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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be concerned and think people are stupid

31 replies

Lovingthesunshine88 · 17/08/2019 20:54

Not long got off ferry from St Malo to Portsmouth which takes 9 hours.

Most of the daily entertainment is in the bar such a family quiz panto ect.

There aren't many foot passengers it's mainly cars caravans & motorhomes so lots of the people on board were going to be driving once we arrived back at Portsmouth but a huge amount of people were sat with pints or glasses of wine Hmm

There were to couples sat next to us we saw them consume at least 3 alcoholic drinks. When the announcement came on about who leaves to go to which deck to get their vehicles when we dock deck 3 was announced first so this is mainly caravans motorhome and larger vehicles i then hear the couple's next to us say well thats us then.

We couldn't believe they consumed so much alcohol with a good chance they'd be towing a caravan.

A lot of others were also drinking though definitely more than one drink too. My DH pointed it out at lunch time the amount of alcohol being drank so throughout the afternoon we did some people watching and it was quite shocking.

breath testing should take place at the docks before people head off onto the road.

(I'm not moaning because i didn't get to have a drink Grin genuinely just shocked)

OP posts:
HennyPennyHorror · 18/08/2019 02:42

YANBU it's disgusting. I live next to a pub in Australia and I can't believe the amount of people who park outside my house (there's a car park but they don't use it because if they park outside mine, they can just pull away having consumed hours worth of alcohol.

Wankers the lot of them

Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 06:45

Absolutely agree @HennyPennyHorror they are wankers and completely selfish to other road users.

I found it really frustrating so can only begin to imagine how pissed off you must be seeing that on a daily basis

OP posts:
user1480880826 · 18/08/2019 06:48

Maybe you should tip off the local Portsmouth police and they can set up random checks.

ChippyMinton · 18/08/2019 06:52

Not condoning this at all, but how do you know whether the drinks were alcoholic?

Geronimorlassie · 18/08/2019 06:55

You don't know if the people driving were drinking. Not your business.

EleanorReally · 18/08/2019 06:56

Some people are very ignorant and pig headed by the sound of it op, quite worrying

KatherineJaneway · 18/08/2019 06:59

Just because they were drinking, doesn't mean they were driving.

my2bundles · 18/08/2019 07:05

There's no way you could monitor every single person and group there closely enough to see you had been drinking and who the allocated drivers where

Theemojimovie · 18/08/2019 07:11

Living very close to the port, I can reassure you that it's not a big problem. I've not heard of accidents caused by drunk drivers leaving the ferry, with in the town, or on the motorway leaving the area.
Perhaps those actually driving just stuck to the one drink, or drank non- alcoholic drinks.

Lowlandlucky · 18/08/2019 07:17

[Geronimorlassie] it is the OPs business she was having to share a road with these people

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 18/08/2019 07:21

We regularly use the Hull- Rotterdam overnight boat. Dutch police random breatherlyse.

I believe many people who drink drive do it out of ignorance... Next morning, or not realising how much alcohol is in their drink (1 glass of wine being 125ml not the 250ml standard glass you have today for example), or other myths. Then there are the people who believe it's ok as they are good drivers.

colourlessgreenidea · 18/08/2019 07:26

Not your business

Drink driving is everybody’s business.

Trebla · 18/08/2019 09:03

I'm from Portsmouth originally, I thought this was a post about people who live in Portsmouth. I jumped on to agree. Grin

Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 11:01

The 2 couples who were sat next to us definitely had 3 alcoholic drinks each within the 2 hours we were sat there. I heard them giving their order and saw them drink the drinks and at least 1 of them were definitely driving. The husband of one of the ladies had very clearly had more than the 3 drinks previously to.

Not by any means saying everyone was drinking or drunk but a very large amount were who were driving.

I just found it a bit weird look around knowing some of these people had to drive when we got off the other side and were drinking before hand. One table a mum & dad with 2 children were sat drinking a pint each, the man who parked infront of us on the ferry (asked what deck we were on so i recognised him) ordered himself 2 pints in the time we were in the bar.

Just find it inconsiderate and selfish. Is it really that had to sit on a ferry for 9 hours without having a drink if you're driving? There are plenty of other drinks on sale there

OP posts:
Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 11:11

Also with doing this journey a few times a year for the last few years you can tell who is a foot passenger and who isn't as sailing back to UK is a daytime sailing so majority of people don't bother with a cabins so foot passengers usually have quite a bit of luggage with them where as those with vehicles don't. The way to France is an over night where most people do have cabins.

In case anyone is questioning how we knew some of the people drinking were going to be driving afterwards

OP posts:
ItsLateImTired · 18/08/2019 11:22

I do agree with you OP that drink driving is absolutely NOT on ...

However, I guess until you actually see them sit behind the wheel and drive off, you don't know this is what they were doing, and even then, you don't know exactly what they were drinking .

My favourite tipple is alcohol free larger mixed with lemonade in a pint glass!! It looks exactly like a pint of larger (partly why I like it as I do like a drink but often choose not to due to health, getting up early etc..) and like I'm drinking a pint of larger - but there is no alcohol in it whatsoever. I drank this alot when pregnant and had all kinds of comments and looks from people who jumped to conclusions Hmm. I also like to drink alcohol free larger from a bottle - again, looks a lot like larger! If husband is drinking and I'm driving it could WELL look like we'd both had a few and were now getting behind the wheel.

Also - who's to say they weren't meeting a relative or friend at the vehicles (again, this does often happen on boats - parties split up and agree to meet back at end of trip) or collecting their stuff then heading off on foot somewhere ..

womaninthedark · 18/08/2019 11:24

think people are stupid

You've only just noticed?
To be fair, I've been stupid, in other ways, on more than one occasion.

Reallywanttomovenow · 18/08/2019 11:26

The safety of the road is everyone's business. You can tell who is a drink driver on these kinds of threads.

ItsLateImTired · 18/08/2019 11:30

Oh! Just realised you've docked at end of trip, so I guess they weren't collecting stuff and then heading off on foot!! (I haven't been drinking!! Just not great at concentrating!!)Wine

Screamanger · 18/08/2019 11:35

You should visit northern Maine, people here drink WHILE driving. It’s become normal to see my neighbor with his car beer.

However on the plus side we live on empty gravel logging roads with no one around.

JoxerGoesToStuttgart · 18/08/2019 11:44

Yep. People are stupid and selfish. Some are addicts, and some think “it’ll never happen to me”, some think one drink is fine, or that’ll it’ll wear off before they’re driving. Some really just don’t care.

I lost a family member to a drunk driver 11 years ago. He left 4 Dc behind and his partner is disabled for life from the accident. His children watched him die while waiting for the ambulance.

Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 12:08

@JoxerGoesToStuttgart so sad reading that it's absolutely awful poor family. So sorry for your loss ❤

This is why it bugs me so much because it can and does happen.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 12:09

@Screamanger Shock that's madness

OP posts:
Whatafackinliberty · 18/08/2019 12:10

God I love curtain twitchers.

Original poster
Lovingthesunshine88 · 18/08/2019 12:18

@ItsLateImTired yes we were docking back in UK and the mum & dad i was referring to were drinking Guinness and I'm pretty sure they don't do an alcohol free option (although I'm not 100% sure)

The foot passengers who don't have cabins have to carry their luggage as you are forbidden to leave any luggage unsupervised which you are reminded about quite a lot on the journey so you do get a good idea who is with a vehicle and who isn't.

OP posts: