Safe Speed Forums

Now - on the subject of alcohol and drugs and their effect on the brain and reactions - have already posted an essay on this and the Mellanby effect - and it is in the archives of this forum somewhere. Think I made the post last May and IG gave a full police perspective on the same thread.

The reason why we have this limit is because it applies to the average human at average weight and metabolism. But we are all different and some do not conform to the norm. Some areas of Europe have a lower level - but if a positive test at the lower threshold does not necessarily mean an immediate ban per their legislation. The bans are in line with UK legal thresholds. At the moment - Switzerland, Austria and Germany are planning to introduce a ZERO for all probationer drivers - and this would result in a re-test and attitude test if they were copped with any alcohol in their system. The problem with this is that some food stuffs do have a bio-chemical reaction within a human body - and a zero-tolerance can thus be difficult to fully establish.

My own rule of thumb is this:

If I plan to drive - I drink orange juice or Elderflower or Ginger and Lemongrass (both of which are surprisingly pleasant - she buys it from that gourmet place in Keswick ).

This applies to my wife, both our families and IG and his family.

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We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
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Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
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I personally abhor drink driving. I know people who do it, and it winds me right up.

I would welcome more random breath testing. I have been driving for 13 years now, however, and I have never been stopped for a random breath test, which I think is an abysmal failure on the part of the police. I suspect I may never be stopped as the number of visible trafpols is slowly being replaced by the revenue robots.

We need more traffic police and a sensible approach to the causes of crashes, not just the same old tired mantra of "speed kills". In fact, I suspect more crashes are caused by drivers at or slighly above the speed limit who then become bored and micro-sleep than someone who is at the 85 percentile and "in the zone".

As a point of interest, did anyone see the TV comparison between drink driving and driving whilst tired....I think it was on 5th Gear. The final result was that a mildly drunk driver performed better at NSL speeds than an over tired driver - more able to hold lane positioning. Around town, however, the tables were turned!

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"Are you sh**ing me?"
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I'm not so sure... If you've read the comments by some of our BiB contributors they reckon they can tell who's been drinking and who hasn't by watching the way they drive... So, assuming that you never drink and drive, it suggests that they really do develop a pretty good "nose" for who to tug and who not to..

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

I cannot find any comment in this forum on the follow up article called “Illegal speeding fines to be repaid” in The Times on the same page as that concerning drink driving. It says speeding documents (NIP?) have been sent out not stating that they have the authority of the Chief Constable in asking who was driving at the time of the alleged offence.
My wife has two NIPs outstanding at the moment (don’t ask!), from Sussex speed camera partnership, one mentioning the Chief Constable & one not.
I see magistrates in Norwich have thrown out cases against 4 drivers because of this error. Does anyone have more information? I can of course give more detail if required.

GWS,

it's on here somewhere!

I'd also try 'pepipoo' for details on fighting NIPs.

.

Is this bloke on drugs or what?

I just can't help myself but make the observation that this is like reading about a petty thief's attempts at covering up his own tracks and misdeeds by calling into question and diverting others' focus onto the pro's, con's and other problems surrounding the acceptability of mugging old age pensioners.

These people are 'burning' the people who effectively ARE the establishment at a greater rate than the sun burns its hydrogen reserves! I would suggest that they enjoy doing it, while it lasts. For if ever the ever growing numbers of people these people and their ilk are alienating get the chance to abuse a few laws for ourselves, then it's likely that these people and others amongst their crowd will be held PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for their actions: Just like Hitler's henchmen after the war.

So nice to keep reading about the good work, eh?

Regarding the poor bloke who got pulled for getting a packet of cigarettes from his car.

I may be wrong, but in Australia I do not believe you can be charged with any form of driving offence while on private property. If my car was in my driveway, private property, and I actually moved it within my property while completely rat-arsed the cops could do nothing about it.

This seems fair and reasonable to me. Private property means no risk to the public so leave the poor bloke alone.

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

Quite often I will put the car in the garage (it's already on the drive) after a skinfull of wine with a meal. Perhaps I'll do this 20 times a year. Am I technically committing an offence if over the limit to drive? I didn't think so.