Take care out there - Its that time again

Meant to post earlier but forgot, but our @"M" reminded me with her thread.

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/...e-so-that-you-dont-have-to.55410/#post-752789

Its silly season again. The season of the work's christmas do, the extra glass of wine or tinny. The time for 'Oh go on then, just one more'.

Its also time for extra tiredness because of said parties, prep for christmas, and extra driving in miserable conditions.

All this adds up. This time of year there are many idiots on the roads.

So, whether you're out in your car, on your bike, or walking, just remember to take a bit of extra care.

 

Only at this time of year?

 

No, but more so this time of year.

 

And remember to add on extra journey time for breaking for Wheelie bins/loose sheep/lost farmers etc.

 

Clue....even first thing in the morning you need your wits about you.Round here it's like wacky races at this time of the year....the ques for the shops at 7am is ridiculous ...they ought ought to shut down for at least a week like they used to...we all manage then

 

If I saw many of those on the way home in inner Leicester I would have had a few too many for sure.

 

I (and another car behind me) have just driven behind a car travelling at 20 - 30mph for several miles along the back roads towards our village. Neither of us even considered overtaking it and kept well back as every 100m or so it would drift between half way to completely across the other side of the road and stay there for several minutes before getting back on the right side of the road. The worst thing was that it bumped up on the pavement outside the school, presumably to pick kids up!

 

This is the thing, how do you know when you are able to drive legally again after having a few drinks.
All we ever hear is the same old sayings every year, "if you are driving dont have anything to drink, there is no safe limit".
So how do you know when you are clear, possibly sometime during the following day perhaps.

The drink drive thing is all so vague.
Be much more sensible to give you a practical test, a bit like in the old days, touch your nose with your eyes shut or walk a straight line.
At least that way they would know if you were actually capable of driving rather than what some test tube says.

 

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/853.aspx?CategoryID=87

 

Scotland Police carry out a breath test for any infringement, driving, dim headlamp, wheel arch damage etc
But today in Dundee was the best, Good morning Sir, we are carrying out a courteous driving campaign, and would like to present you with this courteous driving award SNIFF SNIFF :-)
a plastic playing card with DD Rules and courteous driver Award across the top SNIFF SNIFF
thank you for your safe driving Sir

Jack McH

 

Trouble is, science has moved on a bit. We now know that alcohol affects judgement and reaction time well before it starts affecting your coordination. If you are drunk enough to not be able to walk in a straight line, then you are far too far gone to drive, and if you are drunk enough to struggle to touch your own nose, then you probably can't even see your car to get in it in the first place.

BSM did a study a few years ago where they put sober people in their driving simulator and then let the computer measure responses to different situations. Then they gave them one glass of wine and tested them again. They were all absolutely fine except on the emergency stop, where they all did significantly worse than their first (pre wine) attempt. Yet all still considered themselves sober, would have passed a breathalyser test, and had perfectly normal coordination.

You can buy cheap but accurate breathalysers yourself for about £20 - £30. I used to have one. Mine stayed green after drinking 2 pints of John Smiths smooth, went amber when I was halfway through my third, and was red before I finished my third. At the time, I was used to beer than I am now and would have felt absolutely fine after 3 or 4 or even 5 pints, and would have easily passed a coordination test, but I knew I'd be rubbish at driving, and over the legal limit, which is why I'll have one pint of fairly weak beer (eg John Smiths or Tetley) as my limit, that way I know I'm well under the limit, and even then I'll follow it with a soft drink and then chill out for a while first before getting in the car.