Drinking and driving...?

[Lucky]

The really ironical thing here in Germany and several other European countries is, that when you are drunk, you can not be held responsible for your actions, like civ1 said.
Thus, when committing crimes or traffic accidents they only get punished lightly, even when murder (yes I think of it as murder) is involves. And the state spends more money on clinical treatment of the alcoholics than on the victims of those idiots.

 

[Hitro]

Very true. So every intelligent guy knows that he has to make sure to drink a bottle of vodka before he murders his wife or whoever else he wants to kill. Then after 5 years in a psychatric institution he can continue his nice free life.

And people say alcohol's no solution...

 

[Ohwell]

Originally posted by Hitro
Very true. So every intelligent guy knows that he has to make sure to drink a bottle of vodka before he murders his wife or whoever else he wants to kill. Then after 5 years in a psychatric institution he can continue his nice free life.

And people say alcohol's no solution...

Don't give me ideas...

 

[Kafka2]

Does this thread colour anyone's opinions regarding George W Bush?

 

[Grisu]

Yeah and the guys who are drunk usually don't even get hurt in an accident, it usually is the innocent one who gets killed

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by KaeptnOvi
Yeah and the guys who are drunk usually don't even get hurt in an accident, it usually is the innocent one who gets killed

And if the victim doesn't die, sometimes they can get money from the idiot drunk.

 

[Zwelgje]

Well money is going to help when you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.....

 

[De Lorimier]

You Drink You Drive You Spill

I say don't drink and drive
You might spill your drink
Before you get behind the wheel, just stop & think
You can take your chances
But there's so much to lose
Another bumpy road,
There's so much wasted booze

I'm not so worried
About how many I kill
I'm much more concerned
With how much beer I spill
35% of accidents
Are cause by pixilated
The other 65% are not
Alcohol related
What does this tell us
About the drunk drivers
They seem to have a
Better record than
the sober team

I'm not so worried
About how many I kill
I'm much more concerned
With how much beer I spill
With how much beer I spill
With how much beer I spill

 

[Furry Spatula]

Woah Woah Woah!!!! Hold on everyone, WTH is that I'm hearing about Europe and driving drunk? I just remember what happened with the Russian Embassador to Canada who plowed down a woman in Toronto when he was driving drunk. Long story short he was sent to Russia and his embassidorial powers to be above the law didn't save him from jail.

 

[amadeus]

What's sad about drunk driving is that it only kills the people in the other vehicle. The alcohol slows down the driver's system so much that he gets off without a scar on him

Isn't it in Germany, that if you are caught driving intoxicated, that they will take away your license for life?

 

[Furry Spatula]

Here in Canada its your third time being convicted of driving drunk that you loose your license.

 

[Armydude]

You think it would be the second time.

 

[Wild Weasel]

European laws vary wildly on blood alchohol levels. Some allow none (or least a trace level that could have got into the bloodstream by some method other than drinking, such as mouthwash), others, such as Germany I believe, allow a certain level at which a driver could be stopped by Police and still legally drive unless the driver is involved in an accident in which case the level is reduced, or such as in the UK where we have a fixed 4 units (roughly two pints). To me, these last two systems are deeply flawed.

If a zero-level/trace-level tolerance is in force, there is no equivocation. There is no room for the arguement of 'well, I'm a big bloke so it doesn't affect me as much' or 'if i eat a couple of big macs I will be fine'. If people are allowed to drink some, then some of them will always drink more.

I heard of a system - in use the States I think - where a nominated driver is given a flourescent wrist band at the first pub they visit during an evening out. Thereafter, the wearer of this wristband is entitled to free soft drinks at all participating pubs in the local area. This is fantastic and a very enlightend approach. I would hope something similar is adopted in Britain - where soft drink prices in pubs are so exhorbitantly high that I am sure that it contributes to the problem. If people feel they are going have to pay well over a pound for a small glass of coke, they figure they may as well have another half pint of beer instead and get their money's worth.

 

[Grisu]

here in switzerland, if you are caught with more than 0.08% (sorry couldn't find the per-mille-sign) you lose your licence for 3 months. imagine, three months is NOTHING, I really think that drunk driving (even if no accident happens) should be punished much more severely (say no licence for life the second time they get you and a BIG fine, or something like that)

 

[Pillager]

Some chap who's been charged with drink driving here is undergoing surgery to 'prove' that his liver manufactures alcohol, and that he wasn't drunk.

 

[De Lorimier]

Furry Spatula wote:

Here in Canada its your third time being convicted of driving drunk that you loose your license.

Maybe it's different from province to province but in Québec you loose it at the first offense for one year.

 

[ainwood]

Originally posted by Pillager
Some chap who's been charged with drink driving here is undergoing surgery to 'prove' that his liver manufactures alcohol, and that he wasn't drunk.

By law, its not whether you've been drinking alcohol that is the crime, its having it in your system.

I think that if this guy can prove it, then they will take his licence away, permanently.

 

[amadeus]

The problem is, that when the license is taken away, they still drive their cars.

 

[bobgote]

In Australia, the limit is 0.05, for a full licence driver, and 0 for probationary/learners (16-21 yrs old at least).

All licences are lost for drink driving i do believe, tho i don't know for how long. Also I like the free soft drinks for designated drivers idea, very good.

And there is a condition that causes alcohol in the breath. I thought it was to do with the stomach fermenting things. It's rare, but it causes a breathalizer to be positive for alcohol, without the person being intoxicated at all.

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
The problem is, that when the license is taken away, they still drive their cars.

Yes. I don't know if there's anyway to stop them short of taking away their cars, which still wouldn't work.