To think drunk drivers should lose their vehicles?

[SassyPearlEagle]

Just been reading about Latvia, they've had this law for 3 years and seized over 2,000 vehicles. They're either donated to Ukraine, or auctioned off to raise money for the police - one Ferrari was sold for 176,000 euros.

Why don't we do the same here? Stop pussyfooting around with fines and driving bans, just confiscate the bloody car as soon as the breath test is failed.

My dad was an alcoholic and crazy driver. As a terrified child sitting in the back I used to wish he'd get stopped. Losing his car would've been a quick and effective punishment, I think. So fucking tired of hearing about drink/drug drivers killing people.

It is up to her. I can't do anything.

Do you know an alcoholic?
You can't control what they do. They are utterly selfish.
My dad is abusive and wont let my mum hide her car keys. She needs her car for work.
If he gets her keys and drives drunk and kills people, it is NOTHING to do with her, and I am pretty pissed off that you would say it is. He is a drunk and abusive.

I think if someone can’t keep what is effectively a weapon they own, out of the wrong hands then there’s definitely grounds for saying that it’s in everyone’s safety that “weapon” - in this case a car - should be removed from them.

If it affects their livelihood that’s a pity, but the problem is the relationship/drunk partner they have.

Imagine a drink driver consistently steals car keys from their partner, is caught drunk driving on a number of occasions and eventually kills someone with that same car.

And you as a family need to hear they didn’t take the car away from that home because the partner needed it for their job.

It’s not good enough really.

So yeah I agree we need to consider if the car needs to go in these situations.

the car they drink drive in isn’t necessarily theirs

my dh doesn’t drink drive but the car he drives is technically mine. I wouldn’t be very impressed if my car was taken away for his crime!

Maybe in that situation he would be given a warning and you would be notified so you’re sufficiently warned this is what he’s doing.

However if it keeps happening that’s when they would tell you to either withhold the car from your partner or be prepared to lose it if he’s found endangering others with it again.

From what I’ve read it’s not black and white - owners of the car can appeal against it being taken so they probably consider each situation.

People could end up banned from driving after eating a portion of granny's sherry trifle if that was the case.

another ill thought out idea on the back of “well they do x in y country”
the police then do what? pay off the finance? with what money? tax payer’s? I don’t want that. and donated? sure? coz that’s how the UK works- not. 🙈 can you imagine the hoops you’d have to jump through to obtain a whole car for free? trying to get legal aid for financial mediation was a full time job for several weeks. which creates more admin which needs to be paid for 😶I hope you see where this is going

The argument has always been "What if it's not their car ?"

Because if you are enough of a cunt to drink and drive, it is axiomatic that you don't give a shiny shit about anyone else - you are, after all, a top class selfish cunt for all to see.

So what would happen is people would find their car seized because their selfish partner/son/daughter/friend/whoever was caught drunk driving in it, and they' be expected to suffer the loss. (I doubt your insurance would cover you).

That said, if someone is caught using their phone when driving, I would happily seize and sell the phone. After all, if you can't be trusted to use it responsibly ????

Becasue you don't need a drivers license to have a car? The license is the thing that allows you to drive not the car itself.

This possibly comes from Latvia being in the former USSR who weren’t partial to individual ownership. News flash, the state doesn’t own everything now. Begone with your stealing of people’s cars.

But I do agree to (other) firm punishments for drunk drivers. They’re thick beyond belief and incredibly selfish.

There are already UK laws that confiscate private property, so that's not a problem.

It more the administration.

Well, that's the (yet to be proved) theory.

The reality is someone who doesn't give a shit about other people (for example a drunk driver) also doesn't give a shit about silly little things like "laws". So removing their licence (assuming they had one) is hardly the scary thing it would be for normal people.

There may only be one answer .... football hooligans, drunk drivers ....

I agree with you on confiscating the car, drink driving effectively turns it into a weapon and they can no longer be trusted around it. If it inconveniences anyone else in their household thats just another thing the drink driver has fucked up with their stupidity. It's creeping back around Christmas and there'll be loads nipping in for a quick Xmas shandy in town who drive back steaming.

I wouldn't complain. But I'd rather see driving bans happening quicker than they do for those who drive dangerously, whether it's caused by drink or just by being an irresponsible antisocial halfwit. Maybe seizure of vehicles for those who then drive while disqualified.

Fair? Drunk drivers kill. That’s pretty unfair.

It's already the case in Scotland (and many other European nations) that one serving of sherry trifle could put you over the drink drive limit. They cope by either not eating it or carrying breathalysers in their glove boxes.

It's not hard, don't consume alcohol and drive.

@Jamesblonde2 It's actually very fair because it means tests the punishment.

Why not? It would essentially be a type of fine.

Honestly I think driving is a responsibility, not a right- like owning a gun. If you do something stupid with your car, as with your gun, you out other people’s lives at risk and you should forfeit the right to own one.

Driving bans don’t seem effective as we hear of loads of people who are jailed for driving while banned, but they’ve usually caused more real harm by then. This would prevent that, and would really inconvenience people and maybe make them change their ways. So many people factor in fines to their behaviours (eg not parking properly all the time but paying the fine when you’re occasionally caught).

What’s to stop them just buying another one?

Standard of driving seems to be getting worse, not just drunk drivers either. I'd prefer we tightened up on the license ban, banning them for longer (in some cases life) and hoping that would have more of an impact.

We need toughen drink driving laws
I've worked with nurses who have been able to keep their registration because they claim "it's not a reflection on me as a nurse "
Yet the nmc requires a nurse to be of "goof character ".
Disgraceful
Yet if I was to go on a stealing spree in john Lewis I'd rightly lose my nursing reg as the argument would go..
She might steal from a patient
Drink drivers are the lowest of the low
When they cause accidents they always seem to walk away unharmed and the other innocent driver is injured

I don't think it's an unreasonable idea, even though there is a lot to iron out first. Whether it's the right idea, I'm not certain. There is certainly more that could be done.

Having also been one of those terrified kids, I agree there needs to be more significant consequences, and I'd argue reckless driving with a child in the car, regardless of intoxication, needs to be legally treated more seriously than it often is.

I can't speak for most countries, or even the UK, but where I'm from only drunk driving a certain amount over the limit with a child gets an automatic endangerment of a child change added. If it's knocked down to a 'wet reckless' (pleading guilty or no contest to reckless charges) that charge either lies on the file or gets removed. It's ridiculous and from what I've read (I could be entirely wrong), that's not an uncommon legal foolishness.

So make sure he doesn't drive your car while drunk, warn him that if he does, the car will be taken away.

How sad