Have you all seen the report that police will now use old-style roadside tests to determine if one is drunk or drugged? If you pass a breathalyser you can still be taken in if you fail the Field Impairment Tests. So what's the problem?
One of the tests is to stand on one leg, throw back the head and then touch the nose several times, first with the right index finger, then the left.
What they don't tell you is that the ability to do this test diminishes with age and, whilst a twenty year old might be able to do it quite easily, and older person will lose balance and stumble, drugged , drunk or sober.
We are then quite likely be taken to the police station for further tests to check for drugs or alcohol.
I would be interested to know how you all get on? Care to try it and let me know? I last about 3 seconds at age 57.
When will this madness end?
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How does this help your driving?
I can't stand on one leg for any length of time at the best of times. Old before my time, obviously.
Come to think of it, it's the kind of thing I could do better drunk than sober.
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Easier in boots than modern sloppy footwear, too!
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So what do you suggest for testing for impairment then ?? There are more "drugged" up drivers out there than you think. Drugs can of course be prescription or the ones classified by Misuse of Drugs Act 1971- so many in fact that there is no one simple (chemical) screening test for all of them. The test Alwyn describes is a simple test of co-ordination, if you can't pass that whether there are "drugs" in your body or not quite simply the question arises as to whether one should be allowed out on the roads. Maybe the madness that Alwyn refers to is the madness of a soceity that tolarates its members to be out on the road whilst intoxicated by some drug or other in the first place.
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If the test cannot be done by a person who has not taken drugs or booze, then it is ridiculous to use it as a reason to arrest someone and take them to the police station.
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So can you do the standing on one leg and touch your nose test as described?
Do tell.
Cheers
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Alwyn when was the last time you drunk 10 pints of strong lager or 3 Es or both? They aren't looking for you, they are looking for killers, who are drunk or stoned, who then blame someone else.
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It would be simpler if they just replaced all these fiddles with one offence - "Being noticed by a policeman while in charge of a motor vehicle"!
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This may have something to do with why drink driving continues, as a lot of people feel the law is unjust. Should the offence be that reaction,ability and judgement do not meet appropriate standards, not what caused poor reaction etc.? There are a lot of drivers on the road with dreadful judgement and driving standards, but as long as they have not had a drink, they are OK (usually). Have a drink, and no matter how you are driving, accident or not, the book will be thrown at you. I suppose it is possible for a driver over the limit to be safer than some 'bad drivers'. It seems also that a driver is almost entitled to have an accident if sober, but after a drink that statistical entitlement disappears. Surely in this age of computers, there could be a test develped which would score awareness, judgement and reactions against set standards, which if below would merit a ban, re-test, training or similar. If you could not pass it sober then tough, and if you could pass it after a drink, then OK.
This would allow for drugs too, even those as simple as some cough mixtures which can cause drowsiness. Speeding seems to be going along the same propaganda path as drink drive, when the true cause of accidents is bad driving.
Must go, I'm walking to the Pub.
Mike
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These tests are the same as those used in the US to determine if the driver is unfit to drive. If it saves lives, then I'm all for it. It all depends on how they decide who to pull over.
Andy
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I don't think the old drink driving laws were ever repealed, and the police have always been able use them if needed. I suppose the breathaliser removed any guesswork, and the drinker who might be able to fool a policeman by seeming to act normally was also nabbed. The old test might seem to be unfair to the naturally 'wobbly' but a doctor is always available should anyone feel victimised for any reason.
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Alwyn,
Noticed this thread just after Rebecca, can I stand normally now and have some tea?
David
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Two feet together please.
I notice that not one of you has told me if you are able to do the test . Please try it and tell me.
I asked the same question on a police forum some time ago and they were quite surprised at the results.
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Yep, can do it. Had to be quick though. I'm 56 and have had a drink. The trick is to concentrate your weight over the 'standing' leg. Otherwise, drunk or sober, you'll topple over.
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Alwyn,
It certainly is difficult. Would have a big problem if you were stopped on a hill.
Alvin
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Mike
I totally agree. The criteria must be ability to perform, regardless of arbitary readings.
How about someone who has had one drink on top of a cold cure. Each on their own would have only a marginal effect on performance, they would pass a breath test, but in combination they might be deadly.
Or the case of someone who is only just competent when sober, with a sniff of a sherry cork they would be unsafe, but within drink-drive limits.
Whereas a high mileage driver with a high skill level MAY be safer with two units inside them than a sober elderly driver, but would be booked.
So a portable skill/reaction/driving standard test would do a lot for safety, if we could devise one and had the resources in place to administer it.
As I have said before, we let someone take a test in their teens and then assume that they remain medically and technically competent for five decades unless evidence to the contrary comes up almost by chance.
Nuts!
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Round our way, they're out with laser speed cameras on tripods at 12.30am. Yes: half past midnight. They nick you for, speeding then breath bag you. The message is, Don't Drive. And also remember that if you've had a skinful the night before your blood alcohol level might not slip back under the limit until the next evening.
HJ
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On this point, you should allow 1 hour per alcohol unit - e.g 8 pints of 4% beer takes 16 hours to clear (Sleep or food make little difference)
1 glass of wine (medium) = 1 unit
1 half pint (of 4% beer) = 1 unit
1 measure of spirit = 1 unit
It is expected that 3 units is enough to put one 'over the limit' under current UK rules (only 2 units in some European countries).
Not that I want to seem a spoilsport at this time of year!
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Up on theSeven Sisters Road, north London, there is a yellow witness appeal board out for an accident at 00.50 on Monday 19th November.
The road is dead straight, well lit, has a railed park on one side and hotels on the other. No apparent hazard, 30 mph limit, two lanes of traffic in each direction.
When you see a location like that you start to wonder how on Earth someone could organise a serious accident there at 1 o'clock in the morning. Must take some doing!
Not the first time I've wondered.
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I live just off of a dual-carriageway which is the main arterial to and from the beachfront here.
Even as I type this (10:20pm), I can hear the guys howling up the road from the beach (ie pub) side well in excess of the posted 60km/h limit. Over the weekends, it gets worse, and the sirens howl all night as the fire trucks and ambulances go to work. There is at leat 1 collision a week in the 200yd stretch outside my place!
so what does plod do? set up a speed trap on sunday mornings, about 7am, and nab people on their way to church...
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