridge aha wrote: »
    If you are below the limit there is no issue fact.

    It's hard to argue with someone who writes the word 'fact' as the last word in a sentence




    Fact


  • #195
    dreamers75
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,558 ✭✭✭✭dreamers75


    I know people who used to drive to say Cork or Derry have 1 pint before a match and then drive home after, refuse to have that 1 pint now.


  • #196
    scdublin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 643 ✭✭✭scdublin


    From my experience, it's the older generation who seem to find it acceptable. I guess because it wasn't as frowned upon when they were younger so their thoughts on it may be different. I personally wouldn't even have one drink and drive - just not worth the risk to me.


  • #197
    Squidgy Black
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,828 ✭✭✭✭Squidgy Black


    If I've the car with me I won't drink at all, I'm only 20 so it'd just be open to a world of hassle if I got pulled over or stopped at a checkpoint etc.


  • #198
    Wompa1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,360 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    Two maybe, but you said a few! I was down your way at the weekend Nox, and the majority of people must have been half cut from the night before or everyone was going to a wedding. The standard of driving is atrocious, I'm beginning to see why people urge caution when they see a G reg.

    People actually say that!? Didn't know that. In fairness, most people I know in Galway frown upon drink driving these days. My parents use to do it in the 90's, they wouldn't any more. I wonder what it is that changed the attitude. I'm sure they only stopped because everybody else started frowning upon it but what made the collective frown upon it


  • #199
    alan partridge aha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,406 ✭✭✭alan partridge aha


    Wompa1 wrote: »
    People actually say that!? Didn't know that. In fairness, most people I know in Galway frown upon drink driving these days. My parents use to do it in the 90's, they wouldn't any more. I wonder what it is that changed the attitude. I'm sure they only stopped because everybody else started frowning upon it but what made the collective frown upon it

    Most people would drink and drive (3 or 4 drinks) if they knew they wouldn't get caught by the cops IMO. Lower limits and longer bans are the main reason why people don't drink and drive. I personally know plenty of younger people who drive with at least 1 drink taken.


  • #200
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    alan partridge aha wrote: »
    Most people would drink and drive (3 or 4 drinks) if they knew they wouldn't get caught by the cops IMO.

    Some might, but most wouldn't. I bet even with the more lax attitudes back in the day, most people didn't do it.


  • #201
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    Wompa1 wrote: »
    My parents use to do it in the 90's, they wouldn't any more. I wonder what it is that changed the attitude. I'm sure they only stopped because everybody else started frowning upon it but what made the collective frown upon it

    I'd say there's a good few factors at play re the change in attitudes.

    Firstly, we've become a nation of heavy drinkers in the past 20-30 years. If your parents were first going to dances etc in the 60's, 70's, even early 80s, then it was quite common for people not to drink at all or to just drink 1-2 pints before the dance. Add to this the fact they were driving low powered cars on roads with low traffic density, and the frequency of accidents related to drink driving was bound to be very low. So, people didn't see it as a problem. Then, drinking alcohol became a more integral part of people's socialising habits, more people bought cars, roads got busier, cars got faster and accidents related to alcohol increased. So people got more conscious of drink driving as a problem. That explains why as a society we've assessed the risks and established what we believe to be safe limits on alcohol consumption for drivers.

    What it doesn't explain is the result of this poll. Take a look here. https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/world_report/alcohol_en.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwijp4XNtbrJAhXDng4KHTUDBAAQFgghMAE&usg=AFQjCNGS4pG8LnzYRlh9zNtiHlHlIxBapA&sig2=lqSVgVLyMUr9doCJUaBrQw

    This is what the WHO have to say about the matter. .03 bac does not raises your risk of being involved in an accident. For me, and most people thay equates to aboit one bottle of beer consumed over 30-60 mins. And yet, if we were to judge by the results of this poll, the majority of people feel the WHO are wrong. Why do they think this? I reckon it's because if you tell people something is shameful and irresponsible for long enough, they start to believe it. The RAC and others have ratcheted up the debate on drink driving to hysterical illogical, evidentiary bereft levels, and they show no signs of stopping. In my opinion, they ought to start paying more attention to other causes of road deaths, but hell who am I, or the WHO for that matter, to stop the drink driving hysteria juggernaut.


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  • #202
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    HIB wrote: »
    This is what the WHO have to say about the matter. .03 bac does not raises your risk of being involved in an accident. For me, and most people thay equates to aboit one bottle of beer consumed over 30-60 mins. And yet, if we were to judge by the results of this poll, the majority of people feel the WHO are wrong. Why do they think this?

    Because two pints is more than one bottle of beer? More than twice the amount. And that two pints will affect different people differently. The WHO's recommendations match our laws going by that report.


  • #203
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    Tarzana2 wrote: »
    Because two pints is more than one bottle of beer? More than twice the amount. And that two pints will affect different people differently. The WHO's recommendations match our laws going by that report.

