Beyond the limit
“Problem of drink driving highlighted”.
*sigh*
Here we go again.
What problem? Personally I never drink and drive because it’s so damned difficult to steer without spilling the pint. That’s the only problem that I am aware of.
But every year at this time the fussbuckets come crawling out of the wood work to tell us that there is a huge “problem” and that we mustn’t drive under any circumstances if we have had a sniff of a pint in the previous week. Fuck that.
I have been driving [though not non-stop] for the last forty plus years. I know a little bit about the art and what goes on on our roads. I have driven under the influence of everything from drink through smokes to Queen at full volume. Let me tell you that driving with Queen blaring out of the speakers is a lot more dangerous that driving after a few pints.
Another point I would make about those forty years is that I have been involved in many accidents. Some were serious enough for ambulances, and a couple involved the fire brigade. Not one of those accidents was caused by drink. In every single case it was carelessness and stupidity [theirs, not mine].
The problem with these Nannies is they are under the impression that if only we listened to them, all problems would be solved. If everyone stopped smoking, we would all live forever. If we were the ideal weight, we would all live forever. And now if we all forsake drink, there will be no more road accidents.
Bollox.
If they concentrated on removing all the bad drivers – the boy racers, the lunatics in BMWs, the Yummy Mummies in the SUVs – the roads would be a hell of a lot safer for those of us who just wish to go out for a quiet skinfull.
Hey, Mr. Generalisation, I've been a BMW driver for twenty years and never hit anything or anyone yet.
Give it time, NG. Give it time.
Personally I never drink and drive because it’s so damned difficult to steer without spilling the pint.Exactly!. It's the same reason I don't drink and jog – one's bourbon invariably spills, regardless of pace.Smoking while jogging, however, isn't a problem.\Refreshing actually.
Jogging is bad both for the body and for the soul and shouldn't be done under any circumstances. If God had meant us to jog, he wouldn't have given us an arse to sit on.
Grandad,I think maybe you are batting a sticky wicket here (sorry for the use of an "Engish" expression). Drinking (more than say a pint or two) and driving is really not a sensible thing to do. When cars didn't go very fast and there wasn't much traffic on the roads the number of injuries and fatalities weren't that high, but now? If people were sensible drink & drive laws would be unnecessary. Why don't pubs arrange transport home for their clientele?
They say that 25% of all accidents involve alcohol? So presumably 75% of all accidents are caused by sober drivers? Ban the bastards, I say!
Round my neck of the woods bad driving kills more people than drink driving or speedy driving but solving bad driving is nigh on impossible so much better to point the finger at a pair of driving 'problems' that 'cannot be argued against. I think it is very similar to the 'think of the children' syndrome that is so prevalent in public life these days, something else that few people will argue against.
The only way the problem of road deaths could be controlled is with much stricter driver requirements. Imagine if everyone reckoned they had a divine right to fly a plane after only a few hours lessons? The problem is that everyone does think they have a divine right to drive a car.
No I reckon the problem is the test. Over here we are taught to 'pass the test'. As you will be well aware passing a test means absolutely bugger all in the real world. Some clever dick said 'No business plan ever survives first contact with a customer' and the same applies to passing the driving test. Hell even my driving instructor back in 1978 said to me after passing at the second attempt "Now you can learn how to drive"
In one of the nordic countries, Finland I think, the teaching lasts two years and the 'learners' there are taught how to handle 'worst case' driving condirions and what to do when things go wrong. Here you can start learning on Monday and pass your test on Friday!There is also the truth that no matter how good a driver you are humans are the 'brain' controlling a one to forty ton guided missile or a 5kg guided missile if you are a believer in the pwoer of polystyrene, whatever humans fail. That is part of our nature so until someone invents a free of cost mass transit system that covers the land (Beam me up Scotty) then people will get killed on the roads. Life certainly isn't risk free no matter how hard Nanny tries to make us believe it is.
By its very nature, the driving test is a farce. The day I passed my test, I had a bad dose of the flu, it was market day in a country town and to cap it all, the test was in the middle of a thunderstorm. The inpector made a comnment that if I could drive under all those conditions, I could drive anywhere [which was nice of him] but what about night driving? What about driving on snow or ice? Driving into a setting sun? Driving on a motorway? The test can only cover a very small range of the skills required to be a good driver.
