Saturday 8 May 2010

Drunk In Charge Of A Pair Of Legs

I don't know how to break this to you freedom lovers, but I reckon Don Shenker might be spouting something like this soon.

Keep roads safe - breath test pedestrians

RANDOM breath testing of pedestrians would be the most effective way to stop them being killed and maimed on the roads, a study has found.

The University of Adelaide study found the public could support a blood alcohol limit of 0.15 when near roads and vehicles.
Just to clarify, the current drink drive limit in the UK is 0.08. So four pints and you'd be over the 0.15 drink walking limit.

Or, drunk in charge of a pair of legs, as the offence would presumably be termed.

Researchers studied ways of reducing the road toll and found that all were "limited" in their success except for enforcement of a blood alcohol level in people walking near traffic.
I suppose if you ever found yourself over the limit you could have a quick look out of the pub door. If no 'enforcement' officers are around you might get away with it by running home before they see you.

Or, just get in the car and drive instead, it'll be even quicker.

Hey, CAMRA members, remember when you told me that the righteous wouldn't come after you because, and I quote ...

... "there are many more people who drink than smoke"?
I have begged to differ many times before, and will continue to do so.

The alcohol denormalisation express is fast approaching full speed.


12 comments:

Brew Wales said...

Spot on there DC. The drinks industry is under attack and CAMRA should do more.

Anonymous said...

Nice piece Dick,
Would'nt worry to much about the
CAMRAdes though, they would'nt
be effected by stringent anti drinking legislation,they spend
most of their drinking time froth
studying and forming semi circles.
There are the odd commotions when someone mentions organic hops but
these are usually suppressed by
some dire troubadour plucking out
a clog and shawl routine.
The law would hardly bother the vast majority of normal ,decent
Englishmen,they drink at home now.


The Free Corps

Anonymous said...

Iv'e posted this comment before elswhere but will do so again.

Camera meeting July 7th 2015.

An excellent carrot juice !
Yes my dear Chumley Warner ,good orangy colour and the puisance of carottyness.
Righto now lets move on to the Lemonade.
Oh sorry old chap ,fizzy drinks were banned last week !

Camra ,pah !
It's coming guys get off your corderouy arses !

Anonymous said...

Anon @12.10
Cheers for the carrot bit on the
Camra luvvies.
I was beggining to believe I was alone in the Ickean Cosmic Oblivion.
By the way(BTW) I am led to believe there has been some sort
of general election nonsense happening for the nations jerkoffs
and dimwits. Pity I could'nt
partake, I was stranded in Catalonia downing a few big ones
and a pack of fags(inside of course)


Mordechai's Temperence League

Curmudgeon said...

Realistically, because of the absorption of alcohol over time, you would need to drink maybe seven or eight pints to achieve a BAC of 150 mg. But that happens at more than a few CAMRA events. You can imagine the rozzers hanging around outside the pub at the end of the monthly pub crawl.

Even if you go home by public transport, it is likely to involve a certain amount of walking at each end.

But, of course, it will never happen. Will it?

Anonymous said...

The Labour fiefdom of Scunthorpe came up with a new way to spend the council tax a couple of months ago.

Rather than try and control the drunken rabble that takes over the town at weekends, they have errected massive yellow gates on every road approaching the town centre to create a motoring exclusion zone all around the pedestrianised centre. This allows all of the young scum of the area to fight, vomit, urinate, and to smash shop windows in relative safety on Friday and Saturday nights.

Who said that Labour doesn't care?

Ian R Thorpe said...

I've said since the 1970s Dick that once they had crminalised smoking they would start on alcohol.

I suggest we organise pissed up coz we're pissed off protests in which we all go out in the town centre at lunchtime, get absolutely legless and stagger around the streets stopping traffic as we sing bawdy sea shanties

BTS said...

This doesn't look like a biased study at all, given who paid for it. Of course not.

And this is true genius:

'The study's author, Paul Hutchinson, said.. "As one public health advocate put it, we have a blood alcohol limit for driving, why not for people walking next to traffic. People already have the power to take into protective custody drunk people who are a danger to their or others' safety."'

So there are already effective measures in place to deal with the problem without the need for the police to waste their time breathalysing anyone on the street after 9pm then..?

And you got your funding for this research how exactly?

Oh, yeah, them : 'The Motor Accident Commission (MAC) is South Australia’s Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurer.'

But, on the plus side (when they jump on it in the UK), I'd have to retire 40 years early as I wouldn't be legally allowed to travel to work. Bonus.

Do Ocado deliver just booze and tobacco..?

Ian B said...

*sense of utter despair descends*

Angry Exile said...

Make pedestrians personally liable for accidents they cause instead of treating them like victims. All road users have a responsibility for their own safety and that of other road users around them, but the 'oooh, poor soul, got run over' thinking stops that and is often applied even when it happened in the middle of the freeway while he was shitfaced. After a few motor insurers have gone after these non-victims or their estates for the vehicle damage that happened as a result they might wise up, though I wouldn't hold my breath. Meanwhile the sensible majority of drinkers, who've always managed to enjoy the booze without getting themselves in the way of traffic, can be left to get on with things.

Simples, and requires precisely zero new law, limits or regulation. What it does require is one insurance company or motorist to have the balls to begin the first law suit against a pissed idiot who caused an accident, because some of the meeeja will crucify them.

Dick Puddlecote said...

AE, I concur entirely. :-)

Henry North London 2.0 said...

they already do this in Australia

they stop whole motorways all six lanes and breathalyse them