    Yeah our law is drawn from the WHO recommendations. And in this poll people were asked, is it ok to drive after alcohol if you are certain you are below the legal (and WHO) recommended limit. And people said no, it is not ok. So they must disagree with the WHO's assessment then, and that of the epidemiologists that they employ.


  • #204
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    Tarzana2 wrote: »
    Because two pints is more than one bottle of beer? More than twice the amount. And that two pints will affect different people differently. The WHO's recommendations match our laws going by that report.

    So just calculating there. For the average weight uk male, two pints consumed over 30 mins each with 15 min break in between is below the legal limit and in line with WHO recommendations.


  • #205
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    HIB wrote: »
    Yeah our law is drawn from the WHO recommendations. And in this poll people were asked, is it ok to drive after alcohol if you are certain you are below the legal (and WHO) recommended limit. And people said no, it is not ok.

    People likely responded that way because usually two pints will put you over the limit unless drank very, very slowly, so someone thinking they are not over the limit isn't much good if they actually are. How can someone be certain they are after the normal few hours in the pub?
    HIB wrote: »
    So just calculating there. For the average weight uk male, two pints consumed over 30 mins each with 15 min break in between is below the legal limit and in line with WHO recommendations.

    Can you show your workings?


  • #206
    thunderdog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,676 ✭✭✭thunderdog


    What would everyone think about making it compulsory to have a breathalyser in your car? I think it is compulsory in France.

    I say this as a friend got done for drink driving for being over the limit the day following a night out. After that I bought a cheap breathalyser on Amazon (about €15), and use it anytime I have had a heavy night out.. Incredible how long sometimes it takes for you to be below the legal limit again but I must admit it does keep you in check before driving off in the morning.


  • #207
    BeardySi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,708 ✭✭✭BeardySi


    Nope, I don't like driving even after one drink unless it's been a couple of hours. I'll cycle with three in me, maybe even 4 if it's something light, but the only person I'm likely to kill that way is myself....


  • #208
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    Tarzana2 wrote: »



    Can you show your workings?

    Widmark formula.
    (0.806 X 3.2 X 1.2) / (0.58 X 83 ) - ( 0.015 X 1.25 ) = 0.045

    Of course all these are estimates. So to be on the safe side maybe 2 pints over 1 1/2 - 2 hours. And change that to bottles or glasses for women.

    So you can have your few drinks safely and drive home afterwards. As long as you are careful. I feel saddened that many older people in rural areas don't seem to be aware of this, and have been so brow beaten by the anti drink driving lobby that they now choose to stay home, alone and isolated instead of getting out on a Friday night for their fwe pints. And for those who say 'why can't they go to the pub and drink orange juice?' - with the greatest respect, you just don't understand older men and their way of life. Asking them to drink orange juice is almost like asking them to walk into the bar and scream 'I'm lonely!! I'm a bachelor and I'm lonely. Please take pity on me.' It's asking too much and that's why they stay at home instead.


  • #209
    HIB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 259 ✭✭HIB


    thunderdog wrote: »
    What would everyone think about making it compulsory to have a breathalyser in your car? I think it is compulsory in France.

    I say this as a friend got done for drink driving for being over the limit the day following a night out. After that I bought a cheap breathalyser on Amazon (about €15), and use it anytime I have had a heavy night out.. Incredible how long sometimes it takes for you to be below the legal limit again but I must admit it does keep you in check before driving off in the morning.

    It's a great idea. It could well reinvigorate rural pubs. People I think would like the reassurance that they are ok to drive after small amounts of drink.

    Are they single use only though?


  • #210
    Gwynplaine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,910 ✭✭✭Gwynplaine


    Was out for a few last Thursday night, drove in to town, said we'd get a taxi home. Anyway, after dinner and a few pints, 2 people we know from down the road came into the pub and they joined us. They're a couple in mid fifties, she's a teacher, he's a retired guard. I wasn't counting or monitoring what they'd drank, but he had 2 pints of Guinness and 3 - 4 glasses of wine, they'd been out for dinner too so probably had a few with the dinner.
    So, as closing time approached, I said to the missus that I'd phone our taximan. The 2 that joined us pipe up with, "sure we've the car, we'll drop you off on our way, sure we pass your place". I politely declined, to which he responds with, "don't worry lad, sure I've only had a few, sure I do it the whole time". I declined again and proceeded to ring our taxi. They weren't impressed at all, I just said I'd prefer a lift home with someone who hasn't been drinking. "Sure it's 15euro for a taxi, are ye mad, sure we're going that way anyway". That's where the conversation ended. Thankfully we don't see them too often.
    The older generation of "aah sure it's grand" will take another while to die out.


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  • #211
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 24,773 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Wouldn't have thought twice about taking the lift, 15 euro more in my back pocket rather than wasting it when you have a lift offered for free. Be the last time I'd be offering you a lift too if I was him.


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