Reasons for not Drink Driving

Senna

Might seem like a stupid question, but whats the first thing that comes into your head if confronted with a situation of drinking and driving?

For me its always the risk of being caught and the danger of hurting or killing someone is second. If i'm in pub and someone asks if i want a drink, i'll always say "couldn't, might get stopped by the garda" where as i probably should say "no it too dangerous"

Random

Discussed this with some mates lately too and it is mainly the fear of getting caught that comes to mind first. I guess my main concerns with drink driving from a personal perspective is getting done the next morning or the next day which is where I guess my mind says "you're well able to drive" but it also says "will you pass a breathalyser?".

AugustusMaximus

The fear of either killing someone or crashing the car.

Even when I'm after drinking a long neck and I know I'm not over the limit, I'm still hesitant to drive.

cormie

I don't drink so I don't even have to think about it :P

Bandit12

Anyone who answers "getting caught" needs to have their licence taken off them.

Busta Hyman

Bandit12 wrote: »

Anyone who answers "getting caught" needs to have their licence taken off them.

why?

corktina

thats daft...the breath test is a deterent measure so OF COURSE the fear of getting caught will be high in the list and probably number one with most people

peasant

Bandit12 wrote: »

Anyone who answers "getting caught" needs to have their licence taken off them.

I would also fear getting caught (and possibly losing my licence) much more than killing someone. But not because I'm a selfish bastard but because, like most drivers, I suffer from the delusion that I'm basically a safe driver and that "it will never happen to me".

In the end, it doesn't matter why you're not drinking and driving as long as you just don't.

L1011

Getting caught is the main concern - I need my licence for my job. Then again, there's times that I wouldn't drive due to feeling a bit ropey after a pint when I'd be under the limit just because I don't feel safe.

Shires

Bandit12 wrote: »

Anyone who answers "getting caught" needs to have their licence taken off them.

We prosecute thought crimes now?

The-Game

Personally im curious to hear what the people who chose "Other" would specify as their reason.

craichoe

Because I don't need to, the Netherlands has great public transport

Berty

I don't drink and drive purely because I cannot afford to lose my license because I drive for a living.

After that its because my father drank and drive and got in a lot of trouble over his years.

Third because I might kill somebody which should be the most important but as I specifically organise my nights out so that my car is not necessary then it makes that null and void because I wouldn't consider it because of point 1 - I need my license for work.

BlackWizard

Getting caught.

The description Drink Driving is pretty vague. Some people might think plastered drunk while others like myself might be thinking a large glass of wine or a tall beer.

Stevie Dakota

I'm stunned that on a motoring forum 42% (so far) are citing "Getting caught" as the reason for not drinking and driving. Can deduce then that 42% of the contributers here are idiots?

Alanstrainor

Being honest, i would say it's getting caught that would be my primary concern, closely followed by the chance of injuring myself or others.

Getting caught would be my main concern also.

stealthyspeeder

I'd be afraid in order:

Crashing my car and causing damage to someone else
Getting caught and losing my license
Crashing my car and causing damage to it
Doing something stupid which doesnt envolve the above (eating a kebab and getting it everywhere, smoking and dropping a lit cigarette, leaving the keys in the igition for thieves to steal etc....)

s10

Well steve, on friday i had one pint of carlslberg with a half of a 16 inch pizza , then walked from connolly station to the Guinness brewery and had almost a full pint of Guinness, then walked all the way back from Thomas st to connelly and had another pint.
So answer me this ?
was i over the limit?
how likely would i have killed someone on 3 pints over 3+hours,

some people can handle their drink, and are responsible knowing their limitations.
the laws and rules are put in place for the idiots who cannot.
unfortunately considering the lower class seems to be having all the kids these days the rules are only going to get worse.
and its a pity that people my age who bought houses on the outskirts of dublin are unable to have a few,.


PS: the taxi cost me 40 euro.

afatbollix

Recently I went to a country with no Drink drive laws..

All the cars were crap the roads even worse.. The level of Driving was terrable... Yet every night we went out drink driving ( me as a passanger). It was kinda of a fantisy land. Everyone drove to the pub / night club and drove home.. Hell we did it. Once we were stoped by the cops and was given a ticket, For the driver not wearing his seat belt.......


