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Drinking in car legal ?

  • 08-04-2013 9:43pm
    #1
    jimmyjoe951
    Registered Users Posts: 108 ✭✭


    Just wondering is it legal to drink in your own car, when it is parked up and the engine is shut off. I've heard you also have to remove the keys from the ignition which is fair enough. Anyways i was under the impression that this was legal until a friend of mine told me today that while he was parked up, with a few friends who were pre drinking ( he wasnt ,he was designated driver)before they went into town, a guard pulled up and made him do a breathylser test. He passed obviously but what was the point of this and what would the guard have said/done had he have failed? Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    ResearchWill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭ResearchWill


    There are a number of threads on this exact question.


  • #3
    guttenberg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 960 ✭✭✭guttenberg


    I think you can be arrested for being drunk in charge of a vehicle. Essentially it means you'd be foul of the law if you slept in your car after a heavy night out with the keys on you. Not having the keys on your possession(i.e. hide them somewhere outside of the cabin) would help avoid any trouble with a passing guard but it'd still be a situation I'd try to avoid if possible.


  • #4
    ResearchWill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭ResearchWill


    guttenberg wrote: »
    I think you can be arrested for being drunk in charge of a vehicle. Essentially it means you'd be foul of the law if you slept in your car after a heavy night out with the keys on you. Not having the keys on your possession(i.e. hide them somewhere outside of the cabin) would help avoid any trouble with a passing guard but it'd still be a situation I'd try to avoid if possible.

    The offence is being drunk or intoxicated while in charge with the intention to drive. The key trick may or may not work because a case held that an intention to drive when you woke up was enough. It's a complicated area of law and best not to mix any drink or drug with cars.


  • #5
    Wildlife Actor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 488 ✭✭Wildlife Actor




  • #6
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,804 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Yup. If you're in a car, and you have or have access to the keys, you're "in charge". Drinking in charge is not an offence, but being drunk in charge is.


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  • #7
    bitburger
    Registered Users Posts: 364 ✭✭bitburger


    i am weary enough about this one, usually i will sleeep in a seat that is not the drivers seat and put the keys out of immediate reach, just in case like, ive also slept in my van which has a wall inbetween the cabin and the van, wonder what the legal standing on it would be there.


  • #8
    slimjimmc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,786 ✭✭✭slimjimmc


    Peregrinus wrote: »
    Yup. If you're in a car, and you have or have access to the keys, you're "in charge". Drinking in charge is not an offence, but being drunk in charge is.

    Isn't it being drunk* in charge with intent to drive? I understood you can be full as a tick in your car so long as you have no means of driving e.g. keys safely elsewhere where you can't get at them while you're still drunk.

    *over the permitted drink-driving limit


  • #9
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,804 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    slimjimmc wrote: »
    Isn't it being drunk* in charge with intent to drive? I understood you can be full as a tick in your car so long as you have no means of driving e.g. keys safely elsewhere where you can't get at them while you're still drunk.

    *over the permitted drink-driving limit
    The offence is indeed being drunk in charge with intent to drive or attempt to drive. But the intent is presumed; it's up to the defendant to rebut the presumption. If you're away from home, in your car, with the key, it's kind of difficult to rebut the presumption unless you are with, say, a sober friend who is the designated driver for the evening.

    And the "being drunk" bit can be established either by evidence that you are over the permitted blood/alcohol limit or that you are under the influence to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control. So if you're falling-down drunk, passed-out drunk, slurred speech and unstead walk drunk, they don't need a blood test to convict you.


  • #10
    surly joe
    Registered Users Posts: 20 ✭surly joe


    bitburger wrote: »
    i am weary enough about this one, usually i will sleeep in a seat that is not the drivers seat and put the keys out of immediate reach, just in case like, ive also slept in my van which has a wall inbetween the cabin and the van, wonder what the legal standing on it would be there.
    Passengers shouldn't be in the back of a commercial,drunk or sober,so they'd probably do you for that anyway!


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