drink driving, would you do it?

Back in the 70's, 80's I regularly got hammered and drove. So did everyone. Even the ad on the TV used to say 'just two will do'. These days you're playing Russian roulette with your license with just one pint on board so I always walk the mile and back to the pub. I couldn't honestly say that I would never drink with a pint in me and drive though.

Driving under the Influence of anything is categorically wrong, but in Ireland it's more complicated than that.

The recent campaigns (last 20 years) against drink driving have made it Taboo, which is great and 90% of people either say they'd never do it or stay quiet, the other 10% are people that don't really care that much, pretty much the same people that are fine with burning tyres in their back yard and dumping all their rubbish at the side of the road for the council to clean up.

IMO a lot of the people that say they would never do it, have done it or did do it and it didn't even register that they had driven under the influence (morning after)

In Ireland we confuse morality with laws a bit too much.

E.G.
1. Driving home after alcohol is completely wrong and is punishable by law.
2. Driving home after donating blood when you are not fit to drive is completely fine by law (as long as you don't commit a driving offence)

Both options are wrong in my opinion but from the General Consensus in Ireland would be that only Option 1 is wrong because it involves Drink Driving which is illegal and option 2 involved donating blood which is a good deed.

Would be better to somehow convey to a person how to ascertain if they are fit to drive rather than them thinking "will I get a fine or banned for doing this"

weldoninhio wrote: »

You are a scumbag. A guy I know got hit by a drunk driver last Xmas and was left for dead. Wasn’t found until the next morning, was in a coma for months then passed away. I pray you, and anyone else that drink drives, hit a wall and suffer for the rest of your days. See how worth it drunk driving is.

Tnks for that very pleasant person you are. So is everybody that drinks and drives a scumbag. If they drink 1 is it ok. Or 2 or 3 where is your cut off point. If it's at 0 then there are alot of scumbags. Think you might have a few problems praying things like that. Kinda feel sorry for you.

TheAnalyst_ wrote: »

Almost certainly under the limit so, yeah you are.

You would be lucky to pass a breath test after 3 pints , of course other factors would come into play like build and length of time the pints were drank in ..

weldoninhio wrote: »

You are a scumbag.

Would you also class a driver texting as a scumbag.?
Its now reckoned to be 20 times more dangerous than drink-driving.

No. Absolutely not and never would. I worked too long and hard and spent too much money to give up my licence over foolishness. If I've had a lot to drink the night before, I don't even drive the next day. Chances are, I would still be over the limit, and it's just not worth it. My husband doesn't drink anyway, so he would do the driving the next day.

Where I come from, if people saw you even try to leave in your car after drinking, the police would be called before you left. That is - if you weren't rugby-tackled to the ground and the keys taken from you first!

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Well - Like I said. I don't drink and drive, so the possibility of killing someone whilst on the sauce would be pretty close to zero. Therefore the licence would be a concern.

jbt123 wrote: »

Curious to know, where are you from? As I can't imagine any country where there this would be a common or frequent response to a person leaving a restaurant after a meal with a glass of wine.

Bit too much hyperbole methinks...

Methinks you're being deliberately obtuse. The last part of my comment was a joke in case you didn't realise. And yes - there are plenty of people where I am from who would call the police as soon as you left. Including me.

No.
I know someone who killed a child when they were drink driving.

Yeah, most fridays have a bottle or two after work and drive or cycle home.
A bottle an hour is fine to stay under the limit.

Never have.

Have driven hungover a few times and am not proud of it.

Kali Quaint Banknote wrote: »

How many people have driven home for work on a long commute wreck tired. Half the journey zoned out and driving on instinct
This is a common occurence yet it has little real affect on motor crash stats
Same is true of driving with few drinks on board
Same is true of drug driving

The real reason road deaths have dropped is better roads and better cars

On the rare occasions that people do have to work past midnight at my workplace (which would mean a 12+ hour working day for them), the company offers to put them up in a nearby hotel. We would know in advance, and I usually arrange for may husband to come pick me up or stay at the hotel.
I have driven once when very tired, and would never ever do it again.

There are laws around how long truck drivers can drive before they have to take a rest, but I can't see a way of getting something sensible in place to identify private individuals doing it. So other than awareness-campaigns, there may be little can be done about that.

I realise I'm going sound very obnoxious and judgemental now, but I really don't get why people are so determined to drink even if they now they will have to drive? Why does it seem such an imposition to just switch to something without alcohol when you've the car parked outside?
You may not always be able to avoid driving when tired, or feeling ill, but you can always avoid drinking when you know you have to drive.