I drank drove (sort of) but I didn't know what else to do. There's a (not v good) diagram.

[Uriahsnose]

I drove to my local pub like I do a couple of times a week. If I am having alcohol, I leave the car there and collect it the following day.

The other night, my neighbour/friend came in, was sober and offered to drive me home in my car-he only lives around the corner. As this is safer for me than walking home I agreed.

Some houses on my street have front gardens, some have drives. I have a front garden as does one of my next door neighbours. Terraced, narrow, village one way street-parking can be a bit awkward but the houses that don't have a drive all have a designated parking space.

So my friend goes to park my car and it transpires that he doesn't know how to reverse park. He tried to drive into my parking space but the NDN with a drive's car was sticking out of their drive, and the other neighbour (in front of where my car would go) is parked outside her house. So it ended up with my car sticking out at an angle, blocking the road. I told my friend 'you'll need to reverse park, you can't leave it blocking the road'. He tried but couldn't do it-kept saying 'I can't because I can't see!' And 'will that do' (no, it wouldn't!) so in the end I told him to get out and I parked it myself.

I was so nervous-even though I wasn't drunk (I'd had three of those mini bottles of wine) and I knew I couldn't hurt anybody, but It's still illegal isn't it?

AIBU to think that if you can't reverse park, you shouldn't be driving a tonne of metal?

(Just realised I haven't accurately depicted the gardens in my diagram but the basic set up/situation is the same)!

She is saying he is fully comp so is driving third party under the rules of that.

Your insurance doesn't cover other people to drive your car unless they are named, they have to have their own policy which stipulates they can drive other (insured) cars.

Why are you driving there in the first place, if it's 0.2 miles away?

@maverickfox I explained upthread but for a couple of reasons. One being it is much quicker to drive there (obviously) not just because it is a car, but because there's a quick road/way to get to the pub but it is an iffy area (lots of nooks and crannies and dark, no lampposts, trees). I won't walk that way, but I'll drive it.

I thought that too @muggletops which is why I did what I did. I won't get a taxi though i'll continue to walk. he will have been insured third party

@Staunchlystarling I definitely won't let him again!

I really did make the decision based on how I felt-i'd not have done it if I felt inebriated or felt I might make a mistake-I understand I could have been wrong, but luckily I wasn't.

Presumably she does, because she parked OK, which is what she intended to do.

I shall not be driving up and down the road 'off my tits' (I LOVE that phrase btw😂) but this really made me laugh, thank you!

@MontagueMoo

i think she would have been, the limit is very low. I choose not to drink at all if I'm driving because I worry too much about the level & if I were to lose my licence, I'd lose my job

She was parking the car, on a driveway, at night (no small kids running about) I wouldn't give it a second thought.

YABVU

Just because you didn’t feel drunk, doesn’t mean you weren’t over the limit.

You drank a bottle of wine. That’s 10/14 recommended maximum alcohol units in a week for a female.

And it wasn't when I took mine. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So walk there then. Leave the car at home. Simples.

When did you? I think the test hadn't long been changed when I took it in 1996. (So 28 years ago, not 25 as I said first!)

@Coldfinch and @Rosscameasdoody are right. You could be arrested for being drunk in charge of a vehicle, or with the intent to drive.

In a way, you are right too, as you would not be "done" for driving on private land drunk. But I know that people have been arrested after the Police came to their door on suspicion that they HAD been in charge of a vehicle whilst intoxicated, even getting them out of bed. They then carry out a Alcohol Technical Defence calculation, if the individual claims that they only began drinking AFTER arriving home/being in the car (commonly known as the 'hip flask defence'), to determine if it's realistic that the amount of alcohol in the system could have been consumed in the time claimed - if the ATD calculation result doesn't support the post incident consumption story the result will be used in court.

It doesn't matter where, when or even if you were never intending to drive at all - if the keys are in your hand and you're caught over the limit, you will be done for intent/"being in charge of a vehicle", even if the vehicle is stationary, with the engine off, and parked on private land. Drink driving and being drunk whilst suspected of being in charge of a vehicle are separate offences.

It's all academic in the case of the OP though, but I thought it was worth making this point.

This is helpful for determining how long it is before you're safe to drive after drinking (NOT a tool to enable drinking to the max and driving, just as a guide) - The Morning After Calculator – The Morning After | When will you be safe to drive? (morning-after.org.uk). According to this, after 3 standard glasses of 13% wine, it'll be 9 hours before you're safely under the limit again.

