When I was a magistrate I was surprised just how many drink driving cases were morning after offenses, and not just at this time of year.

I was also surprised at just how far over the limit most of the drivers were. I never dealt with a case where the motorist was marginally over the limit and might genuinely have thought they were legal. They were all well over, often 2-3 times the limit, and must have known they were unfit to drive.

It may be that the cases I dealt with weren't a representative sample, but I dealt with enough of them to realise that there are some seriously dangerous drivers on the road in the morning.

Not sure if it's true but I was under the impression that they only prosecute if the offender is double the limit.

Not sure if it is double the limit but they won't prosecute if you are up to a certain level over the limit so you won't see people in court who are only just over the limit.

Limit is 35mg per 100ml of breath and they won't normally prosecute you if you are at 40 or under.

Its not double, but the minimum I can remember was in the low 40's, although she had been in a minor accident.

Drink driving is just as stupid as using your mobile phone whilst driving.

I am baffled by the OP. As I understand it he / she is saying that its basically ok to be over the limit unless its between 10:30pm and 04:00am. If I am right in this assumption, its precisely this kind of attitude that means we have to spend millions advertising the dangers of drink driving. I assumed most sensible people had woken up and smelt the coffee on this issue.
For the sake of a cab / bus you lose your licence, in some cases your job and then get stung big time for insurance once the ban is spent. Not to mention the social stigma. A few hours in a cell. Then the court appearance and costs. That's all assuming you don't kill yourself or others.
It's a simple choice. Risk it and accept the consequences if it goes tits up, or don't do it what ever time of the day it is.
As for those who think the Police (yes that's their title not the usual derogatory Mitchell Esk names we have seen on this thread) are simply spot checking, how do you know this. In London at the moment there is a op (Op Cubo) that is targeting unlicensed drivers. Regular roadside checks can be seen and are reaping rewards. The police have the technology and intelligence to target the correct vehicles if they get a DD out of it as well then it's a win bonus in my mind. The sooner drink drivers, those who use their mobiles while driving and uninsured are off the road the better it will be for all of us who stick to the law.

Oh dear. I'm agreeing with Kirkstaller. (or at least I think I am)

If someone goes the pub and has 5 or 6 pints and then gets in the car to drive home then they have no arguments about being pulled. Someone goes out and has 7 or 8 pints, walks home or gets a taxi has a kebab etc etc and is pulled the day after when lets face it, they may have alcohol in their system but are far from drunk and I would feel slightly sorry for them. They probably have more of their senses and awareness than someone who hasn't had a drink but is rushing because they overslept or couldn't get the kids up in time. Will the police start pulling people and asking how much sleep they've had?

Oh, and before the sin bin moral high horse police start, I don't drive so am not saying this because I do it.

This is very interesting science. I had no idea. Let me get this straight; when consumed over an evening, alcohol impairs the ability to drive; but in a few hours time, the physiological effects are reversed and it actually [iimproves[/i your driving?

Who knew?

An ill-considered post.
I won't break it down into bits, mainly because I can't be doing with screeds, but it's not logical. There is no basis for the sympathy you are offering these people.
Just what are the police supposed to do when faced with a problem like this?
The law has been made, they are obliged to enforce it.

Sorry, no time to reply. I'm driving to Spain tomorrow so I'm off to get totally wasted now, as I want my driving to be at its peak for morning.

I'll have a word with my lads in the force and make sure you get a clear run.
We don't want to make life hard for law-breaking drink drivers.
We just want to p/ss off law-abiding folk and infringe their human rights.
Anyway ... mind how you go.

Statistically drink-drivers contribute to 20% of all road accidents, so if we got shut of the 80% sober drivers surely the roads would be safer?

Where do I say it makes you a better driver? The morning after you will have more of your senses than the night before obviously and imo are less likely to drive eratically than someone in a hurry. Yes your still breaking the law yes you should still be punished I was simply saying I have sympathy for these people compared to those who drive home from the pub.

Obviously I should have known nobody on here would agree considering the fact that nobody on here has ever drove with any alcohol in tbeir system, own a copied DVD/CD, downloaded a film, watched a TV program online or broke a single law.

One could also argue that because they have more of their senses, they are in a better position to make a rational judgement than the night before.
Then if they subsequently fall foul of the law, they deserve even less sympathy.
It's just a thought.

Except they don't. For many years now, road accident statistics have become increasingly meaningless, due to the fact that, for the overwhelming majority of road traffic collisions, you have as much chance of getting the police to attend as you have of getting Starbucks to pay corporation tax.

The statistics can only ever tell a story of those collisions of which details are recorded, and if 90%-plus of all collisions are not attended by the police then the 20% statistic is pretty meaningless.

If 100% of the non-recorded collisions were contributed to by alcohol, then the overall statistic would be over 90%. If none of them were, the statistic would be hardly over 2%. The actual truth could lie anywhere in between, and nobody actually has a clue.

Doesn't work like that though does it, I've done all of the above (although I'm not sure whats illegal about watching a tv program online ?) but still have enough of a brain to understand that those other things are illegal and that I shouldn't have done them and that if anyone else does then if they get caught they should be punished.

Hypocritical - its a way of life.

Show me a man who claims not to be a hypocrite and I'll show you an hypocrite.

I'll show you a [ihypocrite[/i if you want?

Indeed, I was just changing it as you posted.

Look at the time of editing, same time as your post.
My problem is, as well as being a hypocrite, I am a hypochondriac.
You can understand the confusion now can't you?

I did a bit of looking around on this subject expecting a lot of campaigns and this one really caught my eye:

[urlhttp://www.drink-driving-limit.co.uk[/url

Some of the facts and figures scare the living daylights out of me.

Personally, I don't drink - but it still effects me. I worry about other drivers on the road.

I guess that's what it's there to do.

I'm not quite sure how to take the gender part of that page.
It states that 2,500 women where arrested for being over the limit and that 43,000 gave negative results. Then tells us that 10,000 men where arrested but doesn't tell us how many where tested as negative? so that one may not be as clear cut as it should be.

Of course I disagree with drink driving entirely and have never personally taken the risk. I don't drink anymore but when I did, There is no way I would have been safe to drive a car in some of the states I used to wake up in. You may not feel as smashed as you did the night before. But I was damn sure that I wasn't with it enough to be able to control a vehicle in a safe manner.

If you know you are driving somewhere in the morning and still choose to get leathered the night before, knowing that you will be rough and still have alcohol in your system you deserve what's coming to you.

To the best of my knowledge none of the ones highlighted have killed anyone.