Driving after the night before

[di]

Alternating a glass of water between drinks helps flush it through your system too. I had a friend who would do this at 'all day in the Pub parties' when we were younger. At the end of the evening, she was the one with the camera full of embarrassing pictures of the rest of us LOL She didn't even do it so she could drive home, she only lived round the corner. Must have had more respect for her body than the rest of us!

I tried that one New Year...not so I could drive but not get blotto to early and miss midnight...never have I been so sick!

I don't touch it if I'm driving...sometimes it takes a couple for me to feel drunk,other times I feel tipsy after a half.
If I know I have to drive the next day then it's limited to a couple of glasses...not just for the 'over the limit' reasons but also to prevent me driving hungover and tired.

[HeyWayne]

If you're not supposed to drink and drive - why are more and more cupholders appearing in cars?

We'll all be driving to work in milk crates soon.

[Hilary B]

Some people grow out of driving after a drink sooner than others (some never do, and some don't get the opportunity having paid the ultimate price for stupidity).
There is also a tremendous variation in just HOW much 'too much' we ever drank while young enough to believe it "won't happen to me".
We are all different, but mostly those of us on here have now learned NOT to do this. I have to admit OH will occasionally drive home after 'a bit more than is wise', but not often, not a lot over, and VERY carefully!
I do wonder whether a single 'limit' (for legal purposes) is sufficient. Should there be a higher limit (say double the basic one) which leads to a prison sentence?
Should there also be higher penalties for being caught over the limit again when one has got a licence back after a disqualification for alcohol? Should failure to learn the lesson be treated as a greater offense?

[piskieinboots]

Should there also be higher penalties for being caught over the limit again when one has got a licence back after a disqualification for alcohol?

Yes, I believe there should - disqualification for life

[valmarg]

Exactly the same as you did Valmarg, and a lot of other people on here I would suspect, I know I did.
Its not something I condone, certainly in the UK, if I'm driving I dont drink alcohol during that day (and to revert back to the OP, nor the morning after if I've been properly on it) but young people will always be young people, and will do things because they are young.
Most of us on the Vine are a little bit less young, and have the experience, have seen the damage it causes and understand the ramifications of it, but when we were younger, we didnt.

Point taken bobleponge, but I was talking about the late teenagers/early twenties these days who have been brought up with the breathalyser, but still seem to think it's worth the risk.

When I first passed my test, if you were 'done' for drink driving you were taken down the police station, had to walk the white line, hold your arms at right angles to your body, shut your eyes, and touch your nose with each index finger. Very basic.

I was about 25 when I had my first car, which would roughly coincided with the introduction of the breathalyser. It was not taken very seriously for quite a few years, but then after a while the message got home. Drinking and driving do not mix.

My plea in mitigation for when I worked at Bass was, once I had got out of Burton my journey was on narrow country lanes with very litte, if any, traffic. The worst I could have done was ended up in the ditch.

I think the far more worrying trend is the increasing combination of drink and drugs driving. George Michael for all his 'pop' status should have been more harshly sentenced.

I always remember the advice of one of my uncles - when you take a car on the roads you may think you are the safest driver out there, but you can never anticipate the stupidity of the other drivers, so always be on your guard.

valmarg

[piskieinboots]

My first hand experience of drink driving (riding) was very scary - I have no idea how he got away with it!

I was 16 (!) and just with soon-to-be-first-Mr-Piskie, the in-group of his choice were all bikers, pretty heavy ones too. I was keen to impress (why I ask myself now) himself.

When we went to leave the pub himself had to have his bike kicked over (no puffy electric starts in those days) and he was put on it and it was placed in a go position, I was told to get on the back and hold on.

I did - without question, but not without fear!! I wasn't drunk, I didn't drink hardly at all until later in life.

We set off for home, the inevitable happened, he got pulled over.

He seemed to snap too and gather his wits very quickly. As the copper was walking over to him, bag in hand, he took very slow deep breaths.

He produced enough 'clean air' to have a negative reading!! No way on this earth matey Policeman thinks I - please please stop him and drive me home.

On we went and got home safely!

The sad thing is he and his pals thought it was funny, but in defence of youth, he was young and the young (as mentioned above) do not see fear the way older people do.

[CaroltheCarrot]

I have always told my son that if he is drinking that no way will he be driving/racing the next day.
Luckily the lure of his bike has (so far) been stronger than the lure of drink, and he despairs of his mates who spend the whole weekend getting tanked up and then are skint for the rest of the week.
How did I raise someone so sensible

[piskieinboots]

Lovely to hear Carol

The story I refer to was in 1973, no excuse whatsoever - but I guess people thought a little differently back then.

I have two sons, thankfully, of which neither drink - one used to but has been 'dry' for almost ten years now, the other never wanted to 'bother with it'.