To answer @Uriahsnose's original query - yes, I agree. YANBU to think that a person who struggles to competently reverse-park should perhaps not be driving a big vehicle (or, perhaps, any vehicle). But he did; you let him, and here we are. Just don't do it again is all I can really offer. I walk, and I live in a town, not a village. Although the dog is generally with me.

Before it was added to the test, obviously 😂

It’s not making the point, as it’s wrong she would not be done if she was on private land. Full stop no way round it. If she was on a road or a public place, yes, but not on a private road.

i think some people are actually disappointed about that. They still want to chastise and threaten her, even though it is absolutely factual she did nothing wrong and would never be done for anything , as it isn’t a crime.

I was never even taught how to reverse park. I can, however, reverse round a corner, do a 3 point turn and bay park.

Can members of the public walk along it? If so, it isn't covered as 'private land'.
Plenty of public spaces are in private ownership, but you would still be guilty of drink driving. E.g. supermarket car parks.

Gosh you’re really really trying hard to make her guilty of something. If it’s a private road unless a public right of way then no, it wouldn’t Be open to the public, no more than your garden is or your drive.

I think it's worth knowing (in general, not just in OP's case).

From the first post it sounds like a normal, residential street. If guests and the public can drive down it then it has right of way (I think?) so regular laws apply.

Wrong! I live on one. There is full public access along it and a footpath into woodland at the end. There are about 80 houses on it. If I started driving up and down it off my face, there is a real risk I could hit someone. OP has not said if her 'private road' is similar

It isn't about making her guilty, it is about her recognising the stupidity of ever getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. Instead of seeing 'private road' as some sort of get out of jail free card.

I’m sorry are you under the impression yours is standard? I live on one with no public access and five houses. What’s your point. Is she your neighbour. As otherwise what’s your road got to do with it? What an odd post.

I think a completely private road (i.e. no public allowed) is unusual. Do delivery drivers and guests need permission to access the road?

Just making the point that there are different types of 'private road'. Just because yours has no public access, you think it applies to all. Which is stupid

I mean if you regularly need Latin in you day to day life then yes.

If you're regularly driving then of course you need to keep your driving skills up to date.

Regarding the private road, a private road to which the public have access you could still be done for drink driving.

Three mini bottles = bottle of wine - 25cl. Depending on the strength it can be up to ten units of alcohol.

@23ShadowsI explained upthread but there are a couple of reasons. One being it is much quicker to drive there (obviously) not just because it is a car, but because there's a quick way to get to the pub but it is an iffy area (lots of nooks and crannies and dark, no lampposts, trees). I won't walk that way, but I'll drive it.

Another is because I'd rather be putting my safety at risk once rather than twice.

I sometimes put my dog in the car for a short period, while I am in the pub, if there's (for example) another dog in the pub that's nervous around other dogs.

I thought that too @muggletops which is why I did what I did. I won't get a taxi though I'll continue to walk. he will have been insured third party

@Staunchlystarling I definitely won't let him again!

I really did make the decision based on how I felt-I'd not have done it if I felt inebriated or felt I might make a mistake-I understand I could have been wrong, but luckily I wasn't. @crumpbackedrichmond he knows my house well as he's often been there so he'd have known what it was like for parking anyway, didn't need to ask.

I did think about it but it just seemed a really silly thing to do when we were already back. He made several attempts and I knew I could do it okay and I did.

I definitely won't do it again-the occasion will never arise!

@Soontobe60 I mean he was insured for MINE 3rd party, not his.

@BakewellGin1 yes, I've always had a high tolerance to alcohol compared to some. Plus I'd had food which will have helped.

@Growlybear83 yes, all I did was maneuver the car from where it was sticking out in the road, to being properly in my space. And I wasn't drunk-I was obviously not sober but I was nowhere near drunk.

@tribalmango I've explained this above and before on the thread.

@DingDongDell70 I know the recommendations and am not sure why they're relevant. I am not an alcoholic-three small bottles (or three glasses) of wine is not going to turn me into one either.

@23Shadows I have explained why I take the car three times now.

@REP22 yes, the occasion will never arise for this to happen again.

@PermanentlyFullLaundryBasket I would never have driven up and down it after even one drink.

Sorry I know I have missed some and I have got quite bogged down in all the posts about a private road, I never even thought about that in the first place.