Wanker Cop

[250learna]

Erm, how did he know that he was under the limit?


If the policeman had not been there, would you have just got in and driven anyway? Your statement seems to suggest that you would have done. You obviously not sure whether you were in a fit state to drive.

I am not getting on a moral high horse here, but I would not have got in the car with you.

well actually i ended up going for a kabab and walk spending extra hour in town to make sure i was ok, (looking after 3 drunk girls in the process two of whom didnt understand why i kept telling them not to spark conversations with strange men and tell them how drunk they were)
But its great to see lots of people jumping to the worst conclusions were all in your eyes... so go fuk yourselfs

On another note nice to see that some of you have seen the reason this is such a sad story. The cops prove to us yet againg that some of them have no interest in public safety, only in giving tickets
hope next time he is out at night refusing to do anything but sit on the bike for 30min looking at people go past, that someone who is drunk gives him a nudge when he is heading home on the motorway so that he can learn the true value of prevention and the true value an extra ticket to your name has when you are laying in a hospital bed. If you are after money and promotions and not public safety pick a career more carefuly for everyones sake.

[Beemer]

I'm sorry, but considering how much each breath testing device costs, why should the police PAY for you to check whether you are over the limit or not? If you were so worried, you shouldn't have been drinking in the first place, or you should have outlaid some of your own cash and bought one of the devices from the chemist if you wanted some idea of how much you could drink and still drive!

Can you imagine how many people would just wander up to a cop after a night out and say "can you tell me if I'm over the limit?" before driving home? The cop can't charge them with anything if they aren't driving, and what a huge waste of time that would be for them if the idiot failed - should they follow them and make sure they don't drive? Or let them go and pull them up a short distance down the road and book them for failing a breath test?

How the hell can giving breath tests to PEDESTRIANS (even if you were swinging keys in your hand it doesn't mean you're going to drive) improve public safety? The cop should have done you for wasting police time! (And no, ask anyone, I can loathe them as much as the next person!) I hope someone gives you a nudge one night on the way home - preferably in the gob. Sober driver my ass!

[Ixion]

Obvious answer. Cop says "Yeah sure, state your name and address'. Then regardless of the actual reading says "Yep, you're not safe to drive *Mr XX* ,you're forbidden to drive tonight, can I have your keys please and we'll organise a taxi". (And he knows your name and address now, so you can't get out of that. Tis an offense to drive after that.) And if challenged he can always say "Well, the gentleman was concerned about his sobriety. The fact that he had reason to be concerned was to my mind reason to forbid him to drive". heh.

[DingDong]

Well that cops an arse-ho, but dude... your tempting fate, before you did that you were just another face in the crowd
what he thinks

[marty]

On another note nice to see that some of you have seen the reason this is such a sad story. The cops prove to us yet againg that some of them have no interest in public safety, only in giving tickets
hope next time he is out at night refusing to do anything but sit on the bike for 30min looking at people go past, that someone who is drunk gives him a nudge when he is heading home on the motorway so that he can learn the true value of prevention and the true value an extra ticket to your name has when you are laying in a hospital bed. If you are after money and promotions and not public safety pick a career more carefuly for everyones sake.

actually, the cops have no interest in talking to try hard pretend 'sober' drivers who think they can get away with 'a couple' of drinks, then rely on someone else to take responsibility for their inability to control their alcohol intake.

if you felt that you had to walk around for an hour and get a kebab before driving, then you were kidding yourself that you were sober enough to drive.

and you think that 100% of cops on the street haven't seen what drunk drivers/pedestrians can do to themselves and others? wake the fuck up from your sheltered little life.

[jaybee180]

well actually i ended up going for a kabab and walk spending extra hour in town to make sure i was ok, (looking after 3 drunk girls in the process two of whom didnt understand why i kept telling them not to spark conversations with strange men and tell them how drunk they were)
But its great to see lots of people jumping to the worst conclusions were all in your eyes... so go fuk yourselfs

On another note nice to see that some of you have seen the reason this is such a sad story. The cops prove to us yet againg that some of them have no interest in public safety, only in giving tickets
hope next time he is out at night refusing to do anything but sit on the bike for 30min looking at people go past, that someone who is drunk gives him a nudge when he is heading home on the motorway so that he can learn the true value of prevention and the true value an extra ticket to your name has when you are laying in a hospital bed. If you are after money and promotions and not public safety pick a career more carefuly for everyones sake.

You're a fucking idiot with a bad attitude. Anyone who wishes a hospital visit on someone else is nothing but a waste of space. I wonder how you would feel if it was your son/daughter/mother/brother etc that you wiped off the road after having had "just a couple"!!! Grow up and take responsibility for your own actions and stop trying to blame other people for your own stupidity!

Sober driver - yeah right. If you weren't such a smacker it could almost be funny enough to be a Tui ad. I hope you're never the sober driver for me!

[StoneChucker]

Stink, I don't have anyone to be the sober driver for My rule is one drink = no drive ... simple. However, take for example Jazbug5's leaving do, I had 5 beers and a shot between 7pm and 9pm. I stopped drinking at 9pm, and drove home at almost 1am. I was more than confident that I was legal, as well as fine to drive after 4 hours with no drinking. I'm also not skinny.

Honestly, I think that I would have tested under the limit even if I had driven home at 10pm. You'd be suprised at what you can drink and be legal in SOME situations. But, it's safer and more responsible to drive completely alcohol free.

[Skyryder]

Got mixed feelings on this one. On one hand I see the role of the police as one of prevention as well as prosecution. If some dude for whatever reason asks for a breath test prior to lighting up the ignition is he not acting in a responsible manner in respect to the drink driving laws. And could it not be argued that a police officer by his refusal to administer the test has failed to act in a manner of the public good.

