Lowering drink driving limit.

D

dewdrop

Registered User
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Apart from Britain how can the social life of rural Europe survive the lower limit and in Ireland it is a hugh issue. Dare is say lobby power?
 
The only concern I have is that you are likely to be over the limit the next day if you are getting up and driving after a night out.

But beyond that I dont see any problem, it doesnt stop people socialising in rural areas or any other area. Just dont drink and drive, what is the problem with that?
 
Cant buy a bottle of wine after 10,,cant have 1 pint to socialise,,remove
english from road signs,,country banjaxed,,
Welcome to the Nanny & Nama state.
 
aristotle25 said:
Why do you think you need a drink to socialise?
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The only time I really need a drink is when I'm out with really boring people...

Speaking for myself I believe the drink drive limit should be zero.
 
zero would be a bit dodgy, if you went out for a meal you wouldn't be able to eat your triffle desert as that contains some sherry!
 
aristotle25 said:
... But beyond that I dont see any problem, it doesnt stop people socialising in rural areas or any other area. Just dont drink and drive, what is the problem with that?
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Not a problem at all, very safe and sensible in fact and the proposal to lower the BAC from 80 to 50 is in line with the rest of Europe.

In the week-end papers Jackie Healy-Rae and some of the lunatic FF fringe have apparently threatened to vote against proposals to lower the BAC, not that Mr. Healy-Rae could be accused of having a vested interest in the matter; its not like he or his family own any boozers or hold intoxicating liquor licences in and around rural Kilgarvan do they?
 
aristotle25 said:
zero would be a bit dodgy, if you went out for a meal you wouldn't be able to eat your trifle desert as that contains some sherry!
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I was watching a program (I believe called the truth about food) with Jimmy Tarbucks daughter she drank a half bottle of wine on an empty stomach and she was quite drunk anyway you know what the word is but then (the next evening) she ate a full meal and then drank a half bottle of wine and she was not anywhere as bad as she was the previous evening.

My point is if you have a sherry trifle the chances are that you would have a dinner beforehand.

And I still say zero
 
S.L.F said:
My point is if you have a sherry trifle the chances are that you would have a dinner beforehand.

And I still say zero
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I think the point is that while you would be absolutely safe to drive after dinner and sherry trifle (does anyone still eat sherry trifle?), you might fail the breathalyser because of your sherry trifle if there was a zero limit - and lose your licence unfairly. Maybe 10 as a limit to cover sherry trifle and brandy sauce?
 
My understanding of the reason they can not bring it to zero is that some medicines and tablets people are taking prescribed by doctor has a touch of alachol in the make up of them.
 
...and the body can produce it's own alcohol and mouthwash can give a false positive. Absolute zero would be close to unenforceable.

Those countries that have it (e.g. Japan? Sweden maybe?) must allow for a margin of error for this kind of thing in practice.
 
papervalue said:
... some medicines and tablets people are taking prescribed by doctor has a touch of alachol in the make up of them.
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AFAIK this is untrue but if it were the case, I'm sure responsible doctors and dispensing pharmacists would inform their patients or refer them to the patient information leaflet or PIL in order to make them aware of the potential consequences. Some prescription medications can have drug-effects similar to alcohol, and alcohol was used as a preservative when prescribed medicines were mainly plant-based (alcohol is still used this way in some alternative / complementary preparations made of fresh rather than dried plant-material).

Instead of some posters (not papervalue) bemoaning the proposed sensible changes to the drink-drive laws, I believe we need to implement them ASAP, and take action on drug-impaired driving, whether the drugs in question are illicit or prescribed.
 
what are the exact statistics of drink driving accidents/fatalites in this country? are they even published? in my opinion i often think drink driving is blamed for a lot more than it causes...i would think there are more accidents/fatalities caused by drugs and speed...would love to know actual statistics...plus i always find it strange that so much focus and money is spent on road safety when more people commit suicide each year than are killed on the roads.....
 
bb12 said:
what are the exact statistics of drink driving accidents/fatalites in this country? are they even published? in my opinion i often think drink driving is blamed for a lot more than it causes...i would think there are more accidents/fatalities caused by drugs and speed...would love to know actual statistics...plus i always find it strange that so much focus and money is spent on road safety when more people commit suicide each year than are killed on the roads.....
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[broken link removed]

Above article claims 276 people died on the roads in 2008 in Ireland (no mention of people badly injured, disabled by road accident though).

[broken link removed]

Above article claims 424 deaths by suicide in 2008 (in Ireland).

I dont think one method of death warrants more money pumped into campaigns than another, but I do think that better road safety is more easily attained, whereas its near impossible to know if someone is thinking of committing suicide until they actually do it.
 
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