Metropol

I'm about to be loose on the highway again (my own Independence Day - 4 July 2008). I've had to do a course to get the ban reduced - on a Saturday for 3 weeks - it's not as bad as it sounds, the other 19 people are very nice and we are all in the same situation, of course.

The ex-PC who is running the course explained that car registrations from former banned drivers "flash" on the 'puter in Police cars as "former banned driver" - they are more likely to stop the car. Because I don't want to sell my late Mum's car (or get stopped all the time) I am looking into changing the registration plate, I fancy the thought of something new!

More importantly though, very soon 'random breath tests' will begin in England & Wales. Are you all aware? I was caught driving on the midday of the day after a bank holiday weekend... You go out for a skinful on a Friday, then chances are you are over the limit on a Monday Morning.

That's one thing I've learnt out of all of this. (Oh, and the bloke who joined me on the bus back into town for the last 2 saturdays was caught driving when banned; he spent 6 weeks in prison - not nice - don't drive while banned)

Apparently the Scandanavian method is to ban people from everything other than driving to/from work. Perhaps that's more sensible. You wouldn't cost people their jobs - if they relied on transport. (Alot of the people on this course are from disparate Cornish villages with no other transport)

I would be interested in the positive thoughts of others about banning people from driving and/or awareness courses (not confirmation of the penalty I've served - please).

i think the only realistic way you can remove the ambiguity of alcohol whilst driving is to have a complete no tolerance. any alcohol in your system found whilst you are driving, you are banned for a year.

if people really value their driving license they'd build the extra few quid into a night out to ensure they have appropriate transport arrangements for the following day.

i do think it would be useful if there was a 'police approved' method for people to check their own alcohol level, such as a breathalyser as i concede there isn't an easy way to judge your own levels of alcohol the day after as it were.

i actually think the default ban for drivers who 'drink drive' should also increase, to maybe 5 years and i don't think there should be any allowances for people who may loose their livelihood - i think you make that decision when you get into your car.

i'm not attacking what you did at all stuart, but the fact is, that when people do what you do, there is a very real chance that you end up hurting a completely innocent road user. there is so much awareness about driving the day after that there really can be no excuses.

For years, police and road authorities here have run a campaign - "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot". I've got to be honest, drink driving is something I have very little tolerance for, and indeed I wholeheartedly support random breath testing. The Scandanavian solution you advocate Stu seems thoroughly unworkable to me - how on earth can you prove that someone is travelling to or from work? What if you stop off at the shops on the way - is that acceptable, or are you now taking two journeys instead of one? And what makes driving to work more important than, say, taking your child to school or to the doctor? You create a messy bunch of exceptions which dilute the impact of what should be a severe punishment. Driving while under the influence of alcohol is dangerous behaviour. It puts the lives of others on and around the roads at risk. The fact that losing one's licence causes tremendous inconvenience and might threaten one's livelihood is something that every person should consider before they get behind the wheel of their car after consuming alcohol. And that's to say nothing of the increased possibility of getting involved in an accident, being severely injured or even dying. I do not believe this to be a risk that is overstated - if anything, it is largely understated.

Over this side of the world the blood alcohol limit is .05 which allows drivers to consume maybe a couple of beers, but not much more than that. That seems reasonable to me. I know that after about three beers I start to feel intoxicated - I'm aware that my reaction times are slowed, I might not be able to think as clearly, and my inhibitions are relaxed. Those are all thing that would clearly contribute to being a riskier driver.

We have a similar one in NZ

Dr Lobster* wrote:i think the only realistic way you can remove the ambiguity of alcohol whilst driving is to have a complete no tolerance.

I agree, even as a drinker, that that's a very good idea, but they can't set the limit at absolute zero without certain people carrying some sort of exemption card.

Even when I haven't set eyes on a wine bottle for a fortnight (very rare, admittedly), I've still got a tiny amount of alcohol floating about in my bloodstream. It's a side-effect of the cocktail of drugs I have to take every day. The level is well below anything which would give me a problem driving, operating mechanical equipment or any of the other things they warn you against in the little leaflets in the drug packets if they need to, but it means that my level is never absolute zero.

Given that they can introduce some system to keep me (safely) on the road, I'm in favour of the idea, though.

Oh, and Stuart, it doesn't matter what you change your registration number to, if the car's registered in your name, the registration will still flash up. It's done on the current registered keeper's details, not specifically the registration number. Ask your friendly ex-PC next Saturday.

Nick Harvey wrote:...but they can't set the limit at absolute zero without certain people carrying some sort of exemption card.

Indeed they can't set it to zero because the body has some alcohol (as a chemical content) anyway.

Nick Harvey wrote:Oh, and Stuart, it doesn't matter what you change your registration number to, if the car's registered in your name, the registration will still flash up. It's done on the current registered keeper's details, not specifically the registration number. Ask your friendly ex-PC next Saturday.

He said it's done on the VRN, once the owner changes there is no marker. I specifically asked on Saturday, but I will ask again next weekend on the final session. I will quote your comments, if I may Mr Harvey.

StuartPlymouth wrote:I'm about to be loose on the highway again (my own Independence Day - 4 July 2008). I've had to do a course to get the ban reduced - on a Saturday for 3 weeks - it's not as bad as it sounds, the other 19 people are very nice and we are all in the same situation, of course.

The ex-PC who is running the course explained that car registrations from former banned drivers "flash" on the 'puter in Police cars as "former banned driver" - they are more likely to stop the car. Because I don't want to sell my late Mum's car (or get stopped all the time) I am looking into changing the registration plate, I fancy the thought of something new!

More importantly though, very soon 'random breath tests' will begin in England & Wales. Are you all aware? I was caught driving on the midday of the day after a bank holiday weekend... You go out for a skinful on a Friday, then chances are you are over the limit on a Monday Morning.

That's one thing I've learnt out of all of this. (Oh, and the bloke who joined me on the bus back into town for the last 2 saturdays was caught driving when banned; he spent 6 weeks in prison - not nice - don't drive while banned)

Apparently the Scandanavian method is to ban people from everything other than driving to/from work. Perhaps that's more sensible. You wouldn't cost people their jobs - if they relied on transport. (Alot of the people on this course are from disparate Cornish villages with no other transport)

I would be interested in the positive thoughts of others about banning people from driving and/or awareness courses (not confirmation of the penalty I've served - please).

You could get a personal number plate from Newreg.co.uk for about £70 (plus £80 DVLA transfer fee).

Or

Don't drive your car for 24 hours after drinking!

StuartPlymouth wrote:He said it's done on the VRN, once the owner changes there is no marker. I specifically asked on Saturday, but I will ask again next weekend on the final session. I will quote your comments, if I may Mr Harvey.

Yes, feel free to quote me.

As I understand it, you're correct that there's no marker left on your current registration number, once you get rid of it, otherwise if you sold the car on, the next owner would keep on getting stopped; but if a new registration number then appears against your driving licence cross-link in the DVLA computer system, then the marker will reactivate on the new number.

That's certainly how it's supposed to work, assuming the programmers followed the specification correctly!