Drink Drivers Named

[Foxholer]

Failing the breath test does not mean they were guilty of a drink driving offence. It means that there is sufficient evidence to arrest the person to take a more accurate sample (blood or urine) to ascertain the true level of alcohol in their system.

The case could be dropped for different reasons eg. incorrect procedures involving the taking of the samples (time of sampling for example), incorrect procedure behind the arrest.

If you refer back to the link in the OP, then you will see that it's only after the person has been charged (following a positive 2nd sample/Blood test) that they become candidates for the list.

It is already general Police policy to release names to the Press where a person is charged - something I have significant (innocent until proven guilty) qualms about, but not so much in this case (where a conviction is almost guaranteed).

There are also other offences where publishing names of accused actually prompts other victims, who would otherwise remain silent, to come forth/provide evidence! Of course, there are dangers in this policy also! The show-biz sex cases have thrown up examples of both!

 

[Kellfire]

Yes I appreciate all that but it doesn't detract from the fact that they have driven whilst over the limit (or very close to it) in the first place or they wouldn't have got as far as a blood test etc.

You could fail a breath test because of recently using mouthwash.

And there is no legal issue with being "very close to it" either.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

You could fail a breath test because of recently using mouthwash.

And there is no legal issue with being "very close to it" either.

The list is people who have actually been charged so will have failed the second blood test also

 

[Kellfire]

The list is people who have actually been charged so will have failed the second blood test also

I'm not commenting on the names being published - just addressing the posts I've quoted.

 

[richart]

What about the families of people named ? Can just imagine what will happen to kids at school if one of their parents is named.:mmm:

To me it is no deterrent, so can't see the point.

 

[Rooter]

Wow why not just shoot anyone that's failed a breath test. Like has been posted already, failing a breath test at the side of the road does not always mean the driver is drunk. I am not condoning drink driving at all, but i actually will admit to driving the next day and wondering whether i would pass or fail and if you lot are honest, i reckon i am not alone.

Having been banned from driving in the past, i can tell you its a life changing experience. I was not drink driving, however you are still looked on as some kind of outcast. You also find out who your mates are when you need them! Did my name go in the paper? I don't know.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

What about the families of people named ? Can just imagine what will happen to kids at school if one of their parents is named.:mmm:

To me it is no deterrent, so can't see the point.

What you have quoted above is a pretty bluddy mahoosive incentive not to drink and drive IMHO.

 

[Rooter]

What you have quoted above is a pretty bluddy mahoosive incentive not to drink and drive IMHO.

To intentionally drink and drive yes, i agree. To drive to work the next day and be 1mg over the limit i think the punishment handed out by the courts would be enough. But like has been said, where and how do you draw the line?!

 

[ColchesterFC]

I am not condoning drink driving at all, but i actually will admit to driving the next day and wondering whether i would pass or fail and if you lot are honest

Totally agree. I've had a couple of times in the past year where I have got up after a seriously heavy night out and gone out to the car to go and pick up food for a cooked breakfast. Both times I've been sat in the car on the drive with the engine on a realised I wasn't fit to drive so turned it off and went back into the house. I'm sure there are other times when I've been close to or over the limit the following morning.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Does anyone know how the breathalyser works. I can understand if I've had a pint in the pub and then get stopped that I will have alcohol on my breath. But how is it still on my breath the following morning if I've had a kebab with chilli sauce on the way home, cleaned my teeth, slept, got up and had breakfast and then cleaned my teeth again?

 

[Rooter]

Does anyone know how the breathalyser works. I can understand if I've had a pint in the pub and then get stopped that I will have alcohol on my breath. But how is it still on my breath the following morning if I've had a kebab with chilli sauce on the way home, cleaned my teeth, slept, got up and had breakfast and then cleaned my teeth again?

Exactly why if you set it off, you go to the station and get tested again. I know someone who used to be a serial drink driver, he reckoned that if you get stopped you get a 2p coin, stick it in your mouth, get it to the back of your throat and hyperventilate. No idea if it works (he says he has used it numerous times), what its supposed to do etc etc. But he has a squeaky clean licence and probably does not deserve one...

