Sometimes I feel that if I have a car large enough, the day trips can be extended into next day by spending the night inside the car.
Ever done it? How practical is it? Which cars are best for sleeping inside?
Obviously I don't think any car can fit more than 2 adults lying straight with seats folded.
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I am 6ft 3ins & I once slept in the back seat of an old type mini with my foot & leg in plaster up to the knee in an emergency. It is possible but not comfortable!
Problems:
1: It is very public & it gets light early
2. How long & flat is your bed?
3. I had condensation problems.
4. Getting out of the car in the morning.
Good luck
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I've slept (sort of) in my old Focus, not a nice experience. IMO you need to have a car with fold flat seats, preferably a Mondeo estate or something.
Having said that, a former friend of mine used to shove a few duvets in the boot of her Rover 45, park in a street somewhere near the city, go for a night out in Manchester, come back, fold the seats flat and have a night's sleep in the boot. She always insisted that she was perfectly comfortable and saved a fortune on hotel bills. (didn't stop her turning up at the rooms of those who did have a hotel and using their shower mind) She even used to leave the parcel shelf in place so that unless someone got quite close and looked in they wouldn't even see her.
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In early Novemeber I used to run a x-county two-day marathon called the KIMM, now OMM which "featured" on TV last year when it rained a little in the Lakes. Early start on Saturday would often mean sleeping on Friday night in the car. Best was Escort Estate, leaving the windows slightly open. Horrid when it rains hard. Cooking next morning just inside the "boot" with hatch open meant still able to stay dry. Now have an Espace which would be brill, but stopped running in this event due to old age!
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When I drove back from Tenerife via Cadiz, I had a few days to spare b4 catching the Santander ferry back to Plymouth so I took a 3 day drive through Portugal, it was August and half of Europe were on the road South towards the Algarve + all the camp sites were heaving so I slept 3 nights in my LHD diesel AX and I'm a 6 footer :)
swimbo & I slept in a mrk 2 Cortina 1600 super on the isle of wight once, we were very young and it was quite scary being on some road in the middle of the night miles from anywhere ... all of a sudden there was this awful noise outside in the darkness of the night - turns out it was a herd of Horses galloping at speed along the road.
Another time was in Wales 37 years ago - in the Valleys ... bad experience ... mods wouldn't allow this tale - have never been back there since!
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Once, many years ago when I lived in a shared house.
I returned very late one night and housemates had assumed I wasn't coming home. They'd bolted the doors and I couldn't wake them so I spent the night in a Moggie Minor van.
Cold despite being Summer, wet - condensation and uncomfortable.
When I finally got in, they couldn't understand my foul mood.
I wouldn't do it again if I could avoid it and certainly wouldn't recommend it.
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Same as bathtub tom, accidently locked out one night and had to kip in my Capri. Freezing cold (this was in summer), ached all over. I was woken at about 6am by a copper tapping on the window to see if I was ok.
Probably the most miserable and uncomfortable night I have ever spent.
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Ere!!! I have slept in a car quite a few times when I come to think about it ... another time (in the AX again!) was having got the ferry over from Santender to Plymouth, I drove up to see my ole mate who lived high up on Bodmin moor surrounded by 30 acres of his own land (mostly common)
I decided to sleep on the moor in my tent but, after dark when I went to find where I'd pitched it earlier, I just could not find the damn thing so I retraced my steps back to Lauri's cottage but he'd gone to bed so yet another comfortable night - not!
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The police frowned upon this activity when we stopped to sleep for a few hours on a recent (May 2009) overnight trip to Cornwall.
This was in a motorway service area too. The one place you should feel safest eh?
Wrong!
Their explaining was that it is 'not a safe practice due to the known risk of the criminal fraternity that target people sleeping in their cars; as the first you know about their presence is when the windows go in and you are being dragged out' they said.
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Done it when my mates tend ended up in the Irish sea. I warned him not to buy a tent from Argos but he didn't listen. As he was driving back the next day he slepted in my Gelert Tempest 2 and I had the back seats of a rotten N reg Fiesta 5 door. It was not really too bad and made make shift curtains etc.
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Which cars have fully flat folded rear seats and spacious enough for spending a night?
Obviously only estates/SUVs/MPVs will qualify.
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In direct answer Movilogo - I know that Astra estates will do this as I have a single mattress in the back of mine when taking it to the skip.
Rear seats down, front seats as far forward as they will go. You will need a blow up or a real mattress though. This is to absorb all the irregularities and bumps.
