Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Drink driving-is 4 pints too much? Should pubs do more to stop known drink drivers?

66 replies

Drivingmissdaisydoo · 06/03/2022 14:45

NC for this. I am very against drink driving and won't allow anyone to drive me if I know they've had even one drink or know them to take drugs that affect their ability to drive legal or otherwise. This is because of childhood trauma.
I know someone who regularly has 4 pints then drives home. They are well known at their local and the bar staff know this person drives home. Is 4 pints too much? We are talking a person weighing 10 stone with a small build and elderley. Should bar staff do more or would it cause them too many issues and it's not their job to police if people drive after drinking in their pub? I'm tee total and can't drive due to disability so my view might not be realistic at all.

OP posts:
Mummysgirl12 · 06/03/2022 15:09

Hmm don’t agree here. It would entirely depend on the metabolism of the person, the time period and if they ate.

It reminds me of thAt channel 4 program trying to get the trafficker (human) and he had 3 pints in about 1-2 hours. They pulled him over thinking they could get him on that but when breathalysed he was under.

Call the police if concerned otherwise it’s not your business just talking about it. Do something.

Baconandmaplesyrup · 06/03/2022 15:10

This is really bad. Find out where they drink and inform the police. Someone could get hurt or killed.

Wonnle · 06/03/2022 15:10

It's about time the legal limit was dropped to zero !

Maverickess · 06/03/2022 15:15

4 pints is far too much, and I've been that member of bar staff and been told to mind my own business (and yes by the LL too!) Fuck off, and threatened that if they get pulled they know who to blame, and all the other entitled crap people come out with around alcohol, when I've known someone intends to drive after drinking too much and tried to persuade them not to.

That said I have had more success than failure in those circumstances with customers giving me their keys to keep overnight in the safe, but that was a local pub where everyone knew everyone and people were a little bit respectful. In bigger places where the customers were more and a bigger turn around there wasn't even really the chance to notice to be honest.

People get shitty enough when you try and enforce the laws you have to around alcohol when you serve it, the type of person that does this regularly wouldn't take a blind bit of notice of the bar staff, but yes, they'd be the ones everyone would blame when it all goes tits up.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 06/03/2022 15:18

@Wonnle

It's about time the legal limit was dropped to zero !
Totally agree. My DH can drive on one pint, I would be legless on half a pint and totally unsafe!
gogohm · 06/03/2022 15:21

Definitely too much - 2 is borderline over the limit in England (beer strength varies, many modern ipa's etc are stronger and 1 pint puts you at the limit!)

It's not the pubs job to police him but I would expect them to try to educate and potentially call the police

Original poster
Drivingmissdaisydoo · 06/03/2022 15:22

I have no tolerance to alcohol and even after a few mouthfuls I can feel the effects but I no longer drink now anyway. There's no way I'd have driven after having anything alcoholic.

Can I report anonymously?

OP posts:
gogohm · 06/03/2022 15:25

@Wonnle

.02 is effectively zero (one unit puts you over) but means you aren't in danger from cough meds, apparently potato skins even.

dementedpixie · 06/03/2022 15:38

@Drivingmissdaisydoo

I have no tolerance to alcohol and even after a few mouthfuls I can feel the effects but I no longer drink now anyway. There's no way I'd have driven after having anything alcoholic.

Can I report anonymously?

The link I put above for crimestoppers can be used to report anonymously
bigbluebus · 06/03/2022 15:42

Someone that DH knows got a driving ban after someone tipped off the police about them regularly driving to and from their local after drinking more than the legal limit. The police waited by their house for them to arrive back from the pub and breathalysed them on their driveway.

DetailMouse · 06/03/2022 15:42

I don't think the bar staff have any more responsibility to stop it than you do.

NumberTheory · 06/03/2022 15:46

@DetailMouse

I don't think the bar staff have any more responsibility to stop it than you do.
The license holder has more responsibility since part of the licensing agreement is to act to prevent alcohol related crime. So they should be including that as part of expectations for staff. Suspect most don’t though.
NumberTheory · 06/03/2022 15:47

@Drivingmissdaisydoo

I have no tolerance to alcohol and even after a few mouthfuls I can feel the effects but I no longer drink now anyway. There's no way I'd have driven after having anything alcoholic.

Can I report anonymously?

You can report to the police anonymously, though they are more likely to act on reports that aren’t anonymous. If you can, include the license plate, make, model and colour of the car they drive, the pub they’re at each Friday (with address), the time they leave the pub, their destination and the route they take.

You can also report the pub to the licensing board. Your local authority should have details of how on their website. I believe most licensing boards will maintain confidentiality for complainants.

Lovelteers · 06/03/2022 15:49

'I don't think the bar staff have any more responsibility to stop it than you do.