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_breathalyzer_penny.htm

 

[richart]

What you have quoted above is a pretty bluddy mahoosive incentive not to drink and drive IMHO.

But so is the fact you could kill someone and go to prison. That does not stop drink driving so why would having your name in the paper ?

 

[ColchesterFC]

Exactly why if you set it off, you go to the station and get tested again. I know someone who used to be a serial drink driver, he reckoned that if you get stopped you get a 2p coin, stick it in your mouth, get it to the back of your throat and hyperventilate. No idea if it works (he says he has used it numerous times), what its supposed to do etc etc. But he has a squeaky clean licence and probably does not deserve one...

Isn't it another more accurate breathalyser at the Police station? I know they can do a blood or urine test but on all the TV programmes they show them being breathalysed again at the station. Was wondering about the mechanics of still having alcohol on your breath the next day.

P.S. I've also heard about the 2p story. No idea if it's true or if it works.

 

[Hacker Khan]

The 2p thing is an urban myth. 2p coins do not have some magical property to suck up the alcohol from anyone's blood stream. And at worst you could end up choking to death.

 

[upsidedown]

Does anyone know how the breathalyser works. I can understand if I've had a pint in the pub and then get stopped that I will have alcohol on my breath. But how is it still on my breath the following morning if I've had a kebab with chilli sauce on the way home, cleaned my teeth, slept, got up and had breakfast and then cleaned my teeth again?

http://www.flask.com/how-do-breathalyzers-work/#.VnguBhWLTIU

When you consume alcohol, you’re consuming a substance scientifically categorized as being volatile. Volatility doesn’t mean the liquor is going to explode, although the moonshine you got from your old pal Grumpy may; it means that the alcohol separates from the rest of the beverage through evaporation. Furthermore, alcohol is not digested.

The properties of alcohol dictate that it is absorbed by the bloodstream quickly and carried throughout the body. As blood passes through the lungs some of the alcohol covers the various surfaces of the lungs and is expelled during the breathing process.

The breathalyzer estimates how much alcohol is in the blood by measuring how much is on the breath. That measurement is thought to be fairly accurate unless, of course, your breath is bad enough to peel paint even without alcohol in your system.

 

[Rooter]

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_breathalyzer_penny.htm

LOL like i said, had no idea if it was BS or not! Proves it is!! LOL

 

[Blue in Munich]

Seems that is so. Despite it all being a waste of time. Hey ho.

I would say that the general consensus between Imurg and I appears to be that it is a complete and utter waste of time as these pillocks will act like pillocks regardless of whether they are named & shamed; however if you are going to name and shame pillocks for driving that endangers others, name and shame all of them regardless of the offence, don't be selective about it.

And that is nothing like saying naming and shaming them is a good thing, but it suits someone's argument to put that spin on it.

 

[richart]

I would say that the general consensus between Imurg and I appears to be that it is a complete and utter waste of time as these pillocks will act like pillocks regardless of whether they are named & shamed; however if you are going to name and shame pillocks for driving that endangers others, name and shame all of them regardless of the offence, don't be selective about it.

And that is nothing like saying naming and shaming them is a good thing, but it suits someone's argument to put that spin on it.

Totally agree Richard. If losing your licence, having an accident, possibly killing someone, going to prison is not a deterrent, how is having your name in the paper ?

Only decent longer term deterrent as far as I am concerned is more random breath tests. Drink drivers think they will get away with it so they continue. They are obviously not worried abouut the consequences of their actions. Catch more of them and get them off the road. Whether this is possible is another matter.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

But so is the fact you could kill someone and go to prison. That does not stop drink driving so why would having your name in the paper ?

The police chief said in on the radio that if it stops one person driving over the limit then that's one person that won't be a danger to everyone else - his thinking was that in a society where public and private image is seen as important to a lot of people that shaming them "might" make them just think twice - it's costing the police nothing and it could have no effect at all - but it could save one person's life