Old folks driving are the biggest danger. No offence.
That's OK. Offense taken. But you have to include young drivers as well? And in-between drivers?
Nope. Sick of hearing "I hit the gas pedal by mistake instead of the brake." Then they give out their age. No prizes for guessing.
I had about 3 glasses of wine tonight out at dinner. Is that over the limit? I didn't think so, so thought I might as well have a Bailey's coffee too.
I know when I'm tipsy and I wasn't. Although I'm sure I was over the limit. Sober as a juldge so I am .. But by Christ there are some shite drivers on the road.. don't know which lane to be in at the roundybouts, drive 20 miles a hour in a 50 zone.. I think they can hear me when I yell 'fucking moooove'. I went down to the shops earlier… where do all the thick cunts come from, seriously? Hordes of um out on the roads. Can't wait for the christmas to be over.
I'm 65 and for the last five years or so I have given myself a "driving test". I go to roads I've not driven on before and I start my "test". I have to give myself a running commentary about what I'm seeing and what I'm doing, it's a constant stream of stuff, sometimes too fast to talk about. That's when danger arises. If you can't commentate on what you are doing then you are in danger. It might not be your fault that a situation has arisen but you have to ask yourself "Could I have foreseen or anticipated this situation?"I could drive when I joined the Police (not in the UK!) but then I took the Standard driving test, the Advanced driving test and then the Defensive driving test. That's why I regularly test myself against those standards.I have to remember the cardinal rule of driving at all times, and that is that every other driver on the road is a useless arsehole. You can't go wrong! And, yes, I've driven home, accident-free, with a belly full of Bushmills on more than one occasion!
And that pretty well sums up what I am talking about. Alertness, awareness and anticipation. I can't say I give a verbal commentary but do run a mental one at all times. I would love to know what s going through your average driver's mind? If anything?
That's it GD.When I was 16 my stepfather insisted that I learn to ride a motorbike. He told me that mastering that would do more to keep me alive on the roads than anything else – you develop a sixth sense where you just know that that daft bastard is going to pull out in front of you.Here I am, nearly fifty years later and with a full HGV licence gained along the way, and still those old lessons click in automatically.P.S. Back you to the hilt ref. BMW drivers. If there's someone behaving like total twat on the road and with an excess of bad manners and 'me first-me first- me first', you can bet a pound to a pinch of chinese excretement that it will be a BMW. To those good drivers who happen to own a BMW I'd suggest flogging the bloody thing and buying something decent anyway 🙂
Best bit of advice my Scottish driving insturtor gave me was 'Every other driver is a lunatic who doesn't know what they are doing. That includes anyone who flicks an indicator on. All that means is they can work a switch!'Stood me in good stead over the years, thanks Alex.
Bloody html tags don't work!
Fixed!
Hear! Hear!
I always felt that I was more of a danger after a 12 hour night shift driving home, than say if I had 3 pints
You almost certainly would have been! Tiredness is a killer, but what about a 12 hour shift followed by 3 pints? Even more of a danger I would guess.I haven't been over to Ireland for a few years, but the last time I was over the strength of a pint of Guiness was only around 4.8%. In UK law 3 pints would take you over the limit if you downed them within an hour. Take 2 hours to drink and enjoy them and you could well pass a UK breathaliser test. There is a problem with Guinness though, it takes like shit once it's got warm. A decent cider though is a different matter – it gets better the warmer it gets. Only problem is decent cider tends to be around 7.0% abv!
After the Breathalyser was introduced in Britain in 1963 there was no significant fall in the number of deaths or accidents on the road. The number of deaths remained constant at about 5000 a year from the 1930s right through to very recently in spite of the increasing number of cars on the road. It only started to fall when they erected all those traffic lights, built all those roundabouts and fitted cars with proper brakes!
1967 not 1963!
I learned to drive in Germany in 1980. I needed a 90% pass in the written test and had to have night driving and motorway driving experience before I could sit the test. I don't know if it is still the same but then it was very much harder than the UK test at that time. I made it on the second attempt.