Drink drivers on the telly - f**ks sake

**davereid** · 11th December 2006, 08:46

Banning any alcohol at all would be an easy way to know if you are over the limit or not !

But Ixion is correct in his assesment that the current limit is a safe limit. In years gone by the LTSA have looked at this and been unable to find a relationship between driving with < 80mg and increased accident risk.

It would be banning something that is not a problem. So it would not help the road toll.

Don't forget that we have a certain number of vehicles crash with sober drivers in safe cars travelling at the speed limit.

Saying that alcohol is a factor in a crash is actually not a meaningful or helpful statistic unless you know how many miles are driven by drunk drivers relative to sober drivers.

For example - I am over the drink drive limit and you make a mistake and crash into me. This goes down as an alcohol related accident. So, the statistics tend to double if you are looking for a particular outcome.

For another example, I've noticed that 99.999995% of drivers involved in accidents last year were wearing underpants. Perhaps we should ban underpants ?

The reality is that if 8 out of 100 drivers are drunk, then you would expect 8 out of 100 accidents to involve at least one drunk driver.

Its only important if 8 out of 100 drivers are drunk, but they then become involved in more crashes than they statistically should.

To put it another way, lowering the drink drive limit is like putting an extra bolt in a wheel that wasn't going to fall off anyway.

Getting the REALLY DRUNK drivers off the road is critical. But harrassing safe drivers wont help anything.

**ManDownUnder** · 11th December 2006, 08:52

Don't ban alcohol - confiscate cars.

Drunk? Thanks for the car - bus lane to your left..

*DING* "NEXT"!

Anyone the loses someone else's car gets to pay that person back (either directly or by way of a civil action). All good.

To say you're not allowed to this or that (i.e. not allowed to drink and drive, not allowed to drive without a licence" is al very well and good...

I prefer the "you're not able to do this or that". No car = no drive... and no money either. Bugger huh?

**Ixion** · 11th December 2006, 09:00

Churr bro. Zo I gots 2 go darn da superrrmarrkit carpark eh an gets me anuvver car, cos da pigs done gone conFIScaded da one wot I had. No probs, gedda choice wheels dis time.

**terbang** · 11th December 2006, 09:02

Originally Posted by Beemer

Colloquial usage of the word 'and' to start a sentence is acceptable nowadays - if you read more widely you would be aware of the fact.

That is true but we are Kiwis here and nowadays is an americanism that is creeping into our vocabulary.

**Pixie** · 11th December 2006, 10:30

Originally Posted by Ixion

Perhaps the significant word in Mr Pervert's post was "few".

There is no objective evidence that small quantities of alcohol affect driving ability.

The issue is usually presented in highly emotive terms : only to the wowser does one drink = drunk.

Statistical data appears to back this up . Where alcohol-related driving failure is implicated as a cause of crashes almost always the alchohol level is WAY over the 80 wozzinames per diddlyfar limit. In other words, the "drunk" drivers who are a danger on the roads really ARE drunk. The people who have had a "few" drinks, are within the present limits, are not a danger.

Since the danger is posed by people who are significantly in excess of the presen tlimit - i.e. they ignore the present law, what on earth makes anyone suppose that they would pay any greater heed to a revised, lower limit law.

Of course prohibitionists (still an amazingly vocal minority) will have none of this. All alcohol is evil .

This is why enlightened countries, those that don't rely on indoctrination and dogma,are developing impairment tests that will determine a drivers fitness to operate a vehicle,whether the driver has used alcohol,drugs,is ill or tired or just a retard.
But then indoctrination works well as is evidenced by some of the posts on this thread.

**Pixie** · 11th December 2006, 10:34

Originally Posted by RT527

Fact ...Driver who Caused 2 deaths down the road Which I attented was only 10 mgms over the Limit.

.

Must be true then.
What caused the accidents that involved drivers with no alcohol in their system?

**Paul in NZ** · 11th December 2006, 11:05

Of course - all this is well and good but there is a group of people that get caught repeatedly and have a horrendous driving record and we (as a society) cannot stop them reoffending - because they don't care what 'we' think of them....

Like crime - I think a lot of our problems come from not having the balls to stop the pyschopaths

**RT527** · 11th December 2006, 16:45

Originally Posted by Pixie

Must be true then.
What caused the accidents that involved drivers with no alcohol in their system?

most of the Time ..........just plain old stupidity...too fast for the conditions....and wait for it NOT ENUF EXPERIANCE-which is a hard one , because you need to do something in order to gain experiance from it, so whats the answer, older age limit before you can drive?, better education?.......or shit I know this one ...Maybe we can just obey law and drive how we are suposed too???!!!.

**Lou Girardin** · 11th December 2006, 20:05

Originally Posted by jimjim

i dont see your logic there

There isn't any, just misuse of statistics.

**Lou Girardin** · 11th December 2006, 20:11

It may have changed over the years (but I doubt it), but most people slightly over the limit show very little sign of real intoxication. We used to pick most of them up from vehicle equipment offences. This was pre - random checkpoint days.
Staggering drunks were a relative rarity. It's bit like the hundreds of thousands of speeding tickets issued, 75% are for less than 15 over the limit.
But, to be fair, concentration on drink/driving did change the 'she'll be right' culture.

**Clivoris** · 11th December 2006, 20:25

Originally Posted by davereid

For another example, I've noticed that 99.999995% of drivers involved in accidents last year were wearing underpants. Perhaps we should ban underpants ?

I've been going commando for years and have never had an accident involving alcohol. It's about time the rest of society caught onto this simple safety precaution...

Seriously. I totally support the staunch enforcement of the drink-drive laws after having a 4 year old brother being run down and killed by a neighborhood pisshead. Xmas eve many years ago and he was only two blocks from home. Sober yet incompetent driving is a more difficult issue.

**Toaster** · 11th December 2006, 20:39

Originally Posted by WINJA

RUBBISH .
DRINK DRIVING IS ONE OF THE FEW TRAFFIC THINGS I LIKE TO SEE THE PIGS TARGETING, EVEN THE CURRENT BREATH ALCOHOL LIMIT MAY BE TO HIGH

I agree wholeheartedly... I had been tested after having 6 odd beers and blew half the limit (before driving home)......... you'd have to be smashed to break the 400 limit as I could feel the effects after a long day at work. I used to be a 'pig', but prefered catching crims. I don't see the point in catching bikers going for a ride and giving it a 'wee bit of a go'..... Go the bikers

**Toaster** · 11th December 2006, 20:42

I never forgot the fact that my Mum didn't turn up for my 10th birthday.

**Da Bird** · 11th December 2006, 21:48

Originally Posted by RantyDave

One news has been covering a road block checking for drink drivers in South Auckland. One in eight tested positive. Including a woman, pregnant, five times over the limit and her boyfriend who decided to have a go. Apparently they had some people who could barely stand.

Fucks sake, I guess it's the Chrismas pissup season, eh? Significantly more dangerous roads are the order of the day. Great.

Dave

This is normal... its only coz its Christmas that the media are out there. Park a booze bus in Mangere or Otara on almost any night of the week and its full in 10-15 minutes. (After 30 mins, there is a queue forming...) Hasn't changed in the last 10 years I've been doing this job and the attitude of the 16 year old who crashed in Otara last Saturday shows its not about to any time soon.

BC.