New Law in scotland

[ValeTudoGuy]

Yet I have seen a traffic officer blow clear On 4 pints of mild for a laugh on a night out.

[cj121]

Late in in this one, but I'd imagine lowering the limit as proposed will also equate to increased revenue for the authorities as people creep over the limit. Apart from the health and safety element, what an earner ay?

[PeeJay]

Yet I have seen a traffic officer blow clear On 4 pints of mild for a laugh on a night out.

Ditto, MLW blew clear after several drinks when we stopped at my old garage to let her try a breath test.

[Simon Bolivar]

I am against drink driving & the carnage it has caused over the yrs & for those of us with a few yrs under our belts, will realise just how far we have come in changing the social acceptability of drink driving. At one time a very large proportion of the population would have done it regularly & with their kids in the car too.

The chief cop interviewed in Scotland today, said 10 people had been killed in Drink Driving incidents in the last 12months, which is 10 too many for sure. But what I haven't seen is how many of those 10 were killed by someone driving between 50 & 80mgs? Because that's the difference this law will make. I suspect most drivers who kill behind the wheel are well over the 80mg. Supposing there was just one killed within the 50-80mgs, a tradegy for the family for sure but will the resulting changes to our society be out of proportion to that single death?

Yes, they have this lower limit in Europe (inc Belgium) but the difference is, like any other law, the chose how to enforce it & frankly it's a joke. Belgium are way behind us in the unsociability of drink driving & although you'll never see a Belgian falling down drunk in the street, it's easy enough to see them get in their cars after 2 or 3 Duvels at 8.5%!

I think the biggest area this will catch people out is driving in the morning after drinking the night before. And considering we drive nearly everyday we are not just talking about Monday morning. If you have an accident in the morning now they will test you but I suspect many more will be caught from now on in Scotland.

Country pubs & resturants will be hit, I never have more than one small glass of wine when I have to drive home but I would rather not bother if I couldn't have one. Those who are caught as this moderate level over will be facing high penalties on insurance & points. Are they really worse than those using their phones in the car, texting or smoking with their kids in the back? I ask this because if you stand by the kerb for 20mins in the UK, I bet you can count at least 20-30% of drivers will be holding their phone as they negotiate traffic & how often do they get stopped? If the police wanted to & the fine was changed to ?1,000 ( sounds crazy? Fine for not having a National Fishing Licence in England & Wales is up to ?2,500 - no one has been hurt & the British anglers at least are even putting the fish back so no damage done, yet somehow this totlaly out of proportion fine was passed into law), for every time you were caught using the phone whilst the car was moving, let alone stationary with the engine running, I bet this reckless habit would end very quickly once those who were caught were convicted & people could see there was a high risk of being caught. I saw a programme which showed using the phone was more hazardous than having had a drink.

Perhaps we should concentrate more on enforcing the laws we have that criminalising even larger sections of the public.

[PeeJay]

Well said Simon but at the end of the day they want to be another country where I don't live so they can get on with it. I also don't drink so I don't give a toss!

[ValeTudoGuy]

Wow, who knew horse riding was as dangerous and addictive as ecstasy!? (Insert big appropriate smiley.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/4537874/Ecstasy-no-more-dangerous-than-horse-riding.html

[ValeTudoGuy]

In all seriousness now, I really do agree Simon. My issue is mostly related to how many people Will be criminalized that are currently innocent. I think it's important to see how many accidents involve people between the two figures... I would also love to know how many people currently unknowingly drive regularly of a morning under the current rate but over the proposed? My guess is millions every month and I also bet that the accident rate for those millions is proportionally less than total accidents in supermarket car parks.

Obviously I have no data to back my suppositions up.... but my point is, you shouldn't just throw some half arsed stats around and start outlawing things..... yet that's apparently what we do as a society.

[PeeJay]

you shouldn't just throw some half arsed stats around and start outlawing things..... yet that's apparently what we do as a society.

Yep, with you on that one

[sheppsea]

Just to be clear the reason I posted the arcticle wasn't to use the stats to prove the point that drink driving limit should be lowered (to be honest it didn't even show that drink driving was particularly high on the list of causes, I'm sure there would be better ones out there if I wanted to do that), it was primarily to give a background to the causes of road accidents and of the fact that drink driving is one that can be easier prevented than the others, and also, having read VTG's post about how we should do a safety checks on our cars everytime we drive, being interested to see how many accidents are actually caused by that

[PeeJay]

having read VTG's post about how we should do a safety checks on our cars everytime we drive, being interested to see how many accidents are actually caused by that

Probably a lot less than you'd expect. When I started out as a traffic cop we used to spend all day stopping defective vehicles. You used to see traffic bikes passing slowly alongside queues of traffic looking at tyres for example. By the time I left the department 18 years later we were hardly doing anyone for defective vehicles due to the constant tightening up with of the MOT test. Obviously there will always be drivers who don't give a shit but they are few and far between nowadays especially as the MOT certificate is now stored electronically and checkable on PNC.