Really only good for one person though - unless the other is a 3' light weight midget!
Recalling my Army survival training?
?pull up a sandbag, swing that lantern time!
Downside is condensation and in really cold weathers the steel construction of the vehicle will take and absorb your body heat too.
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I did when I camped once. In a Vauxhall Omega Elite. The seats are their most comfy when not all the way down I found. I had to leave the engine running to keep warm, and that was in August. The diesel sound and vibration helped me sleep. This was at the edge of a field, well away from prying eyes, and your eyes get used to the dark, so you can see by moonlight unless its cloudy.
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It does add a sense of adventure & you feel you've 'gotten away' with something in a strange sort of way (no cost accommodation, probably..!).
Whatever you use, you'll find condnesation a probelm - surprising what sweaty beasts we are & how much water vapour we exhale. Unless you keep a window open (can be cold & compromise safety..) you'll find the inside dripping in the morning.
I've slept on a few occasions in cars - most notably on Aberystwyth seafront in a 1981 Jag XJ6 - I was very comfy: I curled myself along the back seat & improvised a pillow with a jacket & jumper - the seats were leather & aided sleep, I'm sure, with their nice leathery smell & feel.
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I've done it many times, but not for years. For discomfort it beats a long-haul flight in tourist class. You can't spleep, there's nothing resembling privacy and there aren't any washing or other toilet facilities.
Strongly counter-recommended. But I suppose the younger you are the more likely you are to try it.
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When I first started my business I had no option financially but to sleep in the car if I needed to stay away. Wasn't so bad, chuck some of the luggage out of the back into the front seats, sleeping bag in the back of an estate car, leave the sunroof slightly tilted for ventilation, find a public swimming pool to freshen up in on the following morning. Bacon butty from a roadside caravan/cafe....sorted.
;-)
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Yep, a few times.
The most memorable was in the Canadian Rockies. We (me, wife and son) had borrowed my uncle's Ford MPV and 'camped' for 4 nights in various provincial campsites in the Banff/Jasper area. We removed the one remaining single rear seat (we had left the unecessary seats in my uncle's garage) and covered it with polythene overnight, and put a double futon mattress in the rear space for two to sleep on. The other person (usually me!) slept in a reclined front seat.
It wasn't too bad, actually. Our main concern was bears (we had to leave a window slightly open). The campsites were great - you had a place for your car, tent (if you had one), a firebox with a pile of logs, and a picnic table. Certainly more memorable than staying in a posh hotel!
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I've slept in lots of cars - Cavalier stretched on the back seat on a long trip while somebody else drove and BX 19 in the same position awaiting recovery, and in Vectra and Sierra hatchbacks with the rear seats folded down. No problem and quite comfy. Mind you I was a lot younger then.
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We drove to Lake Garda - '96 I think when the 2 boys were 6 and 8 years old - in a company Cavalier 1.7TD. We booked an overnight in France but foolishly planned to just "find a hotel" around Innsbruck which was a mistake. We stopped at the services around 5pm and started calling hotels from the phone book and they were either full or way way too expensive, pressed on intending to stop and try again but by the time we reached the Brenner Pass the boys were asleep. We stopped at the first motorway service station once in Italy and made everyone comfortable and tried to sleep . It was terrible, lorries coming and going, prostitutes going from lorry to lorry knocking on their doors, but we didn't feel safe to get off the motorway and park somewhere deserted.
In the end we drove on at about 3.00am and I remember stopping in every motorway petrol station for a double espresso just to keep awake.
J
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This probably 'cheating' but my Honda Odyssey has the factory option of the FieldDeck pop-up roof (beautifully made by a Honda subsidiary) so I sleep up there from time to time in the remoter bits of France alternating cheap hotels or campsites for showers etc. A lot of Japanese market cars claim to have the double-bed option once the seats are folded, i.e. Honda SMX. There seems to be a policy in the UK of not allowing sleeping in cars which doesn't apply elsewhere in Europe on service areas. Isn't there a £10+ charge for more than 2 hours anyway on the motorway areas. France, Germany and Austria seem OK with it; Belgium is too small to need to stop on my trips.
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Aged 17 yrs - had been out all night and fishing since the crack of dawn at Bridlington (off Flamborough) in an inflatable & British Seagull outboard.
Returning home - pulled off for a nap - sitting upright as the whole car was crammed with gear.
2.30...sun shining - just a short nap. Awoke 6hrs later and its almost dark.
