Cyprus-Forum.com

by **supporttheunderdog** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:40 pm

....And the science shows measurable effects at about the 0.2 BAC level, and there was a promise by DC to reduce it in the UK but he was disuaded by the booze lobby.

by **cyprusgrump** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:57 pm

supporttheunderdog wrote:....And the science shows measurable effects at about the 0.2 BAC level, and there was a promise by DC to reduce it in the UK but he was disuaded by the booze lobby.

But how does the 'measurable effect' compare to that of say not sleeping well the night before, of being on certain prescription drugs or having a CD on in the car or talking to a passenger or having a screaming child in the back seat...?

If it was reduced would that make a significant difference to the death rate on the roads...?

I just looked up the statistics - there are nearly ninety thousand convictions for drink driving in the UK every year... I'd love to know what percentage of those were driving dangerously... What is the cost of prosecuting all of those people - it must be enormous... 380 fatal accidents involving illegal blood alcohol levels and nearly ninety thousand criminal records... To me, the balance seems wrong.

And where do we go from here...? If the level is reduced and accidents aren't, what do we ban next...?

by **theodosia** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 8:01 pm

FragnaticDeath wrote:Cyprusgrump all I see from your posts is you moaning about being able to drink and drive. Alcohol might not affect you the same way it affects other people.
Learn what is right or wrong. When one day your child gets run over by a drunk driver then don't complain just say at his coffin "Forgive him son he was only trying to have fun with his alcohol and his friends".

But I do agree with you even taking pills that might affect your driving is wrong, but at the end of the day it comes to the moral values of the driver to see what's right or wrong.

well said

by **theodosia** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 8:13 pm

cyprusgrump wrote:
FragnaticDeath wrote:Cyprusgrump all I see from your posts is you moaning about being able to drink and drive. Alcohol might not affect you the same way it affects other people.
Learn what is right or wrong. When one day your child gets run over by a drunk driver then don't complain just say at his coffin "Forgive him son he was only trying to have fun with his alcohol and his friends".

But I do agree with you even taking pills that might affect your driving is wrong, but at the end of the day it comes to the moral values of the driver to see what's right or wrong.

Exactly! Like apc says, you are in fact agreeing with me!

It comes down to moral values and personal responsibility!

Your 'drunk' that runs the child over, he doesn't care... he has ignored endless campaigns against driving while under the influence... Only tough sentencing will work on him.

Question: How many children are run over by drunks each year? My guess is that it would be a tiny number... my guess is that there are probably more children killed falling off the swings in the park... yet we are constantly bombarded with messages telling us that it is almost a daily occurrence to the point where theodosia thinks it necessary to post on every forum she visits to stop people drinking and causing carnage...

I'm not really even moaning about being able to drink and drive - it is about the nanny state that constantly interferes in our lives... it is about people that become so used to being told what to do that they can't think for themselves any more...

... it is about people trotting out the message that is shouted from the media every day without even thinking if it is right or not...

just to correct you, i do not post on every forum i visit to stop people from drinking and driving. but its a pity that people think its ok to drink and drive. have been hearing of to many of late being killed because they would rather drive then take a taxi home. just last year a teenager was killed while walking home by a drunk driver, and another a few months later when a young girl at the age of 11 was killed on her way home from school. really feel for the family!

by **theodosia** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 8:30 pm

regardless of what is said about me (even though this person has never met me or in fact knows me) i can think for myself, please let me point out that I am very capable of deciding what is right or wrong. no government tells me what to think, in fact i don't believe or trust a word the government or BBC have to say. it is all propaganda. but what i do believe to be wrong is when someone has had to much to drink and then gets in his car and drive is not only wrong but a selfish. how many other lives that are ruined when someone you love has been killed because the driver didn't give a dam.
As for visting other forums this is the only one i have and use and would be grateful if people didn't say things in which they know nothing about.

by **cyprusgrump** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:22 pm

An interesting discussion!

I did a little research...

