i recon it should be 00.000000 if u get in a car or else get a designated driver or a taxi...

If many people think its ok to have one or two beers then some people will think its ok to have three or four beers. By making the limit (closer to) zero then it sends a clear message that really no beers is ok.

Whether or not you or I might be able handle a car after 1 or 2 beers is kind of irrelevent, there will be some people who wont be able to drive as well...like say those people who cant drive properly in the first place. Plenty of them about !

Comes down to statistics....if x% of people drink y% less then there will be z% less serious accidents. Fact.

Of course you could reduce accident rates in other ways, but that costs more money.

Just reckon some people wouldn't be very safe after even one beer, but general perception is that one or two is ok. These people probably dont realise they are crap drivers.

There are also plenty of people who are not particularly crap drivers, but they are not really good drivers either. For example, how many people that you see on the road actually know how to control a spin?

This has only happened to me once on the road, hit an unseen patch of diesel, I wasn't speeding, hadn't been drinking, but fortuantely I knew exactly what to do...a mispent youth playing with gearbox karts and bigger toys definitely saved me !

The reality is most people have never experienced geting even close to the limit of control, until its too late.

And then we say its OK to have 1 or 2 beers as well.....

If everyone had perfect vision, excellent reaction times, good road awareness, great car handling control...then maybe it would be OK to allow 1 or 2 beers over lunch. Think I'd still stick to coke though

thommo 000 said...

i recon it should be 00.000000 if u get in a car or else get a designated driver or a taxi...

yeah thats great mate-if you live in the city with unlimited subsidised public transport and taxis.

What about farmers and other country people, whose only chance to socialise is to drive?

Actually does anyone know what % of ALL road accidents are caused by alcohol
In the US its about 7%, so 93% are caused by cars driven by sober drivers.
By those figures sober drivers are the problem!!! Hic! who's got the keys?

KEARNSY said...

Let me make It clear that I dont support drink driving!!!

However It has been proposed to drop the legal limit from 0.05 to 0.02.
I cant help but wondering what will this actually achieve.
If this comes into legislation then say goodbye to a coupla beers after work , or sharing a bottle of wine over a nice meal out , or even a couple of beers on a sunday arvo at a nice pub if your planning on driving home.

This could hurt the food and beverage industry. On the other hand it might drop the price of pints.

There is already a shortage of cabs in Perth

If they make it 0.02 then they might aswell make the limit 0.00000

IMO if you cant handle a vehicle at 0.05 then you dont deserve to drink.!!!!!

What do you guys think?

K

Spill too much

It is not the limit that matters, it is those that exceed the limit.

A change from 0.05 to 0.02 is not going to stop those that drink drive (say, >0.1) from driving.

OPPOSED!

I'd like to se a re-testing for licence evry say.. 10 yrs instead of dropping the limit.

Frankly - sober drivers with fek all knowledge of the road rules (which change semi-regularly) need to be tested to see if they are still capable. It also provides an opportunity to re-educate drivers.

10 yrs would be too much hassle I reckon. As long as I don't have to bloody push-pull turning corners!

Maybe airline pilots should be allowed a couple of beers before they take off. It seems so unfair that they are not allowed to, 1 or 2 doesn't really make that much difference does it? :)

Great topic, When I was young and yes stupid ( like most were back then ) it .08 and everyone would drink drive and get away with it No RBT's and lower numbers of police offices. Once they dropped it to .05, just about everyone I knew stopped drink driving
Truck drivers and P platers are on .00 in QLD ,sometimes I have one drink and it gives me that floating feeling

So for me if I've had one drink I wont drive.

mac

I can have about 3-4 beers over about 2-3 hrs & it barely registers on the breatho (yes, I have tried it!). That's my limit, by concious choice before driving...I could probably push it to 5 beers, and maybe stay under 0.05...but honestly, I would choose not to drive before then. I also know a few people that I wouldn't get in car with after they've had 1 drink!

Personally, I believe most accidents are caused by lethargy/fatigue...add to that the mix of a few drinks & a few distractions (phone, Ipod, screaming wife), you've got yourself an accident waiting to happen!

They should leave it at 0.05 IMHO.

zippyblue said...

Maybe airline pilots should be allowed a couple of beers before they take off. It seems so unfair that they are not allowed to, 1 or 2 doesn't really make that much difference does it? :)

Yeah, that'd be okay, as long as they didn't go over 110kmh. I wouldn't mind. There might be the occasional drive into Botany Bay, but apart from that, it should be cruisy.

There is no way I am going to stand for allowing the auto-pilot to drink though! That guy has a tough job and shouldn't be allowed to drink anything!

What are you talking about anyway, have you been into the cockpit of a commercial flight while underway? It's like a big party in there!

Time to raise my popularity once again

After having a head on collision with a drink driver in 1985 and living in constant pain ever since makes my opinion very simple.

Zero tolerance
Fines should be a minimum of $5000 for the first offense
I would also like to see the system which was brought in by NY city (I think) where someone who was caught DUI had their car confiscated (Didn't matter if it was theirs or not) if they contested charge in court and won they got their car back, else it was auctioned.

I have an appointment for 8.30 tomorow morning with my back cracker

Pugwash said...

It is not the limit that matters, it is those that exceed the limit.

A change from 0.05 to 0.02 is not going to stop those that drink drive (say, >0.1) from driving.

OPPOSED!

I agree. I think its the people that just don't care that are going to be well over 0.05%, and if it was zero they would just take their chances driving anyway.

If the limit was 0.02, I suspect that these type of people would never get done for a low range, but be heaps higher.

There are people that I am worried about when they drive sober, and people that I would still be comfortable in the car with if they were driving after a beer or two. I don't know what makes the difference to their driving abilities, but its not the alcohol.

On the other hand, there are some people that don't realize they are drunk and think they are under the limit... In one case I am thinking of, it also worries me when they drive sober...

Squid Lips said...

I think the point of lowering the limit is to reduce the level at which most reasonable people would think they are ok to drive, but are probably not, so as to remove any doubt they are driving at a dangerous blood alcohol level. Not because driving at 0.05% is dangerous.

Right on the money