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Several years ago in my Mk1 Astra. A load of us went down to the New Forrest for a camping weekend. No one had bothered to book and one of the party knew a place where they'd stayed the year before. We just managed to get the 6 man tent up (in the rain) when the site owners turned up and turfed us off as it had changed hands in the past year and you had to now pre-book.
We ended up parking by a picnic area and couldn't be bothered putting the tent up again. Fortunately as no one could decide who was driving we ended up taking 4 cars for 6 people. I was in my own car, as were a couple of mates. Another mate took his girlfriend and they slept overnight in their Nissan Micra. I had my Mk1 Astra all to myself - along with the wet tent that we took down earlier. Not an enjoyable night. Mr car was wringing wet with condensation in the morning. Ended up using the rubber squeegee to get the water off the inside of the windows. Then had a bad back and a cold for the next 3 weeks.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/06/2009 at 21:28
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My cousin had a bad experience sleeping in his car.
He hit the central barrier on the M4.
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How about a London woman who lived in her car for 26 years.
she was a former music teacher, decided to reside
in her car after she had been evicted from her flat in London.
She has been living in her Ford Consul since 1976. Her car was
removed by the local council as it was said it could be
a possible health hazard. The neighbours, who became used to
the 60 year old lady, decided to buy her a red Mercedes in
replacement of the Ford Consul as she had threatened to set herself on fire in protest.
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i went all over britain in my youth kipping in my van
i wouldnt do it now
it was scary then
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2.30...sun shining - just a short nap. Awoke 6hrs later and its almost dark.
I've done that the other way around. In my minicabbing days I'd quite happily start my shift with the Friday morning school runs, work all day and through into the late night. One night we had a 4am estate car job from near MK to Norwich airport to check in by 6am (chap was going to Malta IIRC) and I stopped for a quick snooze at Besthorpe on the way back around 6.30am. This was the height of summer, shorts all night weather, so I slept with the engine running and the aircon on for comfort. Was woken up by petrol station staff on shift change at 2pm, peering through my drivers window with some trepidation....
I also slept across the 3 front seats in a hired '05 Caravelle at Le Mans after doing the driving for 7 of us down overnight on the Friday and before driving back up on the Sunday evening. Engine running, aircon on again, probably more comfortable and certainly less work than the 9-man tent.
I can recall during some previous relationship troubles spending one Christmas night into Boxing Day morning asleep in the reclined passenger seat of my 95 Mondeo diesel (engine running for heat) at a local country park - I was woken by a passing copper at 7am and after explaining how I came to be there he told me to make sure I was "sober enough to drive home, however long you need to leave it". Proper policing, that was.
More recently (relationship problems again) I spent the night in my current Escort, I had the sense to bring a blanket this time though. Drivers seat fully reclined, sunroof tilted open to combat condensation at first, then by around 3am switched to running engine instead. Parked along a very quiet "lovers' lane" type road, no trouble.
I can remember 3 of us sleeping in my MkII Cavalier once at the age of about 18. We were all supposed to be staying at my friend's house after an evening out in Gt Yarmouth (120 miles each way!!) but he'd forgotten his key, so we adjourned to a nearby car park in the countryside and made the key-forgetter kneel on the folded rear seat-backs whilst two of us squashed them with the reclining front seats. We then went to sleep in the front leaving him to sleep half in the boot and half on the 30deg slope of the rear seat backs...
These days I have a 45 minute nap across the 3 seats of my 7.5t lorry almost every lunchtime - I think I must be immune to the discomfort ;-)
Dave TD
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How about a London woman who lived in her car for 26 years.
I used to work in an industrial estate in Leyton E10, and there was a guy living in his Morris Minor "Shooting Brake" (estate car). That was around the mid 1990s.
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In the late 1980s a man spent some time living in an Astra van in a layby off Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone, East London.
The front was on axle stands, if I recall.
Think he was parked opposite the hospital, so there were no local residents to complain about him being there.
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I reckon there are loads of folk "living" in cars these days - beats sleeping rough ... I could do it (on my own) but - I'd have to head South for the winter!
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Aye ? the most significant (memorable) time was many, many years ago.
Returning south from seeing a laydee in Yorkshire very late one Sunday night the fan-belt on the Austin 1300 snapped on the M1 just before Rotherham. I trickled down the slip-road and pulled in on the hard shoulder.