Deaths on the road in Cyprus (per 100,000 population) - 10.4

Deaths on the road in The UK (per 100,000 population) - 3.59

So having a lower drink driving limit doesn't seem to dramatically reduce road deaths - perhaps this is why...

Annual road deaths in the UK - ~2,000

Due to drink driving - 250 (source RoSPA)

So, the huge cost of catching and criminalising 90,000 people might well have been better spent in other areas...?

RoSPA wrote:More than 300 deaths a year involve someone being "careless, reckless or in a hurry", and a further 125 involve "aggressive driving".

RoSPA wrote:More than 430 people are killed in crashes involving young car drivers aged 17 to 24 years, every year, including over 150 young drivers, 90 passengers and more than 180 other road users.

So, perhaps instead of sitting outside pubs waiting for 'drunks' the police were in fact out patrolling and looking for bad driving they could have saved significantly more lives...?

@ theodosia - I'm not attacking you, I'm challenging the view that having a couple of drinks before getting behind the wheel is a heinous crime.... Given the millions (of taxpayer's hard earned) spent on 'government don't drink and drive' campaigns i don't think this forum (or any other) needs you to parrot out the same message....

by **theodosia** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:50 pm

cyprusgrump wrote:An interesting discussion!

I did a little research...

Deaths on the road in Cyprus (per 100,000 population) - 10.4

Deaths on the road in The UK (per 100,000 population) - 3.59

So having a lower drink driving limit doesn't seem to dramatically reduce road deaths - perhaps this is why...

Annual road deaths in the UK - ~2,000

Due to drink driving - 250 (source RoSPA)

So, the huge cost of catching and criminalising 90,000 people might well have been better spent in other areas...?

RoSPA wrote:More than 300 deaths a year involve someone being "careless, reckless or in a hurry", and a further 125 involve "aggressive driving".

RoSPA wrote:More than 430 people are killed in crashes involving young car drivers aged 17 to 24 years, every year, including over 150 young drivers, 90 passengers and more than 180 other road users.

So, perhaps instead of sitting outside pubs waiting for 'drunks' the police were in fact out patrolling and looking for bad driving they could have saved significantly more lives...?

@ theodosia - I'm not attacking you, I'm challenging the view that having a couple of drinks before getting behind the wheel is a heinous crime.... Given the millions (of taxpayer's hard earned) spent on 'government don't drink and drive' campaigns i don't think this forum (or any other) needs you to parrot out the same message....

that's good to know, and i don't mind at all that we all have different views on drink driving. its just that I'm a woman and not a parrot as i have my own views. a couple of drinks is ok, what i was saying is that some people go out knowing full well that they are going to get blinding drunk and take their car. so we will just have to agree to disagree and i hold no grudge against you.

by **Get Real!** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:09 am

theodosia wrote:...please let me point out that I am very capable of deciding what is right or wrong.

I used to have a crazy aunt who'd say that!

In the end, we had to restrain and lock her up…

by **supporttheunderdog** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:05 am

here is a link to stats
Drink Driving Statistics | Statistics On Drinking & Driving
http://www.drinkdriving.org/drink_driving_statistics_uk.php#accidentstatisticsand
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9094/road-accidents-and-safety-drink-drive-estimates-2011.pdf

Reported road casualties Great Britain: main results 2011 - Statistics - Department for Transport
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120911052124/http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/reported-road-casualties-gb-main-results-2011/

in theu k in lastyear for which stats are available 480 people were killed in accindents involving drivers over ther limit - close to 20% of all road deaths.

over 1,1 million people in the UK are hpspitalised each year fir booze related issues but-i amnot saying to bsn booxe.-

by **GreekIslandGirl** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:08 am

supporttheunderdog wrote:in theu k in lastyear for which stats are available 480 people were killed in accindents involving drivers over ther limit - close to 20% of all road deaths.

over 1,1 million people in the UK are hpspitalised each year fir booze related issues but-i amnot saying to bsn booxe.-

Never mind "Drinking and Driving" - how about not drinking before writing?