It seems to me that the refusal has more to do with the officers perception of 'what if' than actual public safety.
Now I am open to some enlightnement on this aspect of the thread.

But on the other hand, and it is a reasonable position, that if you think you need a breath test then better not drive. Now I have no problem with that as it sound common sense. But with alcohol common sense seems to evaporate with every slash.

At present police policy in respect to the drink driving laws is to 'remove' drunk or suspect drivers 'off' the road. I believe that in addition to that policy measures should be implemented so that drivers if they wish to be tested can do so. This could be carried out with a visible police presence at drinking establishments say on a random basis. I personaly believe that some good PR could be the outcome of such a policy and it would also give police observation of potential trouble.

Skyryder

[marty]

self testing instruments are avaiable on trademe for anyone who wants them. if someone asked a fireman if he should light a fire - it'll only be a small one - what do you think the response would be?

[StoneChucker]

self testing instruments are avaiable on trademe for anyone who wants them. if someone asked a fireman if he should light a fire - it'll only be a small one - what do you think the response would be?

Depends how drunk the fireman was when you asked him

EDIT - You can also get them from New World, for like $7 each - disposable ones that is. (EDIT #2, breathtesting kits that is, not fireman)

[250learna]

ok it seems to me that everyone here is assuming i was shit faced, i wasnt i was not drunk but i was afraid that i might be just over the limit, how does it go... bout an hour to precoess a standard drink on average?
In my case an hour certainly could have made a difference if i went home right away I dont know if i would have been just over or just under. After an hour i was 100% sure that i was under the limit, i would not have indangered other people to save myself some cab money, and thats not even considering the licence

[ZorsT]

When I first read the thread i thought exactly as you did - that cop is a wanker, and he wasn't doing his job.
Then I read why, and it makes sence.
It is also my policy that if i am drinking, i am not driving, and if my driver has been drinking (more than one beer/wine) I will be walking or taking a cab, simple.

[Slingshot]

The internet affords us the oppurtunity to to be high and mighty...doesn't it?

The reality is that after 6 beers, sometimes I feel fine to drive, but sometimes I don't. Would I be over the limit??? YES.

The question here doesn't appear to be about was he too drunk to get in a car and make it home without having an accident, it's about is he too drunk to not get a DIC conviction if he's caught.

In my view (not necessarily endorsed by KiwiBiker or the NZ government), sometimes you can be over the legal limit and still be safe to drive.

Me personaly, two beers is my limit for driving the car, one beer for the bike and that's at least over an hour an a half.

And I can't believe more people didn't find my previous post humorous. You bastards! (ps. thanks TonyB)

Can someone pass me another beer please (or a long island ice tea).

[spudchucka]

If some dude for whatever reason asks for a breath test prior to lighting up the ignition is he not acting in a responsible manner in respect to the drink driving laws.

No! He is seeking clarification of how irresponsible he has been up until that point and whether that previous irresponsibilty is going to get him in the shit. Responsibility would be that as a "sober driver" he ensured that he remained sober by not drinking in the first place.

And could it not be argued that a police officer by his refusal to administer the test has failed to act in a manner of the public good.

No! By testing a driver that may be on the cusp of being over the limit but still returns a negative result and therby endorsing that person as being OK to drive, the cop is working against the public good by allowing a potentially impaired driver onto the roads.

It seems to me that the refusal has more to do with the officers perception of 'what if' than actual public safety.
Now I am open to some enlightnement on this aspect of the thread.

It has more to do with the officers experience with drunken f*&k-wits.

But on the other hand, and it is a reasonable position, that if you think you need a breath test then better not drive. Now I have no problem with that as it sound common sense. But with alcohol common sense seems to evaporate with every slash.

Alcohol for many people is simply an instant arsehole in a can. Its like a magic potion that turns otherwise well meaning and sensible people into complete lack-wits. If you have been drinking then don't drive and don't ask a cop to test you unless you want to be offended like the idiot that started this thread.

At present police policy in respect to the drink driving laws is to 'remove' drunk or suspect drivers 'off' the road. I believe that in addition to that policy measures should be implemented so that drivers if they wish to be tested can do so.

For the reasons previously stated, the answer is "bad idea". there are plenty of alcohol testing devices people can purchase if they think they want to push their boundries by consuming booze and then driving. It isn't and should not be the cops job to pretest drunks for their present driving ability.

This could be carried out with a visible police presence at drinking establishments say on a random basis. I personaly believe that some good PR could be the outcome of such a policy and it would also give police observation of potential trouble.

Resources are already stretched beyond reasonable limits and you want cops to set up testing stations outside pubs. The problem with pubs and alcohol is that at 3:00am when the publicans have finished filling arsholes full of piss they then tip them all out onto the street all at once. This has a profound effect on people and often causes them to start fighting each other, randomly go about damaging other peoples property, fall unconscious into the middle of busy carriage ways, get into cars and do burn outs to impress all the drunk girlies and generally behave in a manner that is disorderly and against the public peace.

On any typical Thurday, Friday & Saturday night the last thing the police need to be doing is wasting resources by nurse maiding people who can't control their own drinking. Driving a motor vehicle and drinking alcohol is about taking personal responsibility for your actions. Police officers are not a replacement common sense gland for drunks. Anyone who drinks and drives is a fool.

[Aitch]

In our patch, we are now taking keys off anyone who "Fails Youth", even if they are an adult, precisely for the above reason... if we let them go, knowing they have alcohol in their system, then they crash and kill someone, someone will want to know why we let them go.

BC.

But I wouldd respectfully sugesst that they are misguided. What you are doing is penalising the driver when he or she has committed no offence. What next? Taking someone's keys if they happen to mention that they might have a beer or two later???