New Drink/driving Law...

[BroadScot]

Hi All,

 

Just in case any of you are driving up over the border or flying and hiring a car, a wee reminder, that as of midnight tonight the new drink-driving law in Scotland comes into force  . The new limit being 50mg not 80mg. Oh and as a wee add on, remember its 5p now for a polly bag too up here! 

 

 

 

Iain.

[10B]

And don't forget the price of oil has gone down.

I bet you love us now?

[CheshireCat]

Good I for one am all for it , it would be good to see similar laws on the river ...

[MauriceMynah]

Sorry CC, I don't agree with you on that one (The river bit) It wopuld devastate the Norfolk Broads as a holiday venue.

[CheshireCat]

What do people only come on holiday on the Norfolk broads to get pissed that's a poor holiday , I like a wee bram but I tend to weight till we are moored up for the night and enjoy a half or even two , you can do a  lot of damage with eight and a half ton when your not sober but that only my opinion ...

[donnygeoff]

I don't think MM was condoning getting ratted and helming, but I like to moor up at dinner time have a snack and a few, then when leaving for the night time mooring have a bottle on the move, this would put me over the drink drive limit of 50ml... but am I unsafe at 3 - 4 mph.......

Yes if you are ratted, you should not be on a boat, never mind helming one, but a few enjoyable real ales is not a problem IMHO.

 

   

[Guest]

That's the difficulty though, the level of alcohol which impairs driving or helming ability varies considerably from one person to another.

 

A couple of "drams" may have little apparent effect on some people, but can make others legless.

 

The devastating consequences of alcohol related car accidents usually fall on the sober victims and their families.

 

Great news from Scotland then, England should follow suit on that one.

 

As for breathalysers on boats, yes, a tricky one, I agree.

 

A much slower moving environment, though a very small minority on the Broads do indeed appear to get way past car drink/drive limits, hardly being able to climb back on the boat, let alone control it.

 

It would seem unfair though to prosecute the much larger proportion of people that would fail a car breathalyser test but are still very much in command of their faculties for helming a boat at 4mph enjoying the sunshine...

[Matt]

50ml will be the blood limit which can sometimes take hours to obtain-what's happening with the breath limit (35mics per 100mls in the UK)? Presume that's going down as well?

I guess people could also be driving under the limit in the North of England and then cross into Scotland and be over the limit!

[BroadScot]

Tell me Iain other than you are there any Scotch people who will pass the breathalyser in a morning?

Dave

Dave,

You would need to contact Police Scotland for that one. I am sure there will be someone who will be driving illegaly up here, in the same  way as it stands now the 80mg law in England catches a number the following morning. 

 

Personally, I agree with the new law, having witnessed a drink driving related accident. I do however feel, lets leave the Broads as they are, there will always be the ejit who goes OTT, its the nature of the beast as they say.

 

I brought the new law to the attention of all for that specific reason if you are crossing the border today. Best to be forewarned than left to find out when its too late IMHO.

 

 Iain.

[littlesprite]

Saw a item on this mornings news about this, showed a road where if you turn right your ok at 79mg, if you go left your breaking the law.

[Gracie]

Donnygeoff pretty much described the way we spend our holidays on the Broads, we certainly don't get drunk but very much over the limit if we were driving a car, as has been said you are always going to get someone far too drunk to helm a boat, to be honest we have witnessed a few over the years. To put a limit on drinking on a boat could put a huge dent in the hire industry in my opinion. I am not saying people go on a Broads holiday to get legless but I would imagine a huge amount of us enjoy nothing more than cruising along with the odd glass of something and the roof or canopy open in the sunshine. 

 

If a law was to come into force, I would imagine there would be a lot less cruising and most mooring spaces taken up 24/7 Lol. Why should the odd drunk spoil it for the rest of us, having said that it does only take one to cause an accident which could end in tragedy not to mention the damage to boats hire or private.

 

Grace

[JawsOrca]

Thanks for this Iain.. I'd love to get back up there for hogmanay but this pesky boat needs finishing (at least it needs finishing now though!).

 

This is good news for Scotland. Lets hope the rest of the UK follows soon. I for one won't get anywhere near the car if I have a drink but I rarely drink anyway so get legless on one (well giddy)! In my eyes drink driving is disgusting, there are no excuses and anyone caught doing so should be heavy penalised  (same for drugs) sorry but thats MHO..

