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)!

Why are you beating yourself up about this let alone opening yourself up to a roasting on here.
it wasn’t ideal, you won’t do it again. Nobody was hurt nor was it remotely close.
Don’t worry about it

That. It's quite bizarre that people are pointing the finger.

I would never drink and drive normally, but moving a car a couple of metres, max, on a private road? No-one could be run over or hurt in any way

Assuming an ABV of 12.5% a 187ml bottle of wine contains 2.3 units of alcohol. So three bottles contains 6.9 units of alcohol - or about a quarter of a 70cl bottle of vodka or whisky.

On average the liver processes 1 unit of alcohol per hour - perhaps a bit slower for women.

I'm pretty certain that after three 187ml bottles of wine the OP - and anyone else for that matter - would be at least two times over the legal limit for driving and would certainly be impaired.

After consuming quarter of a bottle of vodka, somebody's blood alcohol content would probably be lower if it had been drunk just 20 minutes earlier than if it had been spread out over the previous 60 - 90 minutes and had had more time to get into the system.

It sounds like you had no idea about his driving ability so why did you let him drive your car?

He shouldn't have offered you the lift in the first place unless he had a car of his own, and you shouldn't have accepted.

Only time I have ever been breathalised was when i collected DH and two of his mates from a very posh late night event. It was one of those random pull in setups. My passengers were not skunk drunk, they were at the state where everything is hilarious and were all in very classy dinner jackets. First thing I did was reverse over a police bollard. Then nice policeman asked me when I last had a drink and I said 2 days ago which was true. He clocked the situation (the event was well known and well attended) and said "well I can smell alcohol in the car so I have to breathalyse you" Husband pipes up "well if you can't smell alcohol we've all wated a lot of money" At which point one back passenger hangs out of the car and upchucks. I got a sympathtic grin and eyeroll from the policeman who told me my measurement was well within the legal limit and sent me on my way.

Nor me. Seriously, what could possibly happen?! Maybe you'd knock over a flower pot.

(But I live in farming country and people drive after drinking ALL THE TIME. Otherwise half the pubs in remote areas would closed.)

I just felt it was safer @cosyleafcafe

I live alone, go out everywhere alone, I refuse to become a hermit and I have a large dog that I take to the pub with me. But I still get frightened walking home. I just refuse to become a recluse. So when he offered to drive me home as he was going that way anyway, I accepted.

That's a thought!
I am not rural although I am in a village. I am pretty sure at least 50% of the people I know from the pub will drive home over the limit with little thought. It does shock me if I am honest. And most of them don't live anywhere near as close as I do.

Since when was a bottle of wine 561ml?

Reverse parking is one of the manoeuvers you need to be able to do for your driving test. If you have a license, you should be able to do it. If you can't, you should be practising.

Every single person convicted of drink driving thought they were absolutely fine to drive. You're not. It doesn't matter how strongly you believe you are. You're not.

I am not sure that's true @CarterBeatsTheDevil . I think a lot of them know they shouldn't be driving but take the risk.

So the problem is that your normal plan is that you walk home, which makes you feel unsafe.

You need to make alternative arrangements.

The only person who was BU was you as you drove a ton of metal after drinking.

I am not sure what other alternative there is? I don't always drink when I go out and I'll drive if I don't but sometimes I want to have a few drinks. I work hard and don't do much else 'fun' really. I feel endangered walking to my car from the gym too but I refuse to not exercise.

I think unfortunately many women feel unsafe walking at night. Not sure what else I could do? I can't afford a bodyguard.

I've never been in a car before with him and I am amazed that he passed a driving test.

It's quite staggering you let him drive your car.

Even fully comp insurance doesn't automatically cover you to drive other cars now. I had to specifically add it on recently.

If he was going your way then he could have walked with you, presumably that was his plan before your car became an option.

That still doesn't explain why you have to take your car to the pub. If you can walk home why can't you walk there?

I think unfortunately many women feel unsafe walking at night. Not sure what else I could do? I can't afford a bodyguard.

Why not walk with him?

How was he getting home before the plan to drive your car came up?

If you're not sure what else you could have done in this situation other than put yourself at the wheel of a tonne of metal whilst inebriated, then there's a problem.

You make arrangements for getting home before you go out. If you feel unsafe walking then you book a cab or plan in advance with somebody else to go home with you. Or you don't drink. It's not rocket science.

I really don't care about your personal situation - there's never a good reason to be in control of a car whilst under the influence.

It was low risk in terms of causing an accident but isn't a good idea in case you damage a car or a police car happens to be passing.

I once nearly drank and drive myself. My mum was staying for Easter and we'd had Sunday lunch and a (big) glass of wine. I was talking about a house I liked and it wasn't within walking distance. I said I'd show my mum, so we got in the car. I was halfway down the drive and suddenly remembered I'd been drinking. But it was that close, I just wasn't thinking.

People sometimes do stupid things and they get away with it. But there is always the chance that you won't.

My advice is never do it again OP. Quit while you are ahead.

I feel endangered walking to my car from the gym too but I refuse to not exercise

separate point but is there no car park for the gym? Most do have car parks.

Just out of curiosity, did your friend have their own insurance to allow them to drive your car?

I don't know what you were expecting by posting here OP, perhaps you hoped others would justify your actions. The fact is, you were a bloody idiot and you're really lucky you didn't damage anything, hurt anyone, or get shopped to the police. Three 187ml bottles of wine is about 7.5 units of alcohol. That would have put you around three times over the limit, regardless of how you felt. If you were prepared to walk back from the pub then the car could have been parked elsewhere. There was absolutely no excuse for doing what you did.

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.

Surprised no-one on here has yet told you to report yourself to the police