[rascal]

Probably a lot less than you'd expect. When I started out as a traffic cop we used to spend all day stopping defective vehicles. You used to see traffic bikes passing slowly alongside queues of traffic looking at tyres for example. By the time I left the department 18 years later we were hardly doing anyone for defective vehicles due to the constant tightening up with of the MOT test. Obviously there will always be drivers who don't give a shit but they are few and far between nowadays especially as the MOT certificate is now stored electronically and checkable on PNC.

I think mark was meaning the basics like clean windows, mirrors water in your schooshers, tyres that are not flat, bulged. All your fluids. The clapped out vehicles are less and less on the road but most of the safety things are not even not issues. Or can easily happen the day after a mot. I personally don't agree with the lower limit as a way to save lives stop the idiots and inept driving would be a lot better.

[Wigan]

I am against drink driving & the carnage it has caused over the yrs & for those of us with a few yrs under our belts, will realise just how far we have come in changing the social acceptability of drink driving. At one time a very large proportion of the population would have done it regularly & with their kids in the car too.

The chief cop interviewed in Scotland today, said 10 people had been killed in Drink Driving incidents in the last 12months, which is 10 too many for sure. But what I haven't seen is how many of those 10 were killed by someone driving between 50 & 80mgs? Because that's the difference this law will make. I suspect most drivers who kill behind the wheel are well over the 80mg. Supposing there was just one killed within the 50-80mgs, a tradegy for the family for sure but will the resulting changes to our society be out of proportion to that single death?

Yes, they have this lower limit in Europe (inc Belgium) but the difference is, like any other law, the chose how to enforce it & frankly it's a joke. Belgium are way behind us in the unsociability of drink driving & although you'll never see a Belgian falling down drunk in the street, it's easy enough to see them get in their cars after 2 or 3 Duvels at 8.5%!

I think the biggest area this will catch people out is driving in the morning after drinking the night before. And considering we drive nearly everyday we are not just talking about Monday morning. If you have an accident in the morning now they will test you but I suspect many more will be caught from now on in Scotland.

Country pubs & resturants will be hit, I never have more than one small glass of wine when I have to drive home but I would rather not bother if I couldn't have one. Those who are caught as this moderate level over will be facing high penalties on insurance & points. Are they really worse than those using their phones in the car, texting or smoking with their kids in the back? I ask this because if you stand by the kerb for 20mins in the UK, I bet you can count at least 20-30% of drivers will be holding their phone as they negotiate traffic & how often do they get stopped? If the police wanted to & the fine was changed to ?1,000 ( sounds crazy? Fine for not having a National Fishing Licence in England & Wales is up to ?2,500 - no one has been hurt & the British anglers at least are even putting the fish back so no damage done, yet somehow this totlaly out of proportion fine was passed into law), for every time you were caught using the phone whilst the car was moving, let alone stationary with the engine running, I bet this reckless habit would end very quickly once those who were caught were convicted & people could see there was a high risk of being caught. I saw a programme which showed using the phone was more hazardous than having had a drink.

Perhaps we should concentrate more on enforcing the laws we have that criminalising even larger sections of the public.

HHmm Duvel....

[Edamski]

Now people driving whilst using their phones is a real big bear of mine and I'm seeing it more and more.

Just tonight on the way to work on the motorway I saw one lad phone in hand leaning on his window sill and with his other hand rubbing his face. It baffles me

[PeeJay]

Now people driving whilst using their phones is a real big bear of mine and I'm seeing it more and more.

Just tonight on the way to work on the motorway I saw one lad phone in hand leaning on his window sill and with his other hand rubbing his face. It baffles me

Especially as even MLW's Fiesta has a hands free set up, its sheer bloody laziness and lack of sense.

[Simon Bolivar]

Blowing into the tube to start the car would save the danger of drink driving without the increased policing & fines of the current system & yes Tony, I remember this too. I think they have such devices in the States for ex Drink Driving offenders. Guess it's only the cost that prohibits the manufacturers from fitting as standard.