As I knew what the problem was (and what was required to sort it) I had no choice other than to snuggle down until daybreak whereupon somewhat bleary-eyed I walked off the motorway to the nearest townward bus-stop and asked to be directed to the local Unipart stockist, etc., etc..
Once refitted I gingerly drove to the nearest housing estate to request some water to top-up the rad. Wing and a prayer stuff from then on but I safely made it back to MK (J14) and home.
Needless to say, the laydee in question borrowed her father's Lancia Beta Delta wotsit the next weekend and came down to me!
Sorry to say that the relationships ended shortly afterwards (car & her), but it's a 24-hour experience that will stay with me forever!
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We managed to sleep fairly comfortably once in the old but excellent Honda Shuttle we owned briefly a few years ago - in which all the seats folded flat for that purpose, according to the handbook.
My sister and brother-in-law once slept outside my house in their Volvo 740 estate after a packed party. No problem at all except when, in the morning, my b-i-l decided to get dressed in the road.
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I must confess to having the odd nap during the early hours in the front of a patrol car. Well we do advocate that drivers should not drive whilst tired! :-)
You have reached the pinnacle of your profession when you can sleep with head bolt upright, wearing sunglasses if necessary. Doing a dying swan impression whilst dribbling really is not good for public perception.
Edited by Fullchat on 07/06/2009 at 12:34
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Doing a dying swan impression whilst dribbling really is not good for public perception.
Yes, such a bad idea. People might think you were getting above yourself by pretending to be a High Court judge ...
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Yes, back in the 80s / 90s every November whilst spectating on the RAC rally (the propper Sun - Thurs rallies not the modern sprints and with snow and frosty nights thrown in), Forrest tracks were lined with cars some with 5 bodies inside.
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Back in the eighties four of us went over to France for a few days in an Astra van. Spent a couple of days in Paris, kipping in the van parked down a side street. Doubt very much you could get away with it now. One night we stopped over at Lille and parked in the town square, a delightful place. Went off for a few scoops then back to the van for the night.
Woke the next morning, later than intended, to find ourselves slap bang in the middle of a very busy market. Happy days...
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2 cars, 4 blokes, 2600 miles and 9 countries/principalities in a weekend, Holland to Holland via Italy and bits in between. Old fashioned Astra estates, kipping in the front seats. Damn cold up in the Alps in November.
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... 2600 miles and 9 countries/principalities in a weekend Holland to Holland
Sounds like a typical American tourist European holiday! ;-)
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An acquaintance of mine ran lorries to the Middle East and back.
One of his drivers decided to live in the cab full-time - not just on trips - to save up for a deposit on a house and to get married.
He was given permission to do it, but I never found out how he got on.
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Morris1000 Knebworth 1978 - Led Zeppelin's last proper concert. I slept in the back as it was my car !
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Morris1000 Knebworth 1978
>>
Didn't know they still made 'em then, PU. Was the Knebworth a special edition, then? ;-)
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I had a rented Peugeot 306 in Israel for two days but was otherwise short of money. I wanted to visit Masada near the Dead Sea, so parked up near the place and slept. A very uncomfortable night.
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Was it the original Fiat Panda that was advertised with the option of folding the seats down to make a double bed?
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CRV 3 seems to feature Austin Maxi type conversion to a double bed of sorts - rather stay in hotel these days.
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Last time was about 10 years ago - went camping with new girlfriend (now significant other)and a tent borrowed from her mother. Tried putting it up in quite a bit of wind and the pole snapped..... being a bit younger then we just went to the pub and "had a few" before coming back and sleeping in her Rover 114 (metro) Gsi. Being 6'2 it was not the best nights sleep I have ever had.....
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>>Being 6'2 it was not the best nights sleep I have ever had.....
Surely sleeping was the last thing on your mind ... ?
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>>Being 6'2 it was not the best nights sleep I have ever had..... >> Surely sleeping was the last thing on your mind ... ?
Not much room for anything else in a metro :-)
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The original Panda had seats which were entirely removable. The back one was fairly much a hammock supported by a pole running across the car and the front ones were sort of custom made deck chairs. All could be removed in a trice.
Bloke who used to play for the same rugby team as me donkeys ago had one and one Saturday night it was decided to remove and hide the seats from his Panda by way of what was judged to be a jolly jape.
Fortunately for him he was huge and managed to drive home without seats. They were, apparently anonymously returned to his back garden later that night.
How he must have laughed......Or possibly not.......
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Several times ...Most memorable being asleep in a Triumph TR6 in a layby in the middle of the night ,was awoken by somebody trying to break in, obviously with condensation on the inside they were unaware I was inside , they were as scared as I was angry.
