Chat & Social > The Bar - General Chat
drink driving check
blacknight:
I am unfortunatly classed as disabled due to me only having one arm, its the right arm and is missing from above the elbow.
Many a person will look at me, nod and say "motorbike accident" and when I reply with a yes the reply is normally "thought so, dangerous machines aren't they".
Mine was only a "dangerous machine" due to a drunk driver in a Mercedes who was twice over the limit coming round a corner on the wrong side of the road. Nearly lost my leg, broken left wrist, broken right arm, severed artery feeding right arm and bad neck, these are just some of the injuries. The reason that I lost my right arm was due to the nerves being pulled out of the spine, people in the medical profession call this bracheal plexus.
This happened 21 year ago and since then have had 21 years of pain due to phantom limb pain. A pain so bad I could be rolling around on the floor in agony, this could happen most days. I have been going to pain clinics who have been attempting to ease this pain without much success.
I am off work at the moment due to just coming out of a hospital in Liverpool, a fantastic hospital with brilliant staff. Had an operation on my spinal cord to try and ease the pain, an operation where nerves in the spinal cord are corterised. A very frightening and risky operation, it was a very hard decision of whether to have it or not due to the obvious risks. Its early days yet but only time will tell if its been a success or not.
Need I say anything else about the risks of drinking and driving??
dazzawhipple:
I Think Blacknight has said all there is to say about drink driving
Darren
Grant:
--- Quote from: "dazzawhipple" ---I Think Blacknight has said all there is to say about drink driving
Darren
--- End quote ---
Definately, best of luck Blacknight.
I used to see drink drivers all the time when i played tennis at the local club. everyone drove in, played a few games, had a few beers in the clubhouse then drove home. they were never [!Expletive Deleted!] but enough to slow the reactions down. it must happen everywhere, i dont think the message has got home
andycwb:
--- Quote from: "NicePinkWellies" --- All checks on vehicles and people driving vehicles are worthwhile. It only takes 1 to cause many ruined lives. If out of 100 people checked, 1 was caught, it would be worth it.
--- End quote ---
I kind of agree with the sentiment, but I'm not sure that ALL checks are worthwhile; they are time consuming and inconvenient for the 99 people who are in the clear.
--- Quote from: "NicePinkWellies" ---To say it is not fair after the football - are you mad. It is the time when there WILL be drunk drivers on the road and they need stopping.
--- End quote ---
I agree with the notion of having more checks after events like the football and around Christmas when more people are likely to be over the limit - and especially the morning after when it's very easy to forget last night's 8 pints.
--- Quote from: "NicePinkWellies" ---Would you complain if they drove into you while you were walking along the day after getting bladdred, just because the football had been on? Would you say - Oh, that's ok, you were just enjoying yourself the night before, that is if you were still alive? Can't see it somehow.
--- End quote ---
Good point.
While I don't condone drink driving, there is a world of difference between the person who knowingly and willingly drives when they are WAY over the limit and the person who registers fractionally over the limit the morning after, but I don't believe that either society or the legal system makes any differentiation. In the latter situation they'd probably be just as dangerous (from lack of sleep) if they were at .075% (legal) instead of .085 (illegal) - the alcohol is irrelevant.
Just to be clear, they still shouldn't have been driving, but the focus on the alcohol limit isn't the whole story, in the same way that 29mph is safe and 31mph is dangerous on any given road.
It's not just alcohol that affects your judgement - after struggling to concentrate sufficiently for the 20 minutes to get home after an overnight flight a few years ago I now refuse to drive after long flights, and I try to avoid the morning-after-the-night before situations as well: even if I wasn't drinking very much, I'm too tired to be safe.
Keep it safe out there, folks, and best wishes to Blacknight that the operation helps.
NiceBlueWellies:
No denying it is inconvienient at times to be stopped, but rather that than some numpsy kill me! :wink:
As they say, better to arrive late while in this life, than arrive early for the next. :shock:
Good luck blacknight - hope it works for you.
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