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)!

YABU.. who is worse, the guy who can't revese park or the person who is impaired through alcohol? if you were sat in the driver seat, with the keys in the ignition and you have been spotted and stopped by the police, and you were OPL then thats your license gone.

the guy who can't reverse will still have his. I can't revese park.. if i din't have the cameras on my car for reversing i'd be stuffed! i must have been able to do it at some point to have passed my test, which i think is pretty much like a lot of people.

Thank you all-well there definitely won't be a 'next time' as I do not feel safe in a car with someone who apparently 'can't see' to park.

The worst that could have happened was dinging the other car, and you’d have sorted that out the next day without anyone bringing up the alcohol. Not great, but not terrible.

That's another thought process I had even though I knew it wouldn't happen, I was okay.

@JoanOgden that absolutely wouldn't happen here. There's NO police around, ever and my road is private, not a through route to anywhere, they wouldn't pass through it at all. The only reason they'd be there is if someone had called them to an emergency or such-again highly unlikely. And yes as @Jk987 said, I didn't drive it more than a couple of feet to stop it blocking the road-I absolutely wouldn't have driven to any destination in it.

@itsgettingweird I'd been out for dinner and then was out for quite a while after but I couldn't tell you exactly how long.

I definitely won't do it again, I'll never have a reason to.

Another thing I didn't mention is when we left the pub he drove on the wrong side of the road. When I told him to get over to the left hand side he said 'there's parked cars there'-yes there were but not on the WHOLE of the LHS. I won't get in a car with him again.

Exactly what I thought @Rory17384949 -I've never been in a car before with him and I am amazed that he passed a driving test.

@Ivehearditbothways good point-I imagine they'd seen him drinking/he was acting drunk and then they saw him drive a fair distance? Maybe.

@Reallybadidea yes, maybe once I realised that he couldn't park, I should've just asked him to take it back to the pub and walk me home? No room to park at his house.

@sunsetsandboardwalks I know someone who similar happened to! Pulled over to breathalise him and he said 'Somat wrong wi' that if it says I'm over't limit, mate! Haven't had a drink in 25 years!'

@SoupDragon in this situation I wasn't going to meet anyone on the road-but he often will.

@Schoolchoicesucks definitely, there was absolutely no chance of me doing that (mistaking a brake etc) I was okay. I definitely wouldn't have done it if I felt inebriated and I'd never have driven home, I don't even drive home after one drink unless it was say, hours before. And yes, worst that could've happened is I'd have bumped another car.

It wasn't a bottle of wine.

I wasn't exactly 'slagging him off'.

I had absolutely zero chance of killing someone by maneuvering a car in the space of about two feet. Unless, I don't know, a small child wearing black happened to be wandering around at midnight and went behind my car without my seeing-in which case, just as much chance if I was sober.

It's unavoidable where I live @Housewife2010

He's insured third party.

I kind of have to take my car to the pub really. I've been going for over ten years and have never driven home while affecting by alcohol, so 'nothing' is the 'what's next'.

Sorry, by 'sort of' I meant, I didn't actually DRIVE anywhere. I appreciate that I got behind the wheel, but I didn't drive to anywhere/go anywhere in the car. I just parked it in the space it was already half in.

I wouldn't worry about this at all to be honest. You weren't even really driving anywhere.

I'd definitely be able to park my car after 3 glasses of wine. However like you said it's still illegal. Your friend should hand in their license if they can't reverse a car!

in the eyes of the law she was... she had the keys, she was in the driving seat.. she was probably OPL.

I agree, it's not ideal, but you weren't out driving the roads, you were literally just moving your car a little bit into a space, probably going 1 or 2 miles per hour.

I wouldn't give it any more headspace

Don't know why on earth you posted this @Uriahsnose . It was obvious everybody would disapprove, and besides its done with no adverse consequences

There was no risk to anyone here by just reversing into your own private space on a private road so i couldn't get too upset about it (although you did have loads of other options). Drink driving is a really stupid thing to do but isn't illegal on private property, your private road/space probably wouldn't qualify as other people can walk up and down it, but really there was no risk to anyone else here.

He's insured third party.

He was very unlikely to be insured to drive your vehicle at all, he would need to have it specified in his own policy that he is insured to drive other vehicles, as far as I know he'd have to have a fully comp policy of his own for that.

The drink limit for women is estimated to be around 3 units ...not exactly as metabolisms are different....a small bottle of wine is around 1.5 units so she's had 4.5 units in a few hours.... definitely over the limit.

I'm amazed people don't know how much you can drink and drive sticking to 0 is the safest option for everyone else on the street they drive down.

Did you say your road was private? If so it's not a crime to drive drunk on a private road, obviously dangerous, and risky and ill advised, but not illegal.

if you have been driving on private land, albeit driving having consumed alcohol above the prescribed limit, you would not be guilty of drink driving. The offence of drink driving is only committed if you have driven on a road or public place.

He is fully comp.

Yes it is a private road-I never thought of that if I am honest!

Three bottles of wine would have put you over the limit. You should not have got behind the wheel. In future don't let anyone else drive your car. Just think yourself lucky you got away with it.

You did something stupid and illegal. Of course it was a hideous lack of judgement, and had a policeman walked past while you did it, you could have been, rightly, arrested and charged. However you've done it, you weren't caught, you didn't hurt anyone, move on and don't do it again.

I am not sure how it can be 'obvious everyone would disapprove' I mean, in fairness even I disapprove but I have had a mixed bag of comments.

You can be done for just having the keys and sat in the car intoxicated. Not even in the ignition

I kind of have to take my car to the pub really. I've been going for over ten years and have never driven home while affecting by alcohol, so 'nothing' is the 'what's next'.

Why do you need to take your car to the pub @Uriahsnose ? If you can walk back after a few drinks why can’t you walk there?

I know that, I wasn't disputing that at all-I put that I knew it wasn't legal, in the OP although from what a PP has said, it was on my own land, so it might not have been even illegal anyway.

In that case no laws have been broken, no cars got dinged and everyone lived happily ever after, you're obviously conscientious about leaving you car at the pub if you've had a drink so as a strict one off I wouldn't worry about it.

Unless you're having a 'Wolf of Wall Street' moment where you think you parked it perfectly but it's actually half way down the street wrapped around a tree, you'll be fine.

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

I'm not brilliant at reverse parking. If I can't reverse into a small parking space I park further away. That might inconvenience me (and any passengers I have) but it's not dangerous or illegal.

Driving a car when over the limit is both.

not on private land you can't.

What exactly is the point of this thread? Is it to allow those holier than thou to have a good rant about what OP did?

She wasn't driving on the M1 FGS. No harm was done to anyone, and I can't get worked up about it at all. Safer to have the car parked properly anyway, which it was.