Other moments recalled,a friend buying a 1963 850 cc mini as a teenager,a week later throwing a tent and three sleeping bags in the back and driving to Spain, sleeping overnight in a mini en route..... not recommended when your 6 foot +.
Re Led Zep Knebworth, recall falling asleep waiting for them to come on but not in a car (gone midnight).
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I've done it many times in my youth, not for a few years though - ironically enough the Espace I've got now would make a much better bedroom than many of the places I've slept over the years ranging from a Mini Traveller to a LWB Landie (other places include a greenhouse and - motoring related - garage).
In comfort terms the Landie was pretty good with the rear bench seats, but it wasn't so much draughty as galey. A Marina with the velour recliner seats was fine, as long as the weather was fine - heavy rain meant waking up with a wet leg!
That said, a friend used to live in a converted church, and if I had to crash at his I usually slept in the car rather sleep on his couch - one of the coldest places I've ever tried to sleep.
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One of his [lorry] drivers decided to live in the cab full-time - not just on trips
I can remember helping to load an artic outside the local church in the 80's with charitable donations for Rwanda, while speaking to the driver I learned that he "tramped" from one job to the next, sometimes halfway around the world. He had a PO Box number in Sheffield for correspondence.
Dave TD
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Once went for a weekend jaunt up the Kuiseb Canyon in Namibia with a couple of friends.
One night after a braai and a few sundowners, the wife and I slept, uncomfortably, in our CJ7 Jeep.
Our friends had a LWB Land Rover and Norman decided to sleep on the ground while his wife slept in the back.
We were awoken before sunrise by Norman's wife screaming. She'd felt something jump into the back of the LR and opened her eyes to see yellow eyes staring at her.
By torchlight and daylight the following morning we found feline paw prints about 4in across in the sand all around the back of the LR. Whatever had disturbed Jean had sniffed around Norman and then jumped over him into the back of the LR.
Kevin...
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Having spent most of my free time in the early - mid 80s following various bands round the country I used to sleep in the car often, a week at a time wasn't that unusual. Worst case was four of us 'sleeping' in a Cavalier Mk1 Coupe on the North Yorkshire Moors in the middle of winter. Wouldn't want to do that again, but in general it wasn't too bad. I think Chris23 summed it up pretty well at the top of the thread. Having slept in a Chevette, Marina and Viva the the Marina won in comfort terms, I recall two of us sleeping in it somewher eon Sanka Pass in teh middle of winter, sveral inches of snbow on teh car, but still it kept us reasonably warm.
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In a Morris Minor in the early eighties on Dartmoor. Got it down to a fine art: remove passenger seat bolts in floor, turn it sideways, open glove box for feet, you can stretch out nicely.
Woken one night by a torch in my eyes at 3 am, and a nice policeman who said "sorry sir, I thought you were dead".
My last encounter with a policeman who berated me for my driving whilst making the law up to suit himself a few weeks ago called me "mate" repeatedly. Times have changed for the worse.
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As children my parents used to take us on touring holidays in the UK. One year it was Norfolk and Suffolk, and we did not (as usual) book any accomodation in advance, but sought out B&B wherever we fancied. At the time Dad drove a Mark V (I think, the last of the breed anyway, big boxy number) Ford Zodiac Executive. What a beastie. One night, our overnight stay was to be in Saxmundham, however we could not find a B&B with vacancies and therefore Dad elected we sleep in the car in a car park. All 4 of us. I was allocated the rear parcel shelf as I was still small enough at about 7 or 8 years old to fit on it!
Later in life as a university student, I was, therefore, unfazed at the prospect of sleeping in my car. This I often did in my trusty an much loved Fiat Regata 70 (worst feature - blasted 4 speed gearbox), twice driving to Gibraltar and back sleeping in it at motorway service stations. I also sometimes slept in my Renault 9 at Holyhead after some nights out in Dublin - the drill was to drive to the ferry, park up and get cheap foot passage, then get the last ferry back and sleep in the car.
Then there was the spur-of-the-moment drive from Nottingham to Skye in a friend's Dad's Citroen AX GT. Freezing it was up there. And that's without doubt the smallest car I've ever slept in. I'm no giant but at 5'10" it was a bit snug.
More recently during the 1998 World Cup I drove my Peugeot 309 down to St Etienne to see Scotland v Morocco - the campsites were full and I had not booked, so again it was time to sleep in the car.