I like our drink driving laws here, I dont drink drive never will in Ireland my licence is worth too much to me...

bigar

Many years ago I drank and drive until I was driving so dangerously it got scary. The day after my last time and after sobering up I was shocked when I remembered how I drove on a very narrow road.

I decided there and then to never drink and drive again and count myself very lucky I did not hurt anyone in my years of driving like an idiot just because I thought having fun requires alcohol.

jacool

s10 wrote: »

Well steve, on friday i had one pint of carlslberg with a half of a 16 inch pizza , then walked from connolly station to the Guinness brewery and had almost a full pint of Guinness, then walked all the way back from Thomas st to connelly and had another pint.
So answer me this ?
was i over the limit?
how likely would i have killed someone on 3 pints over 3+hours,

some people can handle their drink, and are responsible knowing their limitations.
the laws and rules are put in place for the idiots who cannot.
unfortunately considering the lower class seems to be having all the kids these days the rules are only going to get worse.
and its a pity that people my age who bought houses on the outskirts of dublin are unable to have a few,.


PS: the taxi cost me 40 euro.

Some people think they can handle their drink. How many people do you think that have wrecked other lives thought that they were OK? I used to work in a petrol station beside a pub and was s**t-scared seeing people trying to clamber into their cars before driving home. I was on a bicycle then and always sprinting to get home before being killed.
I left my car in town one night and got clamped, but even though I eff-ed the guy out of it, at least I knew that I wasn't going to kill anyone, not even him ! The taxi costing 40 euro is nothing compared to a clear conscience.
It also amazes me how come we're all such great drivers yet, I am surrounded by spanners every time I go on the road. These people obviously haven't access to the internet ! Or maybe can't type !
Finally, the main problem here is pathetic public transport. I live in the sticks and might even book a hotel this Christmas for the bash and just catch a bus home the next morning.

Tipsy Mac

For me it would be that I would kill some innocent chap or chapette.

Killing myself wouldn't come to mind as that's pure selfishness when you have had a load of alcohol and your worry is your own life. If I maimed myself I could do an advert on the radio telling people what a complete selfish idiot I was, that's about the only worth my life would be afterwards to the country or the economy.

Voodoomelon

For me, being caught is the first thing that pops into my head. But what you have to bear in mind with everyone else that has said the same, is that probably all of us would never dream of driving home with more than 2 or 3 drinks, let alone pissed.

I live just short of a mile from one of my jobs and if I knew i wouldn't be stopped I would probably drive home after two pints tops, the roads are absolutely empty when I leave work at 12am+. But because of the harsh laws (and rightly so), I would never even have a glass of beer before driving. Its either drinking like a fish, or cokes all they way with me, I love driving, I love my car and I love the freedom and its just not worth it.

corktina

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

I'm stunned that on a motoring forum 42% (so far) are citing "Getting caught" as the reason for not drinking and driving. Can deduce then that 42% of the contributers here are idiots?

i dont follow your logic.... i would never drink to such an excess that it would be likely that Id kill someone or even have my driving impaired...its the fear of having JUST over the limit and losing my license that stops me from drink driving... does that make me and the rest of the 42% idiots? I think not....

Viejo Zorro

Reason for not drink driving - Irish roads look as if they have been designed by an angry kid squirting a ketchup bottle on a sheet of glass and are therefore a challenge while sober, but nothing short of a death trap when impaired by drink, drugs or exhaustion.

afatbollix

Anyone else think the kids are drug driving alot more??? I know at least 2 people that I know who do it alot.. and that scares me..

biko

I think that, if there was no law against it, lots and lots of people would drive after drinking.

It's still prevalent in the US, (I was at parties there where everyone got smashed and then drove home) in NI, (I've seen lots of people driving home after drinking) and here (rural pub syndrome).

Done it myself when I was young and stupid.

Bandit12

Shires wrote: »

We prosecute thought crimes now?

If your prepered to drink and drive you have no place on the road. All drink drivers are scum in the eyes of myself and many.

The-Game

Magnus wrote: »

I think that, if there was no law against it, lots and lots of people would drive after drinking.

Definitely, personally i wouldn't see the attraction.

corktina

Bandit12 wrote: »

If your prepered to drink and drive you have no place on the road. All drink drivers are scum in the eyes of myself and many.

did you actually read the posts? :rolleyes:

Thoie

I went for "Other" because I have a few reasons:

1. Hurting someone else/myself
2. Hitting someone/thing under completely unavoidable circumstances, but having it blamed on the fact that I'd had a drink - no matter how much they were at fault (like if a dog fell from the sky on top of your bonnet).
3. A stupid reason by now, but when I was 17/18 I used get stopped all the time. As it happens I was never breathalysed, but I never ever wanted to give them an excuse to stop me driving.

