to be shocked by parents drinking wine then driving with kids in car?!

I dont mean this specific topic but somone creates a poll with 2 options and someone is surprised not everyone picks the same option that shocks me more

What is the point of having a poll in the first place?

I know you are not the op it is just 'i can't believe people pick the option I dont agree with' thing

Could it have been zero alcohol wine?

This is true, it's why the limit to fly a commerical aircraft isn't a hard 0 (but is near enough as damn it) to take into account medicine etc.

I do a long drive each day, with a choice of routes between A) busy A roads, lanes and town driving or B) one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the country.

When I began this journey four years ago I decided that I was a) never going to drink and drive, which I have kept absolutely and b) not going to drink on any night when I was driving the next morning, which I have kept on all but two occasions when I had a glass of wine with food. So basically I only ever drink alcohol on a Friday or Saturday evening!

It is very tedious but absolutely justified, as there have been six road accident fatalities along my two routes in that time period.

So it’s started glasses of wine

Then fairly big glasses of wine

Now large glasses of wine?

You thought that it was zero tolerance in Scotland and didn’t intervene with any parents drinking large glasses of wine and driving?

Probably because you live in the sticks they thought they can get away with it is pretty shocking but it's ingrained in them to have "just the one" they won't stop until they are stopped by the police at best !

Most people (who drink fairly regularly) would be fine to drive after a glass of wine plus food. I doubt that it’s enough units to be over the limit, plus for most people one glass would barely touch the sides.

I don’t drink much so a glass would make me pretty tipsy. I definitely wouldn’t. However I would have a glass of cider or something less strong and still be fine to drive.

No one cares about aerating £6 wine.

I have no issues with alcohol at a kid's party as long as no one is getting drunk. However I won't have any alcohol if I am driving at all that day. My DH stupidly drank whilst drunk when he was younger, he had a huge crash and almost went to prison. He learned his lesson and same as me won't touch alcohol if he needs to drive that day. I just don't think it's worth it. If I had a small wine and drove and crashed or hit someone, even if I was under the limit I would still wonder, would it have happened if I hadn't had that drink.

It might, however, indicate some difference in attitude to risk.

We’ve just had one of these threads as I recall commenting in last few days or so! Realise there were porky pies in that one as it was said Scotland was zero, which I thought nonsensical as you can have a sandwich and glass of juice and have a mild reading, but assumed people who live there knew what their limit was!

I’m also in a country with 0.05 and you can usually comfortably have 2 drinks if you are there for 2 hours and come in below. We do have official government recommendations and they are something like 1-2 standard glasses in first hour and then I think it was one an hour after for men and one every two for women. It has all sorts of disclaimers though as this is ‘average’ and depends on 1001 factors and tells you to assess your personal situation when drinking and driving. Nowhere does it say don’t drink anything and drive as that’s not aligned with the legal limit. I think the trick is knowing what is and isn’t a ‘standard glass’ for different things.

No idea what the issue is with alcohol at a kids party if adults are ‘forced’ to attend. No one is making anyone have any and as long as it’s not being offered to the kids! I always drank (sensibly, so I could drive) at kids events where alcohol was offered, so did DH. None of our kids grew up to have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and in fact the majority of ours don’t drink as we just asked them to wait until mid-20’s due to brain development (and they know I know what I’m talking about with health related matters and respect that) and at that point most couldn’t be bothered to start.

I’ve never been to a kids party where alcohol is offered to the parents. It’s usually tea and coffee and most of the parents don’t stay for the duration but drop and run. Rural Ireland.

If it’s a regular thing at parties, I’d be tipping off the police afterwards. Some people need reminding about why we have drink driving laws!!

Screw that. No way in gods earth i would let any of my family drive after a single drink. Its not worth it.

We go out, one of us will always offer to drive and that means no drink. My DD & DS have had the same drilled into them. Imagine trying to have that conversation with your child. But ive seen you drink then drive loads of times mum......

Sorry put my own quote by mistake. I was referring to OP's friends just pouring alcohol into a glass.

My adult dc and their spouses are all in their 30’s, they never drink and drive.
It’s more common, ime, for my age group, 60’s, to drink a glass of wine and drive.
Dh and I will occasionally have one small glass if we’re at a restaurant or sometimes a small beer. Mostly though dh drives and just drinks water or lemonade.

I'm also shocked by the fact they served alcohol at a kids party and that some people would even consider drink driving. The only safe amount of alcohol to drink when driving is zero. No drink that important to risk the lives and injuries to myself, kids and others.

No that isn't acceptable. It has to be a legal measure 125ml not sure about Scotland but it really is a small amount, pouring and guessing is ridiculous. I wouldn't have any alcohol if it wasn't measured first.

If you don’t even know the limit, how can you have a reasoned conversation about it?

It's considered legal. Safe is a whole other thing. The only safe amount of alcohol to consume if driving is none.

Certainly when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s there was a rural culture in Scotland of driving to the pub and having a few drinks, then driving back home. There were always jokes about the local PC being in the car park to ‘get his quotas up’ and I vividly remember being driven drunk by my grandparents. But I really, really thought that had changed over the years, especially with the limit reduction. I’m really surprised to read this to be honest and don’t wonder that you were shocked.

The basic fact is that alcohol impairs your ability to drive, that's why there's a limit on how much you can have in your system to be legal to drive because obviously the more you have, the more impaired you are.
I think it's really sad that it's become about not being impaired enough to get prosecuted when driving rather than not being impaired at all when driving because it's the safest option.
It's "What can I get away with" rather than "What's the safest option" which potentially gambles with other people's lives.
I don't understand why you would intentionally impair yourself to any level, even the smallest, when driving a car, but people do, and they justify it.

I'm in Scotland too so the 50mg limit applies. The legal limit is obviously important. But if you are talking about the safe limit, then you can't argue that legal and safe are the same thing. If you have a parent in Scotland driving with 60mg in them, and a parent in England driving with 60mg, the Scottish parent is breaking the law and the English one isn't. BUT both are equally safe/unsafe. There is no difference whatsoever in terms of safety.

I sometimes have one small drink with food if I’m driving a few hours later. 2 glasses and driving only an hour or two later is excessive though, especially with children in the car. I know the laws are different in Scotland too so wouldn’t be drinking and driving at all if I lived there just in case!