For some odd reason I've always loved doing it.
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I recall two of us sleeping in it somewher eon Sanka Pass in teh middle of winter, sveral inches of snbow on teh car, but still it kept us reasonably warm.
Sheesh, my typing is getting worse!
Try - I recall two of us sleeping in it somewhere on Snake Pass in the middle of winter, several inches of snow on the car, but still it kept us reasonably warm.
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I think we got the gist, but did wonder where the Sanka pass was. Google couldn't find it. ;>)
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Racing at Sleepless in the Saddle a couple of years ago... only had a small tent and it started hammering down with rain. The course turned into a quagmire. I shoved the (unbelievably filthy) bike into the el-cheapo tent and reclined the passanger's seat in my Xsara as far as it could go. A couple of observations:
* It gets *REALLY* cold inside a car at night, even in the summer.
* Rain hammering on the roof keeps you awake.
* Lots of condensation problems.
I didn't sleep that night at all (still racing every 2 hours) but would not care to repeat the experience of trying to sleep in a car anyway.
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Come to think of it, a friend of mine (big guy, ex-soldier) lived in his Viva estate for a couple of months, back in the late '80s.
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>>> friend of mine (big guy, ex-soldier) lived in his Viva <<<
General Motors ?
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Could be - but he isn't bust just yet...;-)
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General Motors
or Private Equity. I have in wilder days sleep under a bike - wouldn't care to do so now though !
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If it was a Viva probably Major Welding
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I passed a car in a layby on the way into work today. The man's breakfast was cooking on a spirit stove, and he was standing by the roadside brushing his teeth.
Obviously a former boy scout. I bet he even remembered the pinch of salt for his porridge.
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When we did our road trip to Italy last year, we peeled off the autobahn somewhere in the south of Germany during the wee small hours into a lay by for a leg stretch, smoke (as I did then) and a pee. There must have been 30 cars parked up with people snoozing contendedly. Never seen anything quite like it.
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Done it once many years ago in an old Mk1 Ford Escort on a touring holiday in Northern Germany as me and my mate were too drunk to pitch the tent. We just climbed into our sleeping bags and slept upright all night. Got some strange looks from fellow campers next morning.
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I have done it many years ago in my Mk1 Astra.
My Girlfriend and I, slept over in it for one night after she had a falling out with her parents, and been 18 years old we had not a lot money, and no where else to go.
Both seats folded down, one ?seat? each. I for the life of me could not get comfortable, it was very cold, even though it was the middle of summer and the condensation made it damp.
Then at 4am the heavens opened and I was woken to the sound of the rain hammering on the roof of the car and as it was so cold I could not get back to sleep again.
I have to say that cars now are probably more comfortable but I don?t think I will do it again, it was probably easier as I was 18 at the time, but as I?m not any more it would be very difficult, give me a warm Travelodge, with a toilet anytime.
Edited by redviper on 10/06/2009 at 18:08
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Hi Movilogo, be carefull if you have had a drink. My daughter had a couple of drinks, not a lot but enough to make her not want to drive home. Her car was parked in a retail park nearby so she decided to sleep in the car until 7am or so then drive home. She would have had 6 hours sleep by then. The police had spotted her through a camera and saw her get into the car. They sent round a traffic car, by which time she was asleep and they charged her with being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. So even if you try to the right thing the police will still get you. So watch what you have to drink just in case. Especially in North Yorkshire where they do not have a major crime problem so terrorise the motorist instead. Incidentally her reading was 41 which is 17% above the legal limit. Her doctor daid that after 2 to 4 hours her readings would have been below the limit. All that on 4 glasses of wine. Concrete
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I was talking to her indoors this afternoon (it happens!) and I mentioned how amazed I was about concretes Daughter getting nicked after deciding to 'sleep it orf' rather than take to the frog and toad after a few jars of the golden throat charmer ...
Now swimbo, who knows a thing or 2 about legal mattters reckons that if sed concrete offspring had put her keys out of reach, plod couldn't have nicked her!
can any plods, I mean officers of the law verify this for us please.
Wifey also reckons the plods were right bar stewards and it wasn't so much a case of protecting the public as much as wanting to reach their targets!
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Of course, she could have taken it to trial.
The Act provides (s. 5(2)) "a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1)(b) above to prove that at the time he is alleged to have committed the offence the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of his driving the vehicle whilst the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine remained likely to exceed the prescribed limit."
Why didn't she?
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