ShadowHearth

other:

I drive 5 years now, and i allways had a rule: if you drink, forget bout driving...

I love mine cars, and i love to drive them fast. you cant drive fast while you drunk. I love mine cars too much to destroy them while i am drunk...

And ofc lossing al NCB, conviction, insurance problems...

ShadowHearth

corktina wrote: »

did you actually read the posts? :rolleyes:

+1

TheNog

Senna wrote: »

Might seem like a stupid question, but whats the first thing that comes into your head if confronted with a situation of drinking and driving?

For me its always the risk of being caught and the danger of hurting or killing someone is second. If i'm in pub and someone asks if i want a drink, i'll always say "couldn't, might get stopped by the garda" where as i probably should say "no it too dangerous"

Had this discussion many years ago with mates.

The question I asked myself is "Which is worse? Getting caught and losing my licence and job for X amount of months or killing someone and living with that for the rest of my life?".

I chose "killing someone"

L1011

Bandit12 wrote: »

If your prepered to drink and drive you have no place on the road. All drink drivers are scum in the eyes of myself and many.

Erm, and not drinking and driving due to not wanting to lose your licence makes you "prepared to drink and drive" HOW exactly? :rolleyes:

Victor

What about not drink driving because that is the right thing to do?

s10 wrote: »

Well steve, on friday i had one pint of carlslberg with a half of a 16 inch pizza , then walked from connolly station to the Guinness brewery and had almost a full pint of Guinness, then walked all the way back from Thomas st to connelly and had another pint.
So answer me this ?
was i over the limit?
how likely would i have killed someone on 3 pints over 3+hours,

Well we don't know how big you are or what your metabolism is like. However, with standard size and metabolism, it would take 6 hours to be at zero alcohol.

Note that while the pizza slowed your absorption of alcohol, it also slowed the breakdown of alcohol, as your body burned the pizza before it burned the alcohol.

Thoie

Victor wrote: »

What about not drink driving because that is the right thing to do?

Note that I've already replied and I don't drink and drive. Do remember that the common perception of it being the "right" thing is relatively new - maybe 20 years or so.

MissFlitworth

I voted 'Other', I have drink driving broken down in my head into driving after drinking but when I'd still be under the limit/driving the morning after drinking when I should be under the limit and then driving when definitely over the limit/drunk.

I wouldn't drive after having a glass of wine or bottle of beer because even though I should officially be under the limit I couldn't be 100% sure that I am. In that case I wouldn't be driving because I'd be afraid I'd get caught. Same thing with driving the morning after drinking, I should be under the limit but wouldn't have any way of proving that to myself to my satisfaction so just wouldn't chance it.

Driving when I would definitely be over the limit or drunk I just wouldn't do because I could hurt myself or hurt someone else or damage my car. Also because I think it's a super sh1tty thing to do

richiepoorman

If you need a reason not to drink and drive watch the vid from Australia on the Christmas drive campaign thread, enough said!!!!!.

HungryJoey

I've often thought about this scenario myself also, luckily I'm not a frequent drinker. Infact I've almost stopped drinking since I've started driving 2 years ago, i'll only drink on certain occasions.

First off; I would never drink & drive period. Not even 1 pint of a shandy and drive home.

Second, when I am out for a few drinks I am constantly working out how much alcohol I've taken in and trying to work out what time I need to be driving at the next day. I'll be honest and say the first reason that comes into my mind is loosing my license by being caught although the dangerous side does play an awful lot in the decision.

I will always try and wait as long as possible before I drive the next day and if I feel bad I WILL find an alternative way.

I know lads that will have a few drinks and chance their arm and drive home or lads that will be out on a serious session and be up the next morning and out driving. They don't even have to think twice. It's quite scarey really. I've often tried talking to other people about the stupid ness of doing so but it just seems to go over their head.

Luckily I've never been in a situation where I was drunk driving so I don't really know what it feels like to be in control of a car but I can only imagine the guilt of killing somebody in such a situation would be mind blowing, even to the most careless of people.