BIG difference in legal versus MORAL responsibilty.
The manager can have a quiet word and say - if you come here in your car we aren't serving you more than a pint. Sorry, but you decide.
You drink 2 pints and we know you're about to drive home, you're barred.

TrashyPanda · 06/03/2022 15:52

@Wonnle

It's about time the legal limit was dropped to zero !
Totally agree. England/Wales/NI has one of the highest drink drive limits anywhere, at 0.08.

The average world limit is 0.06 and the average European limit is 0.05 - which is the Scottish limit.

Not sure why England is so lenient. It benefits nobody.

If you are driving, you don’t drink. It’s as simple as that.

MorningStarling · 06/03/2022 15:56

Dropping the limit to zero might sound sensible in theory but in practice lots of non-drinkers will be prosecuted for drink-driving through no fault of their own.

It's impossible to guarantee no trace of alcohol in your system simply because the food you eat and (non-alcoholic) drinks you consume will produce trace levels of alcohol.

I'm not talking about "auto brewery" syndrome here - people who naturally make enough alcohol in their body to have a noticeable effect - but literally everyone.

Assuming you eat, you may have a small amount of alcohol in your system right now, even if you've never drunk alcohol in your life.

Fairislefandango · 06/03/2022 15:57

4 pints Shock Angry. One pint would be pushing it in terms of stayingbelow the limit. No pints is the only acceptable amount imo.

CovidCorvid · 06/03/2022 16:03

Dd works behind a bar and says there’s someone (elderly) who comes in every day for a large glass of wine and soup. She then tops her wine glass up with a bottle she has in her handbag and spends two hours drinking before driving home. Dd has told her manager but nobody does anything. I

1forAll74 · 06/03/2022 16:08

Far too much, not sure what the legal limit is now though., I have known a couple of people, who got a fine, for drinking just one pint of beer. I dont think its on the pub, to do anthing about some one who is over the limit,, unless they are totally staggering from the pub and falling in the road, and attempting to get in car outside. and seen by the landlord etc

My local pub, which is closing down , won't even allow someone in, if they can smell cannabis on their clothes,, even though they might have just had a spliff walking to the pub.,

GrendelsGrandma · 06/03/2022 16:12

Is it definitely full strength beer? You get low and no alc on tap now sometimes, or shandy. I used to be shocked by how much fil drank until I realised it was all mild and therefore about half the strength of proper beer. But yes 4 pints is too much.

Someone ten stone and elderly, one pint could probably put them over the limit as it's to do with how you metabolise it, I think muscle means you can process it faster?

CovidCorvid · 06/03/2022 16:15

And they are very wrong about it not registering by the time they get to the station. If that was the case nobody would get done for drink driving. A drunk driver hit dh’s car and was 4x the limit at the roadside and still 4x the limit at the police station.

GrendelsGrandma · 06/03/2022 16:15

@MorningStarling

Dropping the limit to zero might sound sensible in theory but in practice lots of non-drinkers will be prosecuted for drink-driving through no fault of their own.

It's impossible to guarantee no trace of alcohol in your system simply because the food you eat and (non-alcoholic) drinks you consume will produce trace levels of alcohol.

I'm not talking about "auto brewery" syndrome here - people who naturally make enough alcohol in their body to have a noticeable effect - but literally everyone.

Assuming you eat, you may have a small amount of alcohol in your system right now, even if you've never drunk alcohol in your life.

@morningstarling other countries like Czechia have a zero limit. It's not impossible.
Fernandina · 06/03/2022 16:18

It is not a landlord's responsibility to police what their customers do any more than it is for anyone else who knows this person is drinking and driving. Other customers of the pub know about it too, and there's nothing stopping them ringing the police.

DogsAndGin · 06/03/2022 16:23

@Drivingmissdaisydoo

Oh goodness, it's worse than I thought. Thank you for the responses. I don't know where they drink but I should be able to find out. It's a regular Friday night thing. They seem to think that by the time they get to the police station the alcohol will have miraculously disappeared and the initial reading at the roadside would be void. I don't think that's right.
I agree that it’s far too much alcohol to drive on. If you’re going to grass - you need to be really careful, for your own safety.
DogsAndGin · 06/03/2022 16:25

@Fernandina

It is not a landlord's responsibility to police what their customers do any more than it is for anyone else who knows this person is drinking and driving. Other customers of the pub know about it too, and there's nothing stopping them ringing the police.
Yes it is.

It’s part of their legal obligation as a license holder to prevent crimes associated with drinking.

wslaw.co.uk/insight/landlords-reminded-of-licence-obligations-to-curb-drink-driving/

Swipe left for the next trending thread