 

I must admit part of the pleasure of norfolk is not having the car and being able to drink more and I admit I do have a drink at lunchtime (although I generally sober off a long time before we switch the engine on even if others are sober). As others have mentioned there is huge difference between 70mph and 4mph.  I agree that if the helmsman is wasted and causing a (potential) harm to people or property there should be tough consequences (and I thought there are now aren't there?) but I don't think it should be as tough as this Scottish law. (Although if it was it wouldn't bother me too much as I'll just stay in the pub longer and relax for longer! ).

[Gracie]

Well said Alan (Jaws) it is disgusting and no place for it under any circumstances, being the time of year it is, there are some that will do it anyway, to hell with the consequences and no amount of limits or fines are going to stop it unfortunately. I will not set foot behind a wheel even if Iv'e had half a glass of something, simple

 

Grace

[littlesprite]

Whilst I do agree with the new limits, I also wonder how many people could be caught out the morning after, with the limit being so low just 2 or 3 beers the night before could easily leave you over the limit the following morning.

[BroadScot]

The problem is that if you had half a bottle of wine with your evening meal at between 8-10, there is a good chance yo would still be over the limit at 6 the next morning, this precludes anyone from drinking if they have to drive early the next day.

 

Yes, it sure does. Simple solution. Don't drink if driving the following morning. Or if caught doing so, suffer the consequences. 

 

Iain.

[JawsOrca]

Or just stay in the pub all day Dave  

[riyadhcrew]

Dave and All,

 

When the boat builders mould in these little "flat" spaces next to the helm, it's not for tissue boxes. That's where you put youe coffee or tea in the morning and your tipple in the afternoon and evening. I cannot imagine going along the rivers on an extended cruise (maybe north to south or vice versa) without a glass of nice stuff beside me. Don't get me wrong, I would never helm a boat when drunk and would be the first to report anyone who was, but holidays are for having something totally different from the norm and relaxing.

 

It reminds me of a scetch from Dave Allen, who said that 5% of all car (boat) accidents are caused by drunk drivers, which means that 95% of all car (boat) accidents are caused by sober drivers. All the sober drivers should stay moored up and let us dunks helm in peace.   

[MauriceMynah]

I am a great believer in things being legal unless there is good reason for them not to be. (with evidence backing it up)

 

Drinking and driving a car has proved to be dangerous, it is therefore right and proper that it is illegal. What statistics are there to support similar limits for boating?

 

The Helmsman is the only person who is in the cockpit and therefore relatively safe. He should be allowed to drink but his passengers MUST NOT. They are the ones who will be doing the mooring up, They are the ones who will be dancing on the roof, They are the ones who will be sitting on the gunwale dangling legs in the water.

 

Be very careful when trying to set laws for other people. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[seaboater]

All very righteous so far. The stats seem to show ( I know, stats!!!) that the vast majority are responsible about drinking and driving, and the accidents are caused by those who have no respect for the law and other people's safety. These people drive at double or triple the legal limit.

 

I believe that exactly the same applies on boats, and the idiots will carry on regardless of any regulation changes. If we carry on screwing down the limits, many areas of life will be the worse for it and the killjoys will have their way.

[jeffbroadslover]

^{It always amazes me that pubs always seem to have large areas for car parking.}

 

^{If there were LESS car parking space would it mean the pub would ultimately have to close because of lack of customers?}

 

^{I feel that we should follow the example of some of our continental friends and set the limit at zero.}

 

^{Bet that opens a can of worms.   lol}

 

^Jeff 

[MauriceMynah]

Many people arrive by car, that doesn't mean they're all driving (2 or more in a car) so car parks are necessary.

I too favour the 0% in blood, everyone knows where they stand when that's the case, but that's for cars... NOT BOATS!!!!!

[SteveO]

I used to live in Iain's part of the world and remember an evening in the Stair Inn (my local) where a guy, who had been drinking pints of "heavy" and whisky chasers all evening, collapsed in a heap at around 8.30pm.

 

The obliging staff carried him out to his car, sat him behind the wheel and even started the engine for him, before he went on his hesitant way, presumably home. 

 

How times have changed since 1975!

 

 

Steve

[MauriceMynah]

Do it all the time sir, do it all the time!