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The limit in the UK is currently 80 mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (with Scotland going to 50 mg from tomorrow).

I'm in favour of lowering the limit, I think. However, there are calls for the limit to be lowered to 0 mg. To me that seems to be a mistake ... perhaps the mouthwash you used when you did your teeth half an hour ago has alcohol in it (that would make it >0 mg I'd say), or perhaps the sherry trifle or the chocolate licquers you ate at dinner some hours earlier, haviing responsibly avoided drinking alcoholic drinks tipped you above 0 mg... or you went to a party on Saturday night and had a few drinks. Come Monday how the hell are you to know if there aren't tiny traces of alcohol still in your system, barely detectable but STILL above the 0 mg figure, even only slightly. Immediate driving ban for, in each of the above situations, what I would describe as responsible behaviour.

Other thoughts?

Ta!

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Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

Currently, driving whilst over the prescribed limit of 80mg alcohol per 100 ml blood is a 'strict liability' offence. An offence, like speeding say, for which there is, in theory, no defence. Pretty much along the lines of 'either you have broken the law or you haven't.

If the alcohol level was reduced to zero then I imagine that the 'strict liability' aspect would be removed to allow a defence of 'mouth wash' etc in cases where trace levels where detected.

The likelihood of being collared for 'mouth wash' is remote though unless one is committing another/other offence/s.

Clearly, an alcohol level of <1 or 2 would not cause impairment and would not show intent to break the law. A zero alcohol policy would remove any guesswork by a driver in terms of how much it it safe to drink though.

Seems a good thing to me... Either you drink OR drive. No shades of grey.

Copy

Last edited by Legoman on 3rd Jan 2015 5:21 am. Edited 1 time in total

no debate necessary really, if you drink any amount and drive you are an idiot, and should have your driving license removed no question.

zero tolerance is the only way to go.

Iain

ZERO means what it says. So if you are breathalysed and the reading is (eg) 1mg (and we're comparing that to the current limit of 80mg) that 1mg reading will put you into the guilty bracket.
Who amongst us can guarantee that our blood alco level is truly ZERO at any given point? Is it 1 day, 2 days or 3 days after a few pints on a Saturday night? If I gargle with mouthwash, have a no-alco drink (some of which do have minute amounts of alcohol) do I then forgo driving for 48 hours just in case?
The country would be ground to a halt by the worry and paranoia of perfectly responsible drivers not knowing what the to do for the best.
So, yes, lower the limits... 50 or even lower is OK but ZERO really is saying "Don't drive if you've had a drink, eaten a trifle or had a no-alc ginger beer in the past week. ie give up work and become a bus passenger.
#impractical as the twittersphere would have it... ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

None

Last edited by Legoman on 3rd Jan 2015 5:20 am. Edited 1 time in total

"would you be happy knowing your taxi driver had a quick drink even if under the limit? Your HGV driver, your Ambulance, Fire, Police driver?"

No, but if he'd gargled, eaten a trifle or a ginger beer, it wouldn't bother me.
It's the ZEROness of it that scares me... Even teetotallers could fall foul if certain conditions were met and that's not the people that anti drink drive legislation is designed to catch.
20, 30 mg yep OK. ZERO? No. Impractical.
It smacks of "We must do everything we can... " etc and hang the unintended consequences. ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

I suspect quite a few will be caught out over the coming weeks as we go into silly season, personally I hope they throw the book at them.
We have already had two roadblocks on the A666 recently, spot checking vehicles, fines dished out for front fog lights being on and the obligatory nose well I to the car for a sniff

What annoys me with these road blocks is that people put them up on Facebook alerting other people the self same people who moan about idiots endangering their kids and then they go and alert them, beggars belief really.

...and breath

ep, don't get me wrong... I am dead against drinking and driving. I don't do it. I would be happy with a lower limit. UK limit is 'generous' but zero is just unworkable for us all. ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

Perhaps

Last edited by Legoman on 3rd Jan 2015 5:20 am. Edited 1 time in total

" Perhaps, but reduce it to Scandinavian levels and make a first offence punishable by 6 months prison minimum. Severe penalties are the only way people will think about not doing it.

I fail to see how people like drinkng. It's a vile habit. I hate the way supermarkets devote space to flogging it. Its a mind changing drug for goodness sake. If it was invented now, it would be banned. "


tend to agree with your first statement Legoman

but not the second, alcohol when used sensibly can have beneficial effects both in health and psychological terms.

it's just that alcohol and driving do not mix and can have lethal results, so it's still zero tolerance for me.

Iain

Legoman wrote:

Perhaps, but reduce it to Scandinavian levels and make a first offence punishable by 6 months prison minimum. Severe penalties are the only way people will think about not doing it.

I fail to see how people like drinkng. It's a vile habit. I hate the way supermarkets devote space to flogging it. Its a mind changing drug for goodness sake. If it was invented now, it would be banned.

Zero tolerance meaning don't drink and drive but a zero reading, that could be unattainable in the real world.

+1